The College Admissions Scandal

Old Main at Wayne State University
Where as far as I know, I got into on my own merits.

     When the news of the college admissions scandal first hit the news last month, I was only a bit surprised and even less shocked. For sure, I was upset about the generally touted “fair and above-board process” of college admissions being swayed by money. Honestly, it has never been fair and above-board. We have had white-privilege, affirmative action, athletic skill trumping GPA and test scores, home state, and, of course, the sway or money and power. Legacy is another huge factor. At premier schools, trying to decipher the admissions criteria has always also been like trying to predict airfare pricing. It is a black box.
     People of wealth and influence have always had an advantage. I always assumed that large and generous donations to a university would make give one’s children an advantage over the general mass of applicants. Power and celebrity status also plays a role. When has the son or daughter of a President of the United States ever go to MiddleofNowhere College, Our Sisters of the Poor University, or Eastern Mediocre State University. They always seem to go to Harvard, Yale, Penn or Stanford.
     The admissions rates at the schools mentioned in the scandal are 5 – 10%. The probabilities of being accepted is low if we assume all applicants are equally qualified and they most certainly aren’t. You have to have an edge, a differentiator, to get into these schools. All the applicants have high GPAs and impressive test scores. Students with lesser scores do get admitted if they have world class athletic skills, virtuoso musical talent, or they can surf in on a tsunami of their parents’ money.
     Frank Bruni had a beautiful Op-Ed in the New York Times on March 12, 2019. The title was “Bribes to Get Into Yale and Stanford? What Else Is New?” Truly, yes, what else is new. Bruni pointed out:

It’s a galling exposé of widespread cheating by families who are already well-to-do and well connected, but it’s not really a surprising one. Anyone who knows anything about the cutthroat competition for precious spots at top-tier schools realizes how ugly and unfair it can be: how many corners are cut, how many schemes are hatched, how big a role money plays, how many advantages privilege can buy. 

The wrinkle here is that the schemes were actually criminal and will apparently be prosecuted, and for once the colleges’ administrators were in the dark about them. But they’re versions of routine favor-trading and favoritism that have long corrupted the admissions process, leeching merit from the equation. 

It may be legal to pledge $2.5 million to Harvard just as your son is applying — which is what Jared Kushner’s father did for him — and illegal to bribe a coach to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but how much of a difference is there, really? Both elevate money over accomplishment. Both are ways of cutting in line.

     Sure, going to a highly selective school can give one an advantage of the connections and the educational opportunity. But, taking advantage of the educational opportunity can happen anywhere. I have given the same advice to young people who did not get accepted to their dream school and ended up going to their second, third, or even safety school choice. “No matter where you go, knock the cover of the ball. Do your best, work hard, make great lifelong friends, and take advantage of the educational opportunity… especially if you are going into debt for the experience.” I will now add to this charge, “Be so successful that you can grease the skids for your own kids if you were so inclined. But, don’t be so inclined.”