What percentage of kids at top colleges are there because they're connected, bought in, or fraud?

[Anonymous]

Are there really that many "Jared Kushners" (at the extreme end) or is this scandal being blown way out of proportion? Trying to remember, the only few genuine idiots I ever encountered in college were legitimate athletes, and even then we're talking a handful of teens out of my class of about 2,000.

[Anonymous]

I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

I thought that was over a number of years - I forgot how many.

For the athletic recruit angle, It seems to me there are only so many coaches that can be bought annually. The test cheating could include a large number annually, but then they'd need multiple cheating proctors, or multiple clients with the same proctor at the same time; there are 7 SAT sittings per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

Yeah, you also have to wonder how many "Rich Singers" there are in the US and abroad perpetuating these same sort of scams as we speak. Also, cheating on the ACT/SAT sounded ridiculously easy! There must be many thousands of fake fraudulent scores every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

I thought that was over a number of years - I forgot how many.

For the athletic recruit angle, It seems to me there are only so many coaches that can be bought annually. The test cheating could include a large number annually, but then they'd need multiple cheating proctors, or multiple clients with the same proctor at the same time; there are 7 SAT sittings per year.

I think it was over 5 years, but still a big number for just one guy. Who knows how many others were bribing coaches and SAT proctors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

That was over many years- so it is still small. But how many others like him are there?

[Anonymous]

Connected and/or bought in- lots. I don’t think that a large percentage would know what steps to take to find someone to pay off or otherwise cheat to get admitted, aside from having someone else write an essay or cheating on SATs.

I don’t think there are loads of parents perpetrating fraud. Wouldn’t put it above most students to cheat somehow, though.

[Anonymous]

In the early 90s my brother was a very good athlete and boys in his travel basketball team circle openly and casually talked about having friends or cousins sit for their ACT/SAT to get the minimum score required for D1 college sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

That was over many years- so it is still small. But how many others like him are there?

Wasn’t it over 10 years? 75 per. One guy. Only the top 25 or so colleges. How many freshman seats are there at the top 25 each year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

That was over many years- so it is still small. But how many others like him are there?

Wasn’t it over 10 years? 75 per. One guy. Only the top 25 or so colleges. How many freshman seats are there at the top 25 each year?

It’s a minuscule percentage. All of the iidiotic pearl clutching is just a waste of time and energy. Worry about your own child and nobody else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

That was over many years- so it is still small. But how many others like him are there?

Wasn’t it over 10 years? 75 per. One guy. Only the top 25 or so colleges. How many freshman seats are there at the top 25 each year?

It’s a minuscule percentage. All of the iidiotic pearl clutching is just a waste of time and energy. Worry about your own child and nobody else.

75 per year is 75 too many. (and that's only one guy; how many more were doing this?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

That was over many years- so it is still small. But how many others like him are there?

Wasn’t it over 10 years? 75 per. One guy. Only the top 25 or so colleges. How many freshman seats are there at the top 25 each year?

It’s a minuscule percentage. All of the iidiotic pearl clutching is just a waste of time and energy. Worry about your own child and nobody else.

I agree. None of this is particularly new or interesting. People go to lengths to get kids into college. There are criminals in the world. They got together. There have always been people who will "make a phone call" for someone. 75 out of hundreds or thousands is nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have said it's a small percentage, but the ringleader of this fraudulent enterprise had 761 clients. That's quite a big number you ask me.

That was over many years- so it is still small. But how many others like him are there?

Wasn’t it over 10 years? 75 per. One guy. Only the top 25 or so colleges. How many freshman seats are there at the top 25 each year?

It’s a minuscule percentage. All of the iidiotic pearl clutching is just a waste of time and energy. Worry about your own child and nobody else.

I agree. None of this is particularly new or interesting. People go to lengths to get kids into college. There are criminals in the world. They got together. There have always been people who will "make a phone call" for someone. 75 out of hundreds or thousands is nothing.

It calls into question the legitimacy of the admissions process at several highly ranked schools. Obviously there were vulnerabilities they didn't take seriously, but now they will. This is a big story, not just on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

It's a big story because it is sensational, because it feeds into the middle class's insecure belief that attending an elite college is the only way to move to a higher caste.

Nothing in this big story implicated admission officers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there really that many "Jared Kushners" (at the extreme end) or is this scandal being blown way out of proportion? Trying to remember, the only few genuine idiots I ever encountered in college were legitimate athletes, and even then we're talking a handful of teens out of my class of about 2,000.

I honestly don't think there are that many. I'm not sure about "connected". I can believe children of professors, politicians, etc. would be more likely to be admitted although it's hard to tell what % they would make up. But outright fraud or bought in? Not likely. How many people are making 1 million donations to colleges? Very few I'm sure. And apparently the ringleader of the Varsity Blues fraud said that the reason the parents wanted to spend the money cheating instead of simply making a donation was become it seemed more certain to them. A big donation was no guarantee that their kid would get admitted, so that tells you something there. I imagine someone would have to donate at least $500,000 to get an unqualified kid admitted and I don't think many people are really doing that. Even those who have the means wouldn't necessarily want to do it, because it would be public record, and most people don't want their kid to have the stigma of having had the parents "buy them into" a school.