WashPost story on the aftermath of the college admissions scandal...

[Anonymous]

If your kid is a dipshit, giving them more time isn't going to significantly improve their score. Stop worrying about those people.
Jackasses with money will always have an advantage and try to cheat the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a dipshit, giving them more time isn't going to significantly improve their score. Stop worrying about those people.
Jackasses with money will always have an advantage and try to cheat the system.

Calling kids names is not going to change the unfairness of the situation. The extra time and calculator acccomodations will move ACT scores, SAT math section and SAT stem subject tests up to close to perfect scores. You have no idea how twice the time allows a kid who does not have a tru disability to double check their answers and even being able to go through all the questions especially on the ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where it shows that poster at 6:43 does not know how the inner circles of private schools work. The HS cannot call or push all kids who apply to a certain college equally - preference will be give to families that donated $$$ to the HS. Within the wealthy, there is another strata - those who donate $$$ to the private HS

Yes, you hit the nail on the head. When my child was recruited to Princeton for their sport (apart from their h.s.)...the elite private high school counselor was obnoxious. We weren't in the "super rich" class and they wanted to "save the Princeton spot" for a worthier, i.e. wealthier student. This stuff does happen.

Good for your DC, PP. I hope you waived your DC’s Princeton admission letter in that counselor’s face!

[Anonymous]

The admissions scandal is a tempest in a teapot compared to the Harvard lawsuit. When it comes to impacting tens or hundreds of thousands of kids, the Harvard lawsuit is what matters, not these 750 odd families who cheated the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story makes me want to opt out of this college rat race scheme even more. College should only be for the doctors and engineers. Anything else can be learned with the modern technology.

Why not opt out of the rat race, skip the madness, and just have your kid go to one of the thousands of colleges that are not “elite” or very selective? If your kid has a high school degree and the desire to go learn in college, there is a place for them. They can become doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, nurses, etc from any one of those hundreds of schools. No rat race or bribery necessary.

NP. Because those schools also cost a fortune, that’s why.
I believe in college myself, but just sayin’....
The disgusting and immoral cost of college is scaring people away.

Community college doesn't cost a fortune, and provides a perfectly fine opportunity for education for a kid who wants it. State schools also are not (as breathtakingly) expensive as private schools. If you want to be a nurse, scientist, teacher, etc. you must go to college, and there are non-crazy-stressful ways to get into college if you do. There are also less expensive ways to go to college. I think, though, that people don't really trust and believe that their smart, UMC kid will actually do just as well in life going to a no-name college. It's absolutely true, but people just seem to believe that if elite colleges are a scarce resource, they must guarantee a kid a better future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The admissions scandal is a tempest in a teapot compared to the Harvard lawsuit. When it comes to impacting tens or hundreds of thousands of kids, the Harvard lawsuit is what matters, not these 750 odd families who cheated the system.

The Harvard suit will have minimal if any impact

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The admissions scandal is a tempest in a teapot compared to the Harvard lawsuit. When it comes to impacting tens or hundreds of thousands of kids, the Harvard lawsuit is what matters, not these 750 odd families who cheated the system.

The cheating are those who got caught - there are thousands who do the same “legitimately” by donating to the school - same end goal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where it shows that poster at 6:43 does not know how the inner circles of private schools work. The HS cannot call or push all kids who apply to a certain college equally - preference will be give to families that donated $$$ to the HS. Within the wealthy, there is another strata - those who donate $$$ to the private HS

This reminds me of a thread a few years ago. A FA mother was wondering if her private school had “slots” for certain kids to go to HYP and other elite schools, and wondered why her DC was not encouraged to apply to these schools by the high school counselor. She was pooh-poohed about it. Turns out to be true — highest bidders get pushed through by high school counselors.

Here is the high school counselor thread I referenced above — “Discriminatory College Counseling at Big 3”

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/411406.page#5708484

That was an interesting thread. I'm struck by how thoughtful and well-written most of the comments (including from the OP) were on the first few pages. I'd love to know what happened to OP's kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where it shows that poster at 6:43 does not know how the inner circles of private schools work. The HS cannot call or push all kids who apply to a certain college equally - preference will be give to families that donated $$$ to the HS. Within the wealthy, there is another strata - those who donate $$$ to the private HS

Yes, you hit the nail on the head. When my child was recruited to Princeton for their sport (apart from their h.s.)...the elite private high school counselor was obnoxious. We weren't in the "super rich" class and they wanted to "save the Princeton spot" for a worthier, i.e. wealthier student. This stuff does happen.

Good for your DC, PP. I hope you waived your DC’s Princeton admission letter in that counselor’s face!

Thank you for the kind words! Once our child had their letter from Princeton, the counselor acted as though she was responsible for getting our kid in...it was galling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As the parent of a child with ADHD and very low processing speed, who has 100% extra time on tests, what I can tell you is that special needs communities in the DC area are scheduling talks with experts to discuss the extra scrutiny and additional hurdles we will likely face in the coming years because of this scandal.

Our already difficult job as parents of children with challenges is NOT helped by people who claim to know “many” families gaming the system on accommodations. I am a research scientist, know what being a PhD-holding psychologist entails, and none of the psychologists I know would even entertain the notion of tweaking clients’ assessments! It’s grossly offensive that some people would smear an entire profession in this way.

+ 1

Not to mention these assessments have a scientific instrument and methodological basis. They are not just impressions that a psychologist gets.

I'm not convinced there will be a lot of extra hurdles for SN kids. The College Board is already fairly strict about granting accommodations. There will remain the advantage that families who can afford private testing get. If you can't afford testing you might not get a diagnosis.

Both of you are pretty naive. Of course there are doctors willing to sign these letters. It didn’t take Singer long to find one for his clients all over the country. I am in the math field - any statistics can be manipulated to tell a story. These tests are based on performance of the test taker - it is not as if it is a blood test measuring your blood cells levels. Google test accommodations - websites are touting them. I know wealthy parents in the private schools who would not let their kids take a standardized test until they get an accommodation as they feared their kid might score too high and hence accomodation would not be granted. They already have the doctor notes - just completing the school process and then college board. And kid in honors classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a dipshit, giving them more time isn't going to significantly improve their score. Stop worrying about those people.
Jackasses with money will always have an advantage and try to cheat the system.

Calling kids names is not going to change the unfairness of the situation. The extra time and calculator acccomodations will move ACT scores, SAT math section and SAT stem subject tests up to close to perfect scores. You have no idea how twice the time allows a kid who does not have a tru disability to double check their answers and even being able to go through all the questions especially on the ACT.

I’m a DP. Language or no,that PP has a point. Some parents are are always going to think that everyone else is taking advantage and that there’s some nefarious reason their kid is being bested. Ironically, these are often the same families who are usually hounding teachers for grades, advantages on extracurriculars and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As the parent of a child with ADHD and very low processing speed, who has 100% extra time on tests, what I can tell you is that special needs communities in the DC area are scheduling talks with experts to discuss the extra scrutiny and additional hurdles we will likely face in the coming years because of this scandal.

Our already difficult job as parents of children with challenges is NOT helped by people who claim to know “many” families gaming the system on accommodations. I am a research scientist, know what being a PhD-holding psychologist entails, and none of the psychologists I know would even entertain the notion of tweaking clients’ assessments! It’s grossly offensive that some people would smear an entire profession in this way.

+ 1

Not to mention these assessments have a scientific instrument and methodological basis. They are not just impressions that a psychologist gets.

I'm not convinced there will be a lot of extra hurdles for SN kids. The College Board is already fairly strict about granting accommodations. There will remain the advantage that families who can afford private testing get. If you can't afford testing you might not get a diagnosis.

Both of you are pretty naive. Of course there are doctors willing to sign these letters. It didn’t take Singer long to find one for his clients all over the country. I am in the math field - any statistics can be manipulated to tell a story. These tests are based on performance of the test taker - it is not as if it is a blood test measuring your blood cells levels. Google test accommodations - websites are touting them. I know wealthy parents in the private schools who would not let their kids take a standardized test until they get an accommodation as they feared their kid might score too high and hence accomodation would not be granted. They already have the doctor notes - just completing the school process and then college board. And kid in honors classes.

The doctors can request whatever they want. College Board and ACT have a rigid process for screening such requests. When Singer tried to get accommodations for that lawyer’s kid, the ACT rejected him—twice. Law enforcement had to step in and tell the ACT to grant it.

If you think it’s outrageous that accommodations were granted for a kid who takes “honors classes,” then you’re clueless about special needs.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Why does this feel like an intrusion? Like this reporter wants us to do her work for her

literally snooping

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just canceled my Wash Post subscription. Stay away.

+1. Every single article is now political. And I'm not even a Trumper! We call it WaPravda.

So a hundred page thread of anonymous posts on the scandal, and salivating over the possibility of a Washington angle is fine, but you wouldn't read an article with actual reporting and people willing to use their names raising similar points in print? Why shouldn't there be room for stories like that? I have nothing to contribute, but I'd read it, certainly seems like there's enough interest to justify coverage.

NP
A) Didn't read the 100 page thread of anonymous posts = waste of my time
B) "Actual reporting" no longer happens at the Post. Reporters are too young, too liberal, and are too anxious to throw in any anti-Trump message they can even when it doesn't belong in the piece (like the recent WaPo travel article in the magazine about going to places that Trump dissed). I'm not a Trumper but the entire newspaper now is super progressive nut land.
C) No I won't read it because I refuse to pay for it since it changed so much. It once was a very good neutral newspaper. Now it's an angry liberal tirade.