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So does a tax avoidance scheme really necessitate a RICO investigation and tons of FBI resources? The IRS can just send a letter for the tax due plus penalties and interest like they do for 99.9% of the underpayment schemes. There are so many better cases the FBI's financial crimes agents could be working on. How about the kinds that are directly targeting and hurting individual consumers. There's a lot of criminal behavior going on around student loans (and the educational institutions that make bogus claims to get that money). Why is throwing an old sleazeball in jail for shorting the treasury more important than protecting the public from financial crimes that have real victims.
If what these people did violated the law, then it violated the law and is fair game for whatever investigation the government wants to provide. One could just as easily ask why the cops should spend time looking for a serial, say, subway groper when there are rapists out there, as most would agree that being raped is worse than being inappropriately touched. But that doesn't mean people should get away with groping other people, because that is still a lower level crime. What these people are doing is wrong, and if it's also illegal, then I have no issue with them being investigated, arrested, and charged. Ideally, also convicted. The victims, imo, are every single person who was denied a space in these university classes who deserved it based on their grades, SAT or ACT scores, athletic ability, or other genuine measures. Denied a space in favor of a rich kid whose parents bribed or cheated their way into the university for them. More indirectly, every single person who isn't rich enough to pull this crap off and try to get away with it is also at a disadvantage if this behavior is allowed and isn't criminally sanctioned.
I assume being a fake athlete was only to get them admitted into the college, but they didn't actually have to join the team.
I'm honestly NOT surprised about this scandal. Rich people have been paying millions to get what they want, and will continue to do it because they CAN. It's only in the news because of those 2 celebrities.
Based on the media's explosive story about this, I thought it was hundreds or thousands of students involved, but it was only 50 (so far). That's not that many, so I'm not sure why this deserves the high drama level the media has given it. Without Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, I don't think the general public would care.
I assume being a fake athlete was only to get them admitted into the college, but they didn't actually have to join the team.
I'm honestly NOT surprised about this scandal. Rich people have been paying millions to get what they want, and will continue to do it because they CAN. It's only in the news because of those 2 celebrities.
Based on the media's explosive story about this, I thought it was hundreds or thousands of students involved, but it was only 50 (so far). That's not that many, so I'm not sure why this deserves the high drama level the media has given it. Without Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, I don't think the general public would care.
I think it was 50 people indicted. I don't think any of the 50 indicted were actually students.
I assume being a fake athlete was only to get them admitted into the college, but they didn't actually have to join the team.
I'm honestly NOT surprised about this scandal. Rich people have been paying millions to get what they want, and will continue to do it because they CAN. It's only in the news because of those 2 celebrities.
Based on the media's explosive story about this, I thought it was hundreds or thousands of students involved, but it was only 50 (so far). That's not that many, so I'm not sure why this deserves the high drama level the media has given it. Without Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, I don't think the general public would care.
They have investigated 50, but the man in charge of it said he has done this for 760 families. This is just the surface. No students have been arrested, just the man in charge, parents and coaches.
Which brings up an interesting point and question...Could there be civil lawsuits against the schools from the injured?
People are denied admission to schools all the time, it would probably be hard to say who in particular was denied so one particular other person could get in. It would therefore be hard to say that because of your decision to be bribed/let this person in without merit, I would have been admitted and also would have chosen to attend. It's also often hard to explain why some people get admitted or get denied, even if they have similar applications stats like GPA, SAT, same amount of extracurriculars. My brother got waitlisted from a school I was flat out denied from when it was his turn to apply, and I had better grades and scores overall, though we were close in all the measures. So causation would probably be an issue. It's safe to say that someone probably lost a position in the class due to this scheme, for every student wrongfully admitted, but who is another question, unless the schools happen to keep meticulous records about what they do and why, unless it can actually be proven that this particular person was denied admission due to this cheating scheme.
They have investigated 50, but the man in charge of it said he has done this for 760 families. This is just the surface. No students have been arrested, just the man in charge, parents and coaches.
People keep saying admissions officers were involved, but I haven't seen that. I saw coaches, test proctors, and independent consultants. So far we have no names of actual admissions people... I think?
Grade inflation is only a thing at some of the elites. Others are more like grade deflators. LOL
Especially when you consider that these are kids who attended expensice private college prep schools OR public schools in weathy high performing districts all their lives. They had access to top notch educations in environments created to groom every little bit of potential a kid has and churn out an ideal elite college candidate at the other end. And their parents could afford all the tutoring and enrichment and extracurriculars anyone could dream of.
But they STILL couldn't get a high enough score on a standardized test to be considered to a halfway prestigeous school on their own.
It's mind boggling.
I'm not surprised at all. Many of these schools have acceptance rates of 1% or less of all applicants. Even coming from a privileged background doesn't give you enough "smarts" to be in the top 1%.
Intelligence is often genetic in nature. The best environment in the world won't make someone into a genius. The advantages that are conferred by wealth and privilege help motivated people bring out their potential, but the potential has to be there in the first place.
One issue that is seldom dealt with is why some universities restrict their enrollment to such a small group of applicants? Why not expand the number of seats for students? The reality is that these schools make a choice to be small and exclusive and they thrive on the notion that they can reject 99% of all applicants. Also, its why their degree is more valuable than the degree of say state colleges and universities.
This is really a story about wealth and privilege and how it runs our country. Sadly, I think America has declined in the last fifty/sixty years. We are not a meritocracy. We are an oligarchy where the wealthy and the privileged hold not only economic power, but political power as well.
Lori Loughlin's daughter has 2 million Youtube followers. That is impressive for an 18 year old. You would think her entrepreneurial success would have been enough to get her a holistic admission to USC. Her grades and SAT/ACT scores must have been horrendous.
My daughter applied to a specific undergraduate professional program at a very selective University. The program sent her the following email a week before admission letters were expected to be sent out:
Thank you for your interest in "University." We’re sorry that we were not able to accommodate you in the professional school program of your choice. However, the admissions committee would like to consider and evaluate you for admission into the College of Arts and Sciences if you are interested. Within the College, you can choose from nearly 50 majors across the academic disciplines.
If you are still interested in "University" and would like to be considered for admission to the College of Arts and Sciences, please reply to this email no later than Friday, April 8th, at 5:00 pm ET. Please include in your response your desired major from among the undergraduate degrees on this list.
We look forward to hearing from you and wish you the best as you continue your education.
My daughter received her acceptance to a different program a week later.
I wonder if athletic programs have a lot of clout in getting a student admitted even if they are not accepted as an athlete. The student applies through an athletic program - the program denies their application, but recommends them to the University for admission. ??
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