College cheating scandal and celebrities!

[Slickk]

I don’t understand why the feds are allowing Singer, the mastermind or facilitator, a plea in lieu of testimony against the accused rather than the opposite.
These people’s kids already have ridiculous advantages. It is disgraceful!
I do feel for the kids who ‘didn’t know,’ though I don’t think there are many of them. One gal was bragging about how she cheated the SAT.

 

[sarahb]

I don’t understand why the feds are allowing Singer, the mastermind or facilitator, a plea in lieu of testimony against the accused rather than the opposite.
These people’s kids already have ridiculous advantages. It is disgraceful!
I do feel for the kids who ‘didn’t know,’ though I don’t think there are many of them. One gal was bragging about how she cheated the SAT.

I believe the reason(s) he received a plea deal is because he wore a wire while conducting his business--which helped with evidence gathering, securing convictions etc...

 

[Slickk]

One million dollar bail for Becky aka Lori Loughlin


Thank you @sarahb for clarifying that.

 

[Keeliamira]

I am not at all surprised. I used to live in the Newport Beach area and in LA and the audacity of all of these people is off the charts. I went to school at a very good private, non ivy, university where a number of kids whose parents didn’t buy their way in and chose not to game the system went. Unfortunately, I knew several of them who were almost cut off, and one who was cut off, from their parents because they only got in to a “substandard” University. Can you imagine their poor parents ringing their hands at cocktail party is over the deplorable situation of their less than Ivy League child.

I think @missy hit the nail on the head when she talked about how self-centered and frankly, narcissistic, these people are. They think they are entitled and above the rules that apply to everyone else. This is their legacy even though they hoped for a different one for their children. Smh

 

[GliderPoss]

I'm horrified but also not really that surprised.... :roll

Also feel like there seems a huge pressure on kids to go to "a good university" in the US, much more so than here. Seems like a bigger deal ya know?

 

[missy]

I am not at all surprised. I used to live in the Newport Beach area and in LA and the audacity of all of these people is off the charts. I went to school at a very good private, non ivy, university where a number of kids whose parents didn’t buy their way in and chose not to game the system went. Unfortunately, I knew several of them who were almost cut off, and one who was cut off, from their parents because they only got in to a “substandard” University. Can you imagine their poor parents ringing their hands at cocktail party is over the deplorable situation of their less than Ivy League child.

I think @missy hit the nail on the head when she talked about how self-centered and frankly, narcissistic, these people are. They think they are entitled and above the rules that apply to everyone else. This is their legacy even though they hoped for a different one for their children. Smh

Yes I believe this is the reason they did it. Because they could and thought they would get away with it. Because, in their minds, hey are the center of the universe and rules that apply to "regular" people do not apply to them. Period. And I am also confident their punishment won't be suitable proving them right. But we shall see.

As for their children perhaps remaining innocent I ask how is it innocent skipping the SATs and having someone take it for them? Surely *if* they skipped that test they had to realize what was going on... I will refrain from judgment til more facts are released.

But yeah, sadly I am not shocked nor surprised. Again, this is why I prefer animals to most people.

 

[autumngems]

Lori's daughter knew, she posed for the fake crew pictures. You can't tell me the kids didn't know. You don't do well in high school and all of a sudden your SAT is off the charts and your in USC or Yale or Harvard. They should all have degrees revoked.

 

[missy]

This sums it up. One word really. Greedy. They have so many advantages to begin with but they just want more and moore and moore and have no moral compass IRL. They are however quite adept at virtue signaling in general. Good actors all the way.

 

[LinSF]

I think most of the kids were lower division, so I'd bet it would become noticeable that they didn't belong there based on grades sooner than later. I wonder how many of them would have actually passed the classes required to get a degree? But then again, who's to say they weren't cheating in their college classes either?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Lori Loughlin's daughter will likely lose brand deals/endorsements with her sponsors. She's already been cut from HP.

https://variety.com/2019/digital/ne...llege-scam-influencer-brand-deals-1203162624/

I can just about guarantee that she is more upset over the problem with her own business than she is about getting kicked out of school. She didn't even want to go! I'll bet she didn't have the grades to return next year.

As far as kids not knowing, there could have been some. Because some took the test and someone else changed some of the answers before sending them in. Some of the kids were being tutored for the SAT, so they technically could have thought they just did better after the tutoring.

As far as big legal donors go in general, I don't have a huge problem with that just because many people who are extremely wealthy are intelligent and their children are, too, but maybe they just aren't Ivy League qualified. What matters is that the children are able to pass the actual classes in that school. I very much disagree with a test score being such a big factor in college entrance. Everyone should have the option of extended time. Some people are able to do well classes due to having time to complete papers and other assignments. We have a daughter with a learning disability, and while we did nothing whatsoever to influence her college acceptance (we steered her to look at schools she'd likely get in), she graduated with a pretty good gpa and did it all on her own. But I'd hate to think about her ACT scores had she not had extended time. That test really meant nothing.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I was flabbergasted to read this news. It is all over the news sites (hehe well the trashy ones I read) in Australia.

Wouldn't it have been easier to encourage your kids to study and work hard than sit on a web of lies and cheating!?!? I hope they get sent to jail!

We have a pretty ruthless system in NSW (Australia) where every year 12 student who sits the HSC gets a mark out of 100. The courses and university you get into is based on this mark and admission is handled by the University Admissions Centre which is a seperate body itself. I think in most cases the computer determines the cut off as to whether you get in or not. None of this funny business.

Of course there are exceptions but in general they are few and far between. You either get the mark or you don't.

***

In NSW right now there is a huge debate over selective schools and the selection process. So basically we have a bunch of high schools which you can only attend if you do well in a state wide test. Anyone can apply to sit for the test in year 6. The schools are excellent and dirt cheap in terms of fees. Most kids from these schools go on to get very high HSC marks and into whatever unis they want.

Now there is a huge kerfuffle because this test was initially designed to test naturally gifted children. What has happened is parents with average students spend a HUGE amount of money sending their kids to tutoring where they are taught to take the test and how to do well in it.

Cue uproar because your average kid who has been drilled can now possibly beat a brighter kid who hasn't been drilled. It also means that the more well off kids who can afford tutoring are taking up spots at these schools.

I find it an interesting dilemma since these kids don't cheat. They sacrificed HOURS of their lives to tutoring (I know 5 yr olds who get tutored) so they earned their spot in the high school. But there is an issue with the more naturally bright kids missing out.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I was flabbergasted to read this news. It is all over the news sites (hehe well the trashy ones I read) in Australia.

Wouldn't it have been easier to encourage your kids to study and work hard than sit on a web of lies and cheating!?!? I hope they get sent to jail!

We have a pretty ruthless system in NSW (Australia) where every year 12 student who sits the HSC gets a mark out of 100. The courses and university you get into is based on this mark and admission is handled by the University Admissions Centre which is a seperate body itself. I think in most cases the computer determines the cut off as to whether you get in or not. None of this funny business.

Of course there are exceptions but in general they are few and far between. You either get the mark or you don't.

***

In NSW right now there is a huge debate over selective schools and the selection process. So basically we have a bunch of high schools which you can only attend if you do well in a state wide test. Anyone can apply to sit for the test in year 6. The schools are excellent and dirt cheap in terms of fees. Most kids from these schools go on to get very high HSC marks and into whatever unis they want.

Now there is a huge kerfuffle because this test was initially designed to test naturally gifted children. What has happened is parents with average students spend a HUGE amount of money sending their kids to tutoring where they are taught to take the test and how to do well in it.

Cue uproar because your average kid who has been drilled can now possibly beat a brighter kid who hasn't been drilled. It also means that the more well off kids who can afford tutoring are taking up spots at these schools.

I find it an interesting dilemma since these kids don't cheat. They sacrificed HOURS of their lives to tutoring (I know 5 yr olds who get tutored) so they earned their spot in the high school. But there is an issue with the more naturally bright kids missing out.

I'd say those "naturally bright children" need to study for the test! Maybe the ones who worked hard to make a good score are the ones who'll be the most successful! However, as I said in my last post, I do not think a test score should be the determining factor in college acceptance.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I'd say those "naturally bright children" need to study for the test! Maybe the ones who worked hard to make a good score are the ones who'll be the most successful! However, as I said in my last post, I do not think a test score should be the determining factor in college acceptance.

They can't because you cannot access mock test papers unless you pay the tutoring centres. So if you are poor you can't even get past test papers to study from.

I feel for both sets of kids in this regard because there are the bright ones who sit the test and do well at school but don't get in because they don't understand the nuances of how the test works.

I also feel sorry for the kids who get chained to a desk at 5 yrs old in preparation for the Holy Grail highschool!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Here there is plentiful access to SAT and ACT practice online, in books, etc. I think it is odd there isn't practice material available there!

I totally agree that it is sad to think of children forced to practice for years for a test that is important to the parents. That's a very similar mindset to the parents in the news here, but at least they aren't breaking the law to make their kids get ahead.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

In my day they released the past test papers. We used to buy the book for like $20 and practice. That was how I got in

They stopped releasing them a few years ago because the coaching centres were using these papers to develop extra practice papers for the kids who attended. So now the coaching centres interview students who have taken the test to work out what was in the test so they can make up mock papers.

You can still buy a book for $30 (made by those companies that specialise in these exams) but the general consensus is that going to a coaching centre will give you the edge.

They even run mock tests (at a hired venue) where your kids show up on the day to sit the test as they would the real test.

It is pretty crazy but these kids do pay their pound of flesh so it isn't cheating.

***

Our HSC exams to get into uni are fine though. Plenty of papers released. I think in NSW it's just the mindset to get into a certain high school. It's even more important than university it seems.

I go to get a haircut and the lady who washes my hair is raving about how much tutoring costs and how she's freaking out her daughter won't get into a selective high school.

 

[nala]

How does a minor, whose greatest Influence are his parents, walk away from his parents’ unethical behavior? I feel sorry for the kids. For trusting their bad judgement. At that age, I trusted my mother’s judgement blindly and my goal was to please her. I think many people are forgetting that most of these kids were probably minors when they applied to these schools and were acting as such.

 

[lyra]

I do fear for the mental health of some of these kids. I know maybe most of the kids will just be looked after and fine, but there might be some who go off the deep end in life over this debacle. Some of these kids are going to be under even more pressure. They're so young really, and the media will be relentless. They aren't really the ones to blame. Their parents made these choices instead of just accepting their kids as they were, possibly not college material at all or maybe just not able to gain acceptance to certain schools. Maybe a good portion of the kids were also complicit, but I don't think any of them realized what could happen if the fraud was revealed. The parents should have known better. I couldn't live with myself if I'd done that much potential damage to my kid, sheesh!

 

[autumngems]

Both of Lori's daughter has now pulled out of USC due to fear of bullying and one of them lost their contract with Sephora already. Supposedly they are mortified by all this. (Good, I guess you shouldn't have posed for fake pictures with crew to get in)
Lori herself was fired from Hallmark.

What comes around goes around

I don't understand why William H. Macey (Fecility's husband) isn't charged. It said he was in on a meeting with wife and this informant and agreed to the SAT cheating deal?

 

[telephone89]

Parents/students are now suing schools over this... https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/college-admissions-scam-cheating-bribery-lawsuits-1.5056277

"Meanwhile, a $500-billion US civil lawsuit filed by a parent on Wednesday in San Francisco accused 45 defendants of defrauding and inflicting emotional distress on everyone whose "rights to a fair chance at entrance to college" were stolen through their alleged conspiracy."

"Also on Wednesday, several college students filed a lawsuit against Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and other schools involved in the case, saying they and others were denied a fair shot at admission."

 

[Bonfire]

 

[cmd2014]

I guess what I don’t understand is that these kids (the children of celebrities) don’t *need* the advantage. Going to these schools clearly isn’t going to launch them (they are rich, they are connected, they have opportunities that they already have that others don’t from their wealth and connections alone AND they are not pursuing work that requires a degree). The world was already their oyster. Why do it?

 

[nala]

I guess what I don’t understand is that these kids (the children of celebrities) don’t *need* the advantage. Going to these schools clearly isn’t going to launch them (they are rich, they are connected, they have opportunities that they already have that others don’t from their wealth and connections alone AND they are not pursuing work that requires a degree). The world was already their oyster. Why do it?

Exactly. I don’t even think these kids wanted to do it. It’s the parents and their narcissistic egos who want to show off that they have perfect genes and have engineered beautiful, rich and smart offspring. Can you imagine living with that pressure all your life? As a teacher, I’ve come across a few parents like this and maybe that is why instead of condemning the kids in this situation, I feel sorry for them. Just like I feel sorry for the kids who grow up in a gang culture, whose parents expect them to be a part of their gang and who raise them as such. Or the religious zealots who expect their kids to attend services daily rather than participate in extracurricular activities. Or the football parents who push their boys to only focus on football, the dance moms, theater moms. I could go on and on Bc As a teacher, I see a lot of messed up parents and the effect that they have on their kids. How can theses kids turn on their parents when they believe their parents have their best interest in mind?

 

[Tekate]

Hello violet3, would you if you can, post what your students say? I would love to hear what these young folks have to say. Ty. if not, it's okay, I would think most kids are shocked but not necessarily surprised.


QUOTE="violet3, post: 4513243, member: 28229"]This. It just seems truly insane, doesn't it? People with that kind of money could donate funds and get their kids in without breaking the law, unethical though it may be. The idea of fabricating information/test scores and getting other professionals to corroborate this seems legitimately NUTS. I am someone who TRULY believes in kids getting a good college education, but it's not worth THAT kind of insanity.

I can't wait to discuss this with my students next week! I teach a media class, and I'm sure they'll have opinions on the media coverage of this.[/QUOTE]

 

[Snowdrop13]

I’ve never heard of Lori Loughlin but Felicity Huffman is well known here. I always enjoyed her acting and she appeared to be reasonably sensible and grounded! How wrong could I be! I just looked at her Wikipedia entry and she was already wealthy on account of her birth family. What is wrong with these people? It will be really interesting to see what sort of punishment the court hands out.

 

[Tekate]

UT in Austin is very very hard to get into even if you live in Texas. My younger son knew he would not be accepted because he wasn't top 10% (or 20% or 30% or 40% but higher than 60% and you know what, his overall GPA in high school was 4.0 - that is he had an 90 average in all classes in high school which included his being an A/P scholar) so it's damn hard to get into UT, but a much worse story is my longest bestest friend in the world's daughter who had 1475 on SAT, a 4.9 average, an IBM Watson Scholar, A/P 34, started a cheer academy for underprivileged kids in Tucson AZ) was in the top 10 kids of her poshy rich high school, this girl was rejected by UT and from Yale in 2004, makes you wonder?? WTF! she went to Tulane and graduated in 4 years with a BA in art /BBA accounting/MBA in accounting (in 4 effing years this is), THIS is who was rejected from UT and Yale, not only was she super bright, she is super nice! while these kids who didn't bust their butts got in. This is pathetic.

When my younger son took the SAT at RRISD in 2010 - parents were not allowed into the building, no phones, no paper, short sleeve shirts (of course TX is hot), I dropped him off and he called when done. how the heck did these people get away with this stuff? jeez louise. My son did well on the SAT, not 1475 tho and okay on the ACT, he got a 29 meh score but he concentrated on SAT more, my son graduated from Texas State University with a BBA in computer information systems in 14 and is now working in the big Apple, he's done fine btw, going to UT is a brag for parents, I recently read that going to these high end colleges really only gives and edge to LOW INCOME kids, they can and do move up the income ladder from their parents, kids from wealthier homes don't get any edge. Soooo this was all done for Bragging Rights to others that 'my kid is a genius' kind of thing.

I think the parents should be required to do community service and PAY whatever they paid to cheat their kids and other kids out of a good, fair education to others.

smh over and over .. sad.

 

[violet3]

Hello violet3, would you if you can, post what your students say? I would love to hear what these young folks have to say. Ty. if not, it's okay, I would think most kids are shocked but not necessarily surprised.


QUOTE="violet3, post: 4513243, member: 28229"]This. It just seems truly insane, doesn't it? People with that kind of money could donate funds and get their kids in without breaking the law, unethical though it may be. The idea of fabricating information/test scores and getting other professionals to corroborate this seems legitimately NUTS. I am someone who TRULY believes in kids getting a good college education, but it's not worth THAT kind of insanity.

I can't wait to discuss this with my students next week! I teach a media class, and I'm sure they'll have opinions on the media coverage of this.

[/QUOTE]

Oh absolutely!!! I’ll see see them Tuesday night. I’ll let you know - they’re bound to have some serious opinions on this topic, I’m sure.

 

[autumngems]

I can't believe LL is saying they didn't know they were doing anything wrong, seriously. You were duped? I hope they throw the book at them. Kids need to be charged as well, they knew.
If nothing serious is done I have lost all faith in our legal system.