My Take on the College Admissions Scandal

Six months ago, almost to the day, 50 people were charged in what federal prosecutors are calling the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.”  Those 50 included parents of college-bound students, athletic coaches, and an educational consultant orchestrating the entire scheme.

I didn’t share anything early on as the “Varsity Blues” scandal went public because more and more information was coming out each day.  There has now been plenty of time to digest everything and the media has calmed down a bit - though I still regularly see Lori Loughlin or Felicity Huffman on the cover of Star magazine when I’m checking out at the grocery store.  I’ve brain-dumped some of my thoughts and organized them into a few takeaways below.

The students didn’t really know what was going on.

In many cases, the students involved in the scandal (specifically those whose parents organized special SAT or ACT arrangements for their child) did not know of the illegality going on behind the scenes of their college admissions process.  As an example, they likely didn’t know that their test proctor was part of the scheme or that their test scores would be changed after they submitted their tests. Many students were victims in this process, and I’m sure their relationship with their parents will never be the same.

I don’t blame the good people.

Look for the good.  There were obviously bad apples weaved within the admissions process and athletics recruitment, but there are so many more good people involved.  The system is broken, but the people on the ground - the administrative staff, the admissions counselors, the recruitment staff - really, truly want to see your student succeed and thrive at the school of their dreams.  They are your advocates and were just as surprised to hear the news break as we all were!

Students have… feelings about this.

The scandal has sparked conversations on schools all over the country.  Students are specifically pointing out the privilege, greed, and racism associated with the situation and the vast differences in their college admissions experience versus those who took the “back door” approach.  However, many students who felt they had obstacles to climb over in order to get admitted to various schools, were upset, but not surprised.

There WILL be changes.

Colleges and universities will be implementing processes and systems in order to prevent something like this from happening in the future - or at least attempting to become transparent enough to make families feel more comfortable about the process.  The UC system has also reached out to College Board, who oversees the SAT, to see what reforms can be made to the test and process to ensure the validity of scores sent to the schools. Schools might also begin requiring multiple admissions officers to look over applications of athletic recruits to make sure they are qualified for admission.

Changes will take time.

These things take time - and none of the above .  If you’re going through the college admissions process, you may have noticed some minor adjustments, such as letters via email or additional verbiage on websites.  Otherwise, more permanent solutions will take multiple admissions cycles to fully implement.

I want to specifically mention to everyone reading this: If you have questions about the scandal, specifically how it affects you working with an educational consultant, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or contact the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA).  This is NOT something that any professional organization I’m part of is okay with; they actually vehemently denounce the actions taken by the educational consultant involved in this case. Please view IECA’s official statement here.