His Father Paid $400,000 to Get Him Into Georgetown. Now He’s Suing the School.

[Anonymous]

Who is paying for his lawyer? Dad again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with Georgetown here. I also hope Georgetown and other universities find a way to rescind or revoke the diplomas of those who graduated before the scandal broke. It doesn't matter if they successfully completed their classes or not; their admission was still fraudulent. Students are legally responsible for the accuracy of their applications and cannot disclaim knowledge of the fraudulent schemes.

I don’t get this logic at all. Isn’t the actual work more important than how one got in? I made up an overseas high school when I never attended high school (grew up in a cult that didn’t believe in education beyond middle school). I graduated with a 3.9 GPA while fully supporting myself. I realize this is different than the privileged circumstances we’re discussing here, but I still think the kids should get credit for their work. I think it’s reasonable for colleges to expel them on a case by case basis but not to strip them of degrees or credits they’ve earned.

So what is the point of punishing those who cheated to get in? As long as they get away with it for four years, they're scot-free, but if they get caught before they get their diplomas, then the hammer comes down? That makes no sense either.

These kids could not have gotten in on their own merit, and they took spaces away from other kids. Maybe kids like you were, or like I was, or like a bunch of other kids whose parents did not or do not have the resources to cheat, lie, and steal a place from someone else. Lots of kids who deserve to get in -- and who also could have done the work -- got cheated out of a potential slot by all these students whose rich parents were willing to pay a fortune to guarantee admittance. I think there is a ton wrong with our gameable admissions systems, but I'm absolutely opposed to rewarding cheaters just because their cheats weren't discovered until they'd already gotten the piece of paper.

It is sensible that Georgetown asked the boy to leave. But stripping him of his credits, the coursework actually completed on his own merit too? 3.12 is perfectly decent. That's a B average, isn't it? It seems a bit vindictive to me. Just allow him to transfer his credits to another school so people can get on with life.

It's rather damning on the universities in a way that a low performer in high school can still pass through Georgetown with a respectable GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if most of the kids in these cases do realize that their parents paid bribes?

Even if they don't, coming down hard on the kids as well as the parents is the only way to stop this nonsense. Parents should be terrified of tanking their kid's future by pulling such shenanigans.

Like umm.. if you would cut a hole in the fence of a country club and push your kid in and send him to enjoy the fabulous banquet,
nobody would really mind, not at all. Especially when they found out that the privileged kid sneaked in without paying the "dues"
whichever the dues in each case are, in this case academic dues.

Ha country club. Good one.

[Anonymous]

All this shows you is that any kid with money can get good grades at any college. Even the dumb for high school bribed kids are getting high grades at Georgetown. Pretty pathetic.

Kid should be expelled and credits removed. It is too much of a gamble to try at this point unless the parent goes to jail and the kid gets nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going after the kids... really Jesuits... really?

This student KNOWINGLY sent false information as part of his application. If he genuinely did not realize (at age 17 or 18) that that was FRAUD, then he was NOT qualified to attend any university in this country.

The universities need to do the right thing here and rescind the admission of any student who KNEW about the false information on their applications, even if the student claim that they were too naive or dense to realize that it was FRAUD.

Good kids at age 17 or 18 know right from wrong.

True, but there are gray areas here. I recall from my own high school days (many decades ago now) that some kids do embellish, exaggerate or outright lie on elements of their applications to make themselves look more competitive. Should anyone who makes any misstatement on an application have their credits voided? A classmate of mine who was on the tennis team said he was tennis team captain and got into Harvard. No one else from our school was applying to Harvard so he knew he wouldn't get caught. He's now a successful surgeon. If I tattle on him would Harvard need to rescind his degree due to false statements?

Yes, there is no gray area here. It says they can revoke you and they should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if most of the kids in these cases do realize that their parents paid bribes?

Even if they don't, coming down hard on the kids as well as the parents is the only way to stop this nonsense. Parents should be terrified of tanking their kid's future by pulling such shenanigans.

x10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yikes. Another aftershock from the college admissions scandal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/us/georgetown-expels-students.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

Georgetown University said Wednesday that it planned to dismiss two students connected to the college admissions scandal. Just hours earlier, one of those students, Adam Semprevivo, whose father has pleaded guilty in the case, sued Georgetown for threatening to expel him, saying that the university had denied him due process and that it should have been aware of misrepresentations on his application long before the Justice Department announced charges in the nation’s largest college admissions prosecution earlier this year.

Georgetown did not identify either student, but Mr. Semprevivo’s lawyer, David Kenner, said he had received an email from Georgetown informing him that his admission had been rescinded and that he would be dismissed.

Mr. Semprevivo, 21, who is from Los Angeles, just finished his junior year at the college in Washington, D.C. His father, Stephen Semprevivo, pleaded guilty last week to paying a college consultant $400,000 to secure his son’s admission to Georgetown as a recruit to the tennis team, even though the son did not play tennis competitively. According to the lawsuit, Adam has a 3.18 grade point average in college so far. He has not been charged in the case, nor have any other students, though several have received target letters from prosecutors.

Mr. Kenner said that dismissal was too harsh a punishment.

“It’s a life sentence,” he said. “He’s lost three years of his life, studying, getting good grades, doing everything that was expected of him.” He added it could be difficult for Mr. Semprevivo to gain admission to another college and that the dismissal could also affect his job prospects. “Potentially this will follow him for the rest of his life.”

If he didn't play on the tennis team, he wasn't doing everything expected of him. He also signed an application to the university that, in retrospect, was fraud.

Sorry dude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going after the kids... really Jesuits... really?

This student KNOWINGLY sent false information as part of his application. If he genuinely did not realize (at age 17 or 18) that that was FRAUD, then he was NOT qualified to attend any university in this country.

The universities need to do the right thing here and rescind the admission of any student who KNEW about the false information on their applications, even if the student claim that they were too naive or dense to realize that it was FRAUD.

Good kids at age 17 or 18 know right from wrong.

True, but there are gray areas here. I recall from my own high school days (many decades ago now) that some kids do embellish, exaggerate or outright lie on elements of their applications to make themselves look more competitive. Should anyone who makes any misstatement on an application have their credits voided? A classmate of mine who was on the tennis team said he was tennis team captain and got into Harvard. No one else from our school was applying to Harvard so he knew he wouldn't get caught. He's now a successful surgeon. If I tattle on him would Harvard need to rescind his degree due to false statements?

This isn't embellishing, it's a series of lies and a massive bribe. Come on, use your head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with Georgetown here. I also hope Georgetown and other universities find a way to rescind or revoke the diplomas of those who graduated before the scandal broke. It doesn't matter if they successfully completed their classes or not; their admission was still fraudulent. Students are legally responsible for the accuracy of their applications and cannot disclaim knowledge of the fraudulent schemes.

I don’t get this logic at all. Isn’t the actual work more important than how one got in? I made up an overseas high school when I never attended high school (grew up in a cult that didn’t believe in education beyond middle school). I graduated with a 3.9 GPA while fully supporting myself. I realize this is different than the privileged circumstances we’re discussing here, but I still think the kids should get credit for their work. I think it’s reasonable for colleges to expel them on a case by case basis but not to strip them of degrees or credits they’ve earned.

So if it turns out the Russians manipulated votes, it doesn't matter because Trump was a good president?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yikes. Another aftershock from the college admissions scandal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/us/georgetown-expels-students.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

Georgetown University said Wednesday that it planned to dismiss two students connected to the college admissions scandal. Just hours earlier, one of those students, Adam Semprevivo, whose father has pleaded guilty in the case, sued Georgetown for threatening to expel him, saying that the university had denied him due process and that it should have been aware of misrepresentations on his application long before the Justice Department announced charges in the nation’s largest college admissions prosecution earlier this year.

Georgetown did not identify either student, but Mr. Semprevivo’s lawyer, David Kenner, said he had received an email from Georgetown informing him that his admission had been rescinded and that he would be dismissed.

Mr. Semprevivo, 21, who is from Los Angeles, just finished his junior year at the college in Washington, D.C. His father, Stephen Semprevivo, pleaded guilty last week to paying a college consultant $400,000 to secure his son’s admission to Georgetown as a recruit to the tennis team, even though the son did not play tennis competitively. According to the lawsuit, Adam has a 3.18 grade point average in college so far. He has not been charged in the case, nor have any other students, though several have received target letters from prosecutors.

Mr. Kenner said that dismissal was too harsh a punishment.

“It’s a life sentence,” he said. “He’s lost three years of his life, studying, getting good grades, doing everything that was expected of him.” He added it could be difficult for Mr. Semprevivo to gain admission to another college and that the dismissal could also affect his job prospects. “Potentially this will follow him for the rest of his life.”

If he didn't play on the tennis team, he wasn't doing everything expected of him. He also signed an application to the university that, in retrospect, was fraud.

Sorry dude.

The article says the acceptance was not conditioned on him playing on the tennis team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going after the kids... really Jesuits... really?

The lying kids? Who aren’t kids, rather 21 years old? Um, yes.

Have you ever had a wealthy parent, do you know how hard it is to say at 17 when you fill out the applications as dependent kid... he dad I think your a lunatic im not following what you say... a wealthy parent.

I doubt you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why colleges are in a hard spot. If they take action and expel, they will get sued.

If they don’t, it sends a wrong message and the public loses even more confidence.

The public loses nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going after the kids... really Jesuits... really?

This student KNOWINGLY sent false information as part of his application. If he genuinely did not realize (at age 17 or 18) that that was FRAUD, then he was NOT qualified to attend any university in this country.

The universities need to do the right thing here and rescind the admission of any student who KNEW about the false information on their applications, even if the student claim that they were too naive or dense to realize that it was FRAUD.

Good kids at age 17 or 18 know right from wrong.

I know a lot of things my parents do. So. I can't stop them. I can't call the cops on them.

Nobody says he was not qualified. Lots of qualified kids don't get in.

[Anonymous]

If they are not going to give credit then they need to refund the tuition paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All this shows you is that any kid with money can get good grades at any college. Even the dumb for high school bribed kids are getting high grades at Georgetown. Pretty pathetic.

Kid should be expelled and credits removed. It is too much of a gamble to try at this point unless the parent goes to jail and the kid gets nothing.

A 3.18 is NOT a good GPA. Most of you commenting must have been terrible students and/or complete idiots.