Parents [including celebs and various hot shots] indicted in college admissions test scam

Ouch... prestige attempts done the wrong way AND caught no less!

Prosecutors filed charges against 33 parents, accused of paying between $200,000 and $6.5 million to get their children into elite universities. Those indicted include actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman [actress and wife of TV's Shameless' William H. Macy], law firm Willkie Farr co-chair Gordon Caplan and the head sailing coach at Stanford.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/03/12/felicity-…

https://abovethelaw.com/2019/03/willkie-farr-chai…

All the more sad, part of one recorded conversation where the parent and the scammer make it seem like the kid will be kept in the dark as to receiving a better score via some sort of alteration to it!?

So then the kid is going to think she excelled on her own merits on the entrance exam... and then what happens when she starts college and attending courses?!

 

Lmfao, $6.5 million to get a kid in a college. Might as well just donate money to the school so they let you in with shitty grades ala Jared Kushner and be done with it. Pathetic what prestige does to people. You're that rich already and you're worried about your kid having the title "Harvard" as part of their CV.

Array
 
BobTheBaker:
Lmfao, $6.5 million to get a kid in a college. Might as well just donate money to the school so they let you in with shitty grades ala Jared Kushner and be done with it. Pathetic what prestige does to people. You're that rich already and you're worried about your kid having the title "Harvard" as part of their CV.

Expand on Kushner?

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

This is inaccurate. The bar for giving has been raised tremendously.

$10M gifts rarely raise an eyebrow; children of these donors won't get preferential treatment and be treated as a "development" case.

As Alan Dershowitz (Harvard professor emeritus) commented on cable news a couple of days ago, the true donor cases that matter are the >$10M donations, the ultra-rich. The people named in the lawsuit are very rich. They can't afford to buy libraries, but several millions for "college coaching" is worth it.

 

Wow, when $50k/year private schools and expensive test prep and expensive extra-curriculars and high parental education levels all aren't sufficient, now we're just straight bribing colleges for entrance?

Burn all these people to the ground and let students stand on their own merit.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

Notable people charged: Head of TPG Growth, ex-PIMCO CEO

Here's the [partial?] list of people charged according to CNBC:

"The following defendants were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

  • Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, and his wife, Marcia Abbott 59. He is founder and chairman of International Dispensing Corp., a food and beverage packaging company.

  • Gamal "Aziz" Abdelaziz, 62, of Las Vegas, former president and executive director of Wynn Macau resort.

  • Diane Blake, 55, of San Francisco, an executive at retail merchandising firm.

  • Todd Blake, 53, of San Francisco, an entrepreneur and investor.

  • Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., CEO of a boutique marketing company Trendera, which has offices in New York and Los Angeles.

  • Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., co-chairman of Willkie Farr, which says it has 700 lawyers in 10 offices in six countries.

  • I-Hin "Joey" Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., operates a provider of warehousing and related services for the shipping industry.

  • Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.

  • Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.

  • Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., founder and CEO of real estate development firm Crown Realty & Development.

  • Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, fashion designer.

  • Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.

  • Manuel Henriquez, 55, of Atherton, Calif., founder, chairman and CEO of Hercules Technology Growth Capital.

  • Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., former CEO of Pimco investment management company.

  • Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, actress.

  • Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, owner of a family wine vineyard in Napa Valley.

  • Bruce Isackson, 61, of Hillsborough, Calif., president of a real estate development firm.

  • Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif.

  • Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif., former executive of a large food manufacturer.

  • Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, owner and president of a media company.

  • Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., co-owner of jewelry business.

  • Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, actress.

  • Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., former senior executive at a title insurance company.

  • William McGlashan Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif., senior executive at TPG private equity firm. #########[Founder and head of TPG Growth]

  • Marci Palatella, 63, of Healdsburg, Calif., CEO of a liquor distribution company.

  • Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., packaged food entrepreneur.

  • Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, executive at privately held provider of outsourced sales teams.

  • Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, founder and CEO of provider of drinking and wastewater systems.

  • John Wilson, 59, of Hyannis Port, Mass., founder and CEO of private equity and real estate development firm.

  • Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif., an associate professor of dentistry.

  • Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, founder and CEO of Dragon Global.

In addition:

  • William Rick Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., owner of the Edge College & Career Network and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged in an information with racketeering conspiracy and money laundering.

  • Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., was charged in an information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

  • Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., former head women's soccer coach at Yale University, was charged in an information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

  • John Vandemoer, 41, of Stanford, Calif., the former sailing coach at Stanford University, was charged in an information with racketeering conspiracy.

  • David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sidoo was arrested on Friday in San Jose, California, and appeared in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday. A date for his initial appearance in federal court in Boston has not been scheduled.

The following people were charged with racketeering conspiracy:

  • Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., director of a private elementary and high school in Los Angeles and a test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

  • Gordon Ernst, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., former head coach of men and women's tennis at Georgetown University.

  • William Ferguson, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., former women's volleyball coach at Wake Forest University.

  • Martin Fox, 62, of Houston, president of a private tennis academy in Houston.

  • Donna Heinel, 57, of Long Beach, Calif., senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California.

  • Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., former assistant coach of women's soccer at the University of Southern California.

  • Ali Khoroshahin, 49, of Fountain Valley, Calif., former head coach of women's soccer at the University of Southern California.

  • Steven Masera, 69, of Folsom, Calif., accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation.

  • Jorge Salcedo, 46, of Los Angeles, former head coach of men's soccer at the University of California at Los Angeles.

  • Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, Calif., employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation.

  • Jovan Vavic, 57, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., former water polo coach at the University of Southern California.

  • Niki Williams, 44, of Houston, assistant teacher at a Houston high school and test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

The following defendant was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud:

  • Michael Center, 54, of Austin, Texas, head coach of men's tennis at the University of Texas at Austin."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/12/a-slew-of-ceos-are-charged-in-alleged-c…

 
Controversial
Big_Muffin:
Notable people charged: Head of TPG Growth, ex-PIMCO CEO

Here's the [partial?] list of people charged according to CNBC:

"The following defendants were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

  • Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, and his wife, Marcia Abbott 59. He is founder and chairman of International Dispensing Corp., a food and beverage packaging company.

  • Gamal "Aziz" Abdelaziz, 62, of Las Vegas, former president and executive director of Wynn Macau resort.

  • Diane Blake, 55, of San Francisco, an executive at retail merchandising firm.

  • Todd Blake, 53, of San Francisco, an entrepreneur and investor.

  • Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., CEO of a boutique marketing company Trendera, which has offices in New York and Los Angeles.

  • Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., co-chairman of Willkie Farr, which says it has 700 lawyers in 10 offices in six countries.

  • I-Hin "Joey" Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., operates a provider of warehousing and related services for the shipping industry.

  • Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.

  • Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.

  • Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., founder and CEO of real estate development firm Crown Realty & Development.

  • Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, fashion designer.

  • Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.

  • Manuel Henriquez, 55, of Atherton, Calif., founder, chairman and CEO of Hercules Technology Growth Capital.

  • Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., former CEO of Pimco investment management company.

  • Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, actress.

  • Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, owner of a family wine vineyard in Napa Valley.

  • Bruce Isackson, 61, of Hillsborough, Calif., president of a real estate development firm.

  • Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif.

  • Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif., former executive of a large food manufacturer.

  • Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, owner and president of a media company.

  • Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., co-owner of jewelry business.

  • Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, actress.

  • Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., former senior executive at a title insurance company.

  • William McGlashan Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif., senior executive at TPG private equity firm. #########[Founder and head of TPG Growth]

  • Marci Palatella, 63, of Healdsburg, Calif., CEO of a liquor distribution company.

  • Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., packaged food entrepreneur.

  • Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, executive at privately held provider of outsourced sales teams.

  • Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, founder and CEO of provider of drinking and wastewater systems.

  • John Wilson, 59, of Hyannis Port, Mass., founder and CEO of private equity and real estate development firm.

  • Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif., an associate professor of dentistry.

  • Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, founder and CEO of Dragon Global.

In addition:

  • William Rick Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., owner of the Edge College & Career Network and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged in an information with racketeering conspiracy and money laundering.

  • Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., was charged in an information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

  • Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., former head women's soccer coach at Yale University, was charged in an information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

  • John Vandemoer, 41, of Stanford, Calif., the former sailing coach at Stanford University, was charged in an information with racketeering conspiracy.

  • David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sidoo was arrested on Friday in San Jose, California, and appeared in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday. A date for his initial appearance in federal court in Boston has not been scheduled.

The following people were charged with racketeering conspiracy:

  • Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., director of a private elementary and high school in Los Angeles and a test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

  • Gordon Ernst, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., former head coach of men and women's tennis at Georgetown University.

  • William Ferguson, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., former women's volleyball coach at Wake Forest University.

  • Martin Fox, 62, of Houston, president of a private tennis academy in Houston.

  • Donna Heinel, 57, of Long Beach, Calif., senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California.

  • Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., former assistant coach of women's soccer at the University of Southern California.

  • Ali Khoroshahin, 49, of Fountain Valley, Calif., former head coach of women's soccer at the University of Southern California.

  • Steven Masera, 69, of Folsom, Calif., accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation.

  • Jorge Salcedo, 46, of Los Angeles, former head coach of men's soccer at the University of California at Los Angeles.

  • Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, Calif., employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation.

  • Jovan Vavic, 57, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., former water polo coach at the University of Southern California.

  • Niki Williams, 44, of Houston, assistant teacher at a Houston high school and test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

The following defendant was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud:

  • Michael Center, 54, of Austin, Texas, head coach of men's tennis at the University of Texas at Austin."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/12/a-slew-of-ceos-are-charged-in-alleged-c…

How many of them are registered Democrats? 90%-95%?

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 
Henri Poincaré:
So disgraceful. I bet this is all too common given some of the idiots who go off to Ivies

Sure. But a lot of these people are going to USC, which while a good school, isn't Ivy/Stanford/MIT level.

In some ways it is kind of an affirmation of the system. I think everyone knew this shit went down to some degree. At least it's nice to see that the admissions folks have a standard of corruption and graft. You need to be at lease x smart to be considered for admission in the normal manner, but you also have to be at leas X-Y smart to be considered as a potential candidate for entry-by-bribery to get into Harvard.

 

While I fundamentally disagree with the decisions these parents made for their children, I can understand where these parents are coming from. Parents want the "best" for their children. As an alum of an elite college with a very low acceptance rate, I would hope that my future progeny will also one day have the opportunity to attend my alma mater.

Of course, I draw the line at organized conspiracy or anything illegal, but assuming my kids have the synapses and work ethic, I will do everything in my power to get them accepted, including donating money (I've donated every year since graduation - relatively small amounts but large compared to my classmates), staying active and engaged with the school (e.g. volunteering for fundraising committees, reunion committees, etc.)

 

I also went to an "elite" college with a super low admissions rate, and unless my kids get scholarships or pay their own way, they are most likely not attending my alma mater. First year all in costs are like $80k now, which is totally insane. In contrast, my GF went to an in state public flagship, paid very little, and makes more than me (though not when I worked in finance, but that's a moot point since I don't really want my kids working in finance anyway and who knows if it'll even still be this juicy in 40-50 years).

 

Lol it's only somewhat juicy even now. The real golden years were 1980-2007. With quant firms & more money needing to be put to work, returns have been dragged down across the board. Finance will never be what it once was, and opportunity will only continue to decline over the next couple decades.

I'd love to work till I'm 60-65 in equity investing, but with machine learning/AI, I'm just hoping to at least get to 50 before I'm pushed out. It sucks, but what can you do...

 

Lol, who the fkc wants their kid to go to a top-target? I went there so that my future kids won't have to. The highest level of prestige is becoming so rich that your kids can go full-time horse-riding/golfing/photography or whatever they wanna do.

I don't know... Yeah. Almost definitely yes.
 

I can only assume our species will be boiling itself off the planet in the next 70 years so frankly I could care less if my (eventual) kid has a brilliant career in law or medicine. My new measure of success is whether or not they can buy a ticket to the moon colony in 2053. If they get to drive an Italian supercar to the spaceport then that's extra credit.

 
Deo et Patriae:
I understand where these parents are coming from. Parents want the "best" for their children. As an alum of an elite college with a very low acceptance rate, I would hope that my future progeny will also one day have the opportunity to attend my alma mater.

Of course, I draw the line at organized conspiracy or anything illegal, but assuming my kids have the synapses and work ethic, I will do everything in my power to get them accepted, including donating money (I've donated every year since graduation - relatively small amounts but large compared to my classmates), staying active and engaged with the school (e.g. volunteering for fundraising committees, reunion committees, etc.)

Just another prestige whore that the colleges make money off of. They're good salesmen. Hopefully your kids get in off of merit, and if they don't, hopefully they are rejected.

Array
 

Wanting the best for your child is relative. Providing them with the best possible food you can afford, providing them with clothing and shelter, providing them with an education, etc.

Making a donation is essentially a good-faith, sometimes-publicly disclosed and above-board act. You are not specifically expecting the donation to curry any sort of favor.

Bribery is, as its very core, something that one does illicitly, under the table and one hopes that their bribery isn't discovered.

Bribing a school or bribing an individual to doctor test scores for your child to gain entrance to a college that they might not otherwise be eligible to attend is a different scenario altogether - bribing at that level along with all the potential trickery/fudging numbers/photoshopping photos is a blatant attempt to deceive on a scale of potentially screwing with someone else's legitimate, above-reproach application who might lose their window to attend that college because a spot was given to a cheat.

How would you feel if you learned that your son or daughter, even with their “synapses and work ethic” missed getting into the school of their choice if a cheating scandal were to be discovered at said school?

 
InfoDominatrix:
Wanting the best for your child is relative. Providing them with the best possible food you can afford, providing them with clothing and shelter, providing them with an education, etc.

Making a donation is essentially a good-faith, sometimes-publicly disclosed and above-board act. You are not specifically expecting the donation to curry any sort of favor.

I feel it's like when people try to make the argument that buying a date dinner is like legalized prostitution. You're definitely doing it because you want to, but you also expect something on the back end.

 

I agree with you. Shouldn't the real villains of the piece be the universities themselves? As the guy who organized the scam said himself, the easiest way to get into these schools is to give to the institution in a large enough fashion that they can't say no.

How many parents push their kids into joining the Free Tibet club, or the mathletes, just so they have it on their resume? Obviously money being exchanged for favors changes the picture, but there is barely a hairsbreadth of distance between sticking your kid on rowing machine and claiming they're on the crew "team" and joining the chess club to have your name on the roster and then claiming to be a chess enthusiast.

Anyone who has ever put together a college application or resume knows that a ton of it is fluff, or is talked up past the point of reality. A lot of what these parents did is barely beyond that. Hard to blame the parents, harder to blame the kids - it's the admissions officers and university policy towards admissions which are the problem in this equation.

 

Universities are so full of shit these days. They consider themselves the beacons of free thought and are full of people actively espousing fairly dividing wealth, yet classes are ripoffs that mainly support the athletics (aka profitability), while still taking gov money (or special loans). This level of corruption spreads even to the supporting industries like textbooks, academic journals, and even the goddamn graphing calculators! Then here they are seen taking what the ethics classes would teach you are straight up bribes, and again nothing on the hypocriticism.

 

You’re catching a lot of flak but I’m basically on board, I wouldn’t say I empathize with the parents but I’ve felt their anxiety (on a much lower wealth/prestige scale). To be clear, I hate that this happens and it’s pretty messed up that people along every step of the way enabled it. Hate the means they used, but I can see how they rationalized it.

 

If the parents actually wanted the best for their children they should have spent that money on tutors and actual sports clubs instead of straight up bribing the schools. Its clear the parents did it for 'prestige'. Shit Lori Loughlin's daughter Olivia Jade was chilling on a USC Chairman’s Yacht when the bribery scandal broke.

 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong here, but if you can afford to shell out 6.5 MM to get your kid into a school. Does it even matter what school they go to? Yes I get prestige chasing. I would totally do everything I can to get my kid into a fantastic school, but I’m sure anyone with that kind of liquidity could just call someone up and ask for a friend to give their kid a solid job, let alone if they don’t already probably have a fat trust fund in place. Not to mention someone like Lori laughlins daughter has her own YouTube channel and over a million followers on Instagram. What the hell do they even need school for. They’re already pretty set.

 

Bill McGlashan now on leave at TPG: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/12/tpgs-bill-mcglashan-is-put-on-indefin…

I think this is the best part:

:
McGlashan also allegedly signed-off on plans to doctor a photo that would make McGlashan’s son look like a football recruit and, as McGlashan was told, thus more desirable to the specialty program in arts, technology and business at USC that his son hoped to attend.

Imaging using photoshop to put the head of your child onto another body to gain a better admission outcome?!

 
Gumball3000:
Bill McGlashan now on leave at TPG: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/12/tpgs-bill-mcglashan-is-put-on-indefin…

I think this is the best part:

:
McGlashan also allegedly signed-off on plans to doctor a photo that would make McGlashan’s son look like a football recruit and, as McGlashan was told, thus more desirable to the specialty program in arts, technology and business at USC that his son hoped to attend.

Imaging using photoshop to put the head of your child onto another body to gain a better admission outcome?!

Holy fuuuuuuuuuuuck

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 
2733278823:
Aunt Becky's kids must be some retards in wheelchairs if she needed to spend half a million to get them into USC.

That was one of the worst ones for me.

  1. USC is a good school, but not a top target. A SAT in the top 70th percentile and a high school GPA of 3.5+ gets you in. We all know one of the best things about top schools is the network it provides you with - USC gets a "6/10" from on that (with Harvard being a 10/10 for network)

  2. The girl is a famous youtuber, grew up the daughter of a Hollywood actress and has no need for that network whatsoever - between her childhood friends, her parent's friends and the people she met through Youtube hollywood parties, her network is already superior to whatever USC might offer - so point 1 is moot.

  3. She grew her youtube channel to a massive thing with a few million followers. I know it's no proof of talent & she had a headstart with being an actress' daughter, but with colleges being all about "holistic" applications, there's no way she doesn't garner entrance into at least one top 25 school in media/film whatever just off the strength of that account alone - even with a B- (2.7) average. Unless she's impossibly dumb and has a 0.3 gpa or something.

  4. If she's that dumb, then she'll fail school anyways, rendering the whole thing moot

tld.dr her mom should have just invested that 500k into a low-cost index fund and given it to her daughter after 4 years. Much better returns & much wiser decision

 
BatemanBatemanBateman:
USC's film school is tied for #1 in the country with Tisch (NYU) ....if your goal is to go into Hollywood than USC/NYU's film school does much more good than Penn, Dartmouth, etc

Yea, but I feel you could do fine just being Lori's kid.

Look at Hollywood, it's all about the name. What's the first thing people say when they mention Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn's daughter. Ivan Reitman's son is doing another Ghostbusters movie, pretty sure some studio didn't beg him to make it bc of his "awesome" director skills. (Not saying he's bad, just saying its way harder off the street to get that job.)

 

The index fund misses the point. It's not the money the parents wanted. It's all about brand deals and publicity.

Having skimmed through two of Olivia Jade's videos (lazy day at the office...), it's extremely clear she doesn't give a damn about college or even the "normal" students at USC. She probably just begged her parents to help her get into USC since it's in LA and has a vibrant Greek and sports culture. She wanted the lifestyle for her own enjoyment and for college-related brand deals.

When you can get 50k+ for a single Instagram photo, we're talking about a low-effort ROI that most people can't even imagine.

 

Yeah no one (besides our friend Olivia) is getting into USC with a 70th percentile score (that’s like a 1200) and a 3.7. The year I applied, and got rejected, the average sat was a 1480 (98th percentile) and the average GPA was like a 3.85. It was something like 92% of admits were in the top 10% of their class. I would have chosen USC over my current non-state school semitarget

 

I'm likely dumb.

But, how is it illegal/criminal to bribe a school for admission? I understand bribing police, courts, government; but a school? I've bribed doormen at nightclubs to skip the line.

 

Thanks. The headline I saw (and didn't read) was said celebrities bribed for admission favors. I didn't realize it was a exam scandal.

You'd think most well to do parents would contribute funds to a school to tilt admission departments. Simpsons even joked about this.

 

A more detailed view on the indictment can be found here (with charges against names) https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-t…

(link goes to a .gov website).

Several large discussions forums online are actively discussing what alleged "crime" the parents have committed, claiming that - while morally and ethically questionable - the charges would not be enough to be convicted of alleged crimes ("Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud").

Not trying to defend anyone, but the money laundering and tax charges will most likely hit them the hardest if charged with; and their destroyed reputation and/or careers.

 

Thanks bud.
School's act in their own best interests. Whether it be give a scholarship to a dumb athlete or admit a relative of a benefactor; they act rationally.

Life isn't fair. And many people have more money than brains.

 

I think it was Taleb that said if you are legitimately interested in social issues, you should do it anonymously as much as possible, while those who actively advertise themselves as god's gift to earth are likely to hide major felonies. There you go.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 
Most Helpful

Not gonna lie, I love this story. Half this website is paranoid about black and brown kids taking their admissions spots, when it was the rich white guy, in the board room, with the money bags all along.

Two sets of rules in this country for college admissions, job hunting, and the criminal justice system - one for the rich, and one for the rest of us.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 
urmaaam:
dafaq?

one is your corrupt comrades taking bribes, another is the government enacting policies that divide people based on the color of their skin

I think this argument is so stupid. You are making the accusation that the policies place an unjust burden on citizens on the basis of their skin color. So, it's up to you to prove this burden. You can't just say stuff just because it's a convenient twist of words.

 

Yeah and tbh, while I do feel for kids who missed out on top schools because of this, there are some poor bastards down the food chain who probably missed the cut on their local state school because of the ripple effect. At least in theory.

 

It doesn't mean "anti-white" in spirit, but that is one of the things it means in practice. Under AA, a black billionaire's kid has a better chance of admission every single time into a given college than a dirt poor white/Asian/South Asian kid with the same academic qualifications.

Help me understand your point of view because I don't see how that outcome is not at least partially anti-white.

 

LMFAO, affirmative action helps millions of under-qualified minorities/women each year, while this is a one-time, completely overblown case with enough people involved for one to count. Scroll up, all those guilty were able to fit into a single comment (someone posted here).

 

Let's be real here, this is merely just a symptom of something worse - the fact that companies out there put so much weight on what school you go to, that some parents are willing to spend actual millions on securing their admission.

There's gotta be something much deeper than vanity for parents to do that - no way you spend that kind of money just for the "Jr. goes to Yale" bragging rights.

It also makes you wonder: How many are there that don't get caught?

 

I understand your point about corporations putting weight on the candidates' alma mater - but I doubt that any child from families on this list would ever have to "work" a day in their lives. Ivy or not. If a family has several 100K $US (or in some cases millions) as "admission budget", their children would never have to submit 1 job application (unless, for whatever reason, they want to work).

After having lived in many areas of the world (including California/L.A.) - some events can really be about egos, achievements and "family values". When you attend social functions and family events at this level of society, you simply can not brag with your Porsche or Rolex any longer because everyone has that.

And, to an extent, I can understand this behavior. When I talk to my parents they always say that their proudest achievement are their children. A product, service or object you buy has no identity - your children are literally the only legacy you leave behind. The difference here is that my parents (and I am sure other members' parents) have taught us the value of hard work and ethical behavior.

 

I typically hate BI, but this article is absolutely spot on:

"They buy their kids boutique healthcare, take them on enriching trips to the Galápagos, and — most importantly — equip them with every educational advantage, from high-end preschools to SAT tutors to Ivy League tuition. In 2014, the top 1% spent 860% more than the national average on education."

Tell me the above doesn't sound like every wealthy socialite you know.

 
Gumball3000:
I understand your point about corporations putting weight on the candidates' alma mater - but I doubt that any child from families on this list would ever have to "work" a day in their lives. Ivy or not. If a family has several 100K $US (or in some cases millions) as "admission budget", their children would never have to submit 1 job application (unless, for whatever reason, they want to work).

After having lived in many areas of the world (including California/L.A.) - some events can really be about egos, achievements and "family values". When you attend social functions and family events at this level of society, you simply can not brag with your Porsche or Rolex any longer because everyone has that.

And, to an extent, I can understand this behavior. When I talk to my parents they always say that their proudest achievement are their children. A product, service or object you buy has no identity - your children are literally the only legacy you leave behind. The difference here is that my parents (and I am sure other members' parents) have taught us the value of hard work and ethical behavior.

100% agree with this. For these people, it's not about sending your kid to Yale so they can go get a great job. It's about sending your kid to Yale so they can tell friends/clients about it. However, it happens at a lot of levels for wealthy families-have to dress certain way, act a certain way, marry in a certain way.

I also think this probably the candle of with something the size of the sun coming down the road. Parents know will strictly do things just so they can post them on IG. Might be "hey my kid is going to Yale(whispering--my kid is better than yours)" or "watch me throw cheese on my kids face"

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/georgetown-rich-kid-isabelle-henriquez-gl…

It would appear that the vast majority of the parents kept their kids in the dark about the cheating aid they were providing, but this one particular class act of a kid, bragged about cheating on her SAT and now her precious Georgetown University degree will be in jeopardy...as will her summer wealth management analyst gig at Jefferies!

And talk about the ultimate in hypocrisy, from the link above:

'Isabelle was admitted to Georgetown, and in May 2016, the Henriquez Family Trust “donated” $400,000 to the Key Worldwide Foundation, a non-profit that allegedly functioned as a front for Singer’s payments to crooked coaches and proctors. The donation, according to a receipt delivered to Elizabeth Henriquez, would allow the foundation “to move forward with our plans to provide educational and self-enrichment programs to disadvantaged youth.” '

Wow...that's just beyond snarky and we're-so-rich-and-entitled-that-we'll-never-get-caught-because-we're-so-smart-and-slick when you think about it, managing the bribery payments under the guise of a seemingly legitimate educational program!

 

Btw the long term damage, depending on which politician picks it up, may be immense. We already live in an era where many feel ''the system is rigged by the rich''. This is a massive evidence for that argument.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 
neink:
Btw the long term damage, depending on which politician picks it up, may be immense. We already live in an era where many feel ''the system is rigged by the rich''. This is a massive evidence for that argument.

This is exactly my reaction. Universal Basic Income....here we come. The perception of a rigged system is proven absolutely correct in this instance and a smart politician will play the living shit out of this. They will get votes by the boatload because people react viscerally to unfairness.

 

all of that money spent on college admissions, nannies, iphones, and you still have a shitty kid: https://theblast.com/lori-loughlin-daughter-olivia-jade-admitted-party-…

shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves

I'd also argue Deo et Patriae while the pressure is tremendous for parents' children to do well if they themselves did well, I'd argue that these parents need to realize that it's the struggle that got them their success (unless they've been a powerful family for eons). I hope the courts make an example out of them, personally.

 

It’s funny how the WSO and financial community adores “Old Money” and prestige because they spend their money on “virtuous” things like “education” and “investments” but when an article like this comes out everyone is triggered as F***. Most of the people caught in the scandal can be categorized as Old Money or at least second generation wealthy. The hypocrisy shows when the “new rich” lifestyle is criticized on WSO (buying cars, watches, fancy clothes are described as dumb or waste of money).

 

yeah, because having a bunch of investments in PE is the same thing as bribing your kids way into a school they have no business attending.

I think we're all aware favoritism exists. I'm a far cry from someone who grew up with a education at exeter and then went to an Ivy because his family has a long history of top notch education, but I went to middle & high school with kids who ascended to those levels on their merits alone. a bribe though? that skips right over favoritism and goes into the criminal realm, and it's shameful.

totally different.

 

As someone who grew up playing competitive tennis, you would be surprised at how many of these favoritism cases there are. Favoritism may be worse than bribery because it happens so often. For example, Hannity’s son is only a 4 star tennis recruit and gets to play on Wake Forest (number 2 team in country) while other equivalent 4 star recruits are stuck struggling at mid majors or D3 schools. It was really ironic that Hannity talked about this bribery on national tv when his son wouldn’t be playing there if he wasn’t his son. Many of my friends at IMG academy have personally bragged about their parents getting them into colleges they weren’t qualified to get into. This kind of favoritism creates a sort of societal structure that is deeply flawed. The mentality that creates this phenomenon is the constant striving to get ahead socially, rather than just enjoying what you have in terms of wealth and material access.

 

I knew a kid freshman year that basically told me Asian parents will give their kids money to "handle" college admission processes and they'll turn around and go to Ivy grads to have their essays written, applications filled out optimally, cheat on standardized tests, etc...

I didn't go to an amazing school, but to think there were Asians that couldn't hold a conversation in English was beyond amazing to freshman-me. Probably because those individuals cheated their way into college.

 
Yankee Doodle:
If you really want to be shocked, look into what goes on with international students from Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

It's this scandal x1000.

Two of the Chinese students in my graduate program could not write or speak functional English. Blatantly lied/got someone else to take their English exam on admissions. One of the two never really learned how in the two years she was there.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

This lawsuit is going no where. 1.) Unis didn't know about the fraud 2.) They can't prove they didn't get in specifically because of the subset of students who bribed their way in 3.) They can't prove their current degrees were devalued

Wtf are they complaining about anyway they go to Stanford. You'd think college kids have other things to worry about than suing for this, guess not?

Array
 
Frogbefinancing:
WSO hasn't heard the half of it.

There were parts in the FBI affidavit that described how Lori Loughlin's daughter had a hard time filing her application so the person in charge of the bribes ended up doing it for her.

Imagine that...

She was making 6 figures thanks to social media before this. Her mother killed her brand. She didn't even need uni education.

I'd feel sorry for her if it wasn't for the fact that I absolutely despise these kind of hypocrites.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

"The original tipster who led federal authorities to the biggest college-admissions scam they’ve ever prosecuted was Morrie Tobin, a Los Angeles resident who was being investigated in a securities fraud case, according to a person familiar with the investigation." via WSJ

This just keeps getting better.

 

To me, the biggest takeaway is that it's much harder to bribe your way into average-to-good schools than I would have ever guessed.

I would have assumed $500k in bribe money would get you in anywhere but the Ivies with 90%+ confidence. The fact that so many of these idiots paid more and didn't even get their first choice says to me that the system is largely working....

Obviously scumbag activity and I'm thoroughly pleased they are being brought to justice.

Life's is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
 

The only thing worse than a properly entrenched aristocracy is a properly entrenched aristocracy which pretends its a meritocracy, hiding under a veil of middle-class culture, pretending their success is just the fruit of exceptional personal efforts and mettle.

This is today's elite in the United States, not excluding celebrities.

 

I was skimming the 200 page report (https://www.justice.gov/file/1142876/download) on and off. The schadenfreude is so delicious.

This line in particular was great:

Bruce Isackson: “Oh, yeah. I’m just thinking, oh my God, because you’re thinking, does this roll into something where, you know, if they get into the meat and potatoes, is this gonna be this-- be the front page story with everyone from Kleiner Perkins do whatever, getting these kids into school, and-“

“--went the meat and potatoes of it, which a-- which a guy would love to have is, it’s so hard for these kids to get into college, and here’s-- look what-- look what’s going on behind the schemes, and then, you know, the, the embarrassment to everyone in the communities. Oh my God, it would just be-- Yeah. Ugh.

 
kanon:
I was skimming the 200 page report (https://www.justice.gov/file/1142876/download) on and off. The schadenfreude is so delicious.

This line in particular was great:

Bruce Isackson: “Oh, yeah. I’m just thinking, oh my God, because you’re thinking, does this roll into something where, you know, if they get into the meat and potatoes, is this gonna be this-- be the front page story with everyone from Kleiner Perkins do whatever, getting these kids into school, and-“

“--went the meat and potatoes of it, which a-- which a guy would love to have is, it’s so hard for these kids to get into college, and here’s-- look what-- look what’s going on behind the schemes, and then, you know, the, the embarrassment to everyone in the communities. Oh my God, it would just be-- Yeah. Ugh.

Nice find. SB’d

The quotes are so damning

 

It’s a pretty fun read actually. The level of entitlement and hypocrisy is hilarious.

In one instance, a parent, Devin Sloane, worked with Rick to build Sloane’s son up as a water polo player for some team in Italy (because their high school doesn’t have water polo). When a HS counselor inquired about it...

CW-1 (Rick) responded as follows:

They know about USC. One of the counselors questioned [your son] getting in as Water Polo player this week. My folks at USC called me so we could restate [your son] playing in Italy as [his high school] does not have a team.

SLOANE replied, “Any concerns?” Three minutes later SLOANE responded again, as follows:

The more I think about this, it is outrageous! They have no business or legal right considering all the students privacy issues to be calling and challenging/question [my son’s]’s application.

 

Even though it is hard to, I kind of feel bad for some of these kids that had their parents do this to them. One of the best feelings in life is seeing your own hard work pay off whether it is through winning a championship in sports or getting into that top school because of what you did. Now imagine being a rich kid who never really asked for any of this but your stubborn parents who were worried about everything put you through this, losing ordeal for both.

 

We’ll see how many of these kids are actually in the dark about this scandal... but frankly I think a good number of them knew something is fishy, at least to some degree.

You have some cases where they were photoshopping kids to pass them off as athletes. But it at least involved the parents needing to send photos of their kids in sports (so their faces look like they’re doing something) for it to work. In one case, a parent worked with the head guy to make it look like the son plays water polo. And investigators noted that the parent (Devin Sloane) went and bought water polo cap and ball from amazon. So... at some point Sloane must’ve said “hey son, I need you to get in your swim trunks, put on this cap, and we’ll take a few glam shots and we’ll put this in your application!” Kids have to be real idiots (or choosing to look the other way) to think that’s all that’s needed to get into decent-ish school.

Thing is, if any of these kids were even remotely serious about getting into a competitive school on their own merit, they would have some awareness of what’s needed (grades, extracurriculars, general profile ) to be competitive. So they are either so stupid and oblivious to their mediocrity that they think they got in on their own. Or, more cynically (and I think realistically), they know mommy and daddy will “handle it”, and simply turned a blind eye to the situation because they think/know the rules don’t apply to them. Only this time, they got caught.

No sympathy.

 

The only thing that matters is "Who the fuck cares". This shit is pointless and is only meant to give the lower classes something more to grumble about. To me this smells more like a story that is about some ridiculous attempt to rile up people about nothing. It isn't like these kids were taking the place of some underprivileged kid. It was just privileged kids replacing privileged kids. I don't give a shit.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

Not really, these are privileged kids taking the spots of student athletes, one of the major ways less advantaged kids can actually pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 
heister:
The only thing that matters is "Who the fuck cares". This shit is pointless and is only meant to give the lower classes something more to grumble about. To me this smells more like a story that is about some ridiculous attempt to rile up people about nothing. It isn't like these kids were taking the place of some underprivileged kid. It was just privileged kids replacing privileged kids. I don't give a shit.

When rich white parents do illegal things to give their kids another leg up in their privileged entitled lives - "pointless, nothing, something for the lower class to grumble about, I don't give a shit"

When poor brown parents do illegal things to give their kids a chance in their endangered, impoverished lives - "MAGA - put them in cages and deport the aliens"

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

Ah yes, the character of people. The old standby to drag people who have made points you can't easily refute with logic. I made an observation that was intrinsically true yet people want to act like it isn't. To get an athletic admission to a school like Harvard you need a minimum of a 33 on your ACT. Don't act like underprivileged kids are getting athletic offerings at elite colleges.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

I understand the outrage over the college admissions scandal. Essentially, the admissions system is less egalitarian than most would like. I guess your opinion on which category of privileged admissions you believe to be unfair depends on where you sit. Legacies and 'development cases' probably don't think they're undeserving. Athletes probably don't think they're undeserving. Under-represented minorities probably don't think they're undeserving. The truth is, they are all contributing something different to the university.

While each of those constituencies are potentially (though not necessarily) 'undeserving' on pure academic grounds, they add to the college in other ways. While college is ostensibly meant to be a bastion of learning and therefore meritocratic based on academic attainment, that's only partly true. Students are meant to take away more from college than their classroom experiences alone.

Take the case of the student athlete. Would Duke be what it is without its basketball team? Would Notre Dame be what it is without its football team? What if there were no crew team at Harvard or Yale? I think the schools would be poorer for it. In the case of the URM applicant, it's rather important to expose elites to constituencies they might not otherwise encounter. This is why I wish Affirmative Action applied on a socioeconomic basis as well as a racial one. If everyone at Harvard came from the same advantaged background, the school would be poorer for it.

Legacies and 'development admissions' are no different in my mind. Part of the reason people want to go to Harvard is because the scions of wealth and power go to Harvard. A huge part of that is the networking effect associated with knowing those scions of wealth and power. If they didn't attend Harvard, the school would be poorer for it. If they're paying millions to get their kids into Harvard, that pays for a lot of financial aid for kids who couldn't otherwise afford it. It pays for the buildings and the professor salaries and the research labs. It's unfair when seen through the lens of academic merit, but when looking holistically at the contribution of that student to campus life, it makes a lot more sense.

To be clear, that's the exact same argument for allowing AA or student-athlete admits. Did they get perfect SAT scores? Did they have a stellar GPA? Could they compete on those grounds? Probably not. But do they have something to add to the school? Yes--they do. As a result, I don't have a problem with any of these special admission categories. I do, however, have a problem with cheating on exams, lying about extracurriculars, and bribing coaches to game the system. That goes beyond slanting the field in your favor to entering the realm of outright corruption, and we can't have that now, can we?

 

Aunt Becky buying her 2 daughters spots on the crew team when they don’t even want to go to college is pretty funny

Bill McGlashan (TPG) and Gordon Caplan (Wilkie Farr) is so short sighted it’s insane. It’s driven by embarrassment - at the potential for their kids not to go to the best schools.

McGlashan stands to lose tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars of carry / GP ownership from TPG as a result of this

 

His son could've gone to Bumblefuck State University, and his dad could've easily hooked him up with a lucrative job. For a PE investor, McGlashan sucked at evaluating risk-to-reward, but I don't think he and others realized the severity of the consequences.

Makes you wonder how McGlashan himself got into Yale undergrad and Stanford b-school.

 

People are mad about payoffs, OK. But we're not talking about long standing practices of affirmative action, which is really reverse discrimination, and quota systems? The Trump justice dept is correct to review race in admission policies.

What do you call an economist who forecasts? Wrong!
 

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Sed sunt sint et sequi itaque labore natus ut. Corporis laudantium totam doloremque autem amet sint. Totam dignissimos provident ipsam voluptatem ut ea et.

In molestiae doloribus cupiditate. Excepturi ipsa consequuntur in et temporibus ut. Sed accusantium quisquam quis. Sequi eum inventore voluptas architecto et velit. Nostrum beatae praesentium est fugiat. Perferendis dolore non voluptate aut amet. Corporis explicabo neque optio et dolorem qui in sint.

Et magni expedita nulla cumque corporis dolores dolore. Nihil cupiditate unde non et eum autem. Animi repellendus et vel doloribus nihil maiores. Maxime esse sit qui ratione illo aut. Nulla ipsum illum qui et. Et quibusdam sunt exercitationem vero quia.

Enim optio ut maxime nihil accusamus iure qui. Modi corrupti omnis et quibusdam pariatur dolor sapiente laboriosam.

 

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