Biggest U.S. college fraud bust nets actors Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin

[neeray]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

As an amusing distraction:

 

Boston and Stamford derive their names from small towns in Lincolnshire England.

 

These towns have renamed their technical colleges from Boston/Stamford Technical College, to  Boston/Stamford College.

 

Since doing so they are doing a roaring trade recruiting Chinese Students.

 

The fakery spreads.

FAKE is the new norm. (Not quite sure how that started but I think it was started about 3 years ago).

[sharktooth]

As Al Pacino said “I’d take a flame thrower to this place”

[metisdead]

Off topic trolling posts and the off topic trolling replies have been removed. 

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

The thing is the rich have always gamed the system legally. Many years ago there was a journalistic investigation about getting into Harvard. One of the apparently unworthy students featured in the study was none other than Jared Kushner. And his father-in-law's admission into the University of Pennsylvania was greased by a 1.5 million dollar donation.

To be fair, it wasn't just Kushner, but Gore's kids as well....

 

[But the tale of Kushner's donation and his son's acceptance was only one case. The book also examined how others, including the sons of former vice president Al Gore, were admitted into schools.]

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/12/college-admissions-scam-kushner-harvard-acceptance-under-scrutiny/3147027002/

 

One of the big hypocrisy in America is when people (usually the right) complain furiously about affirmative action in college admissions.  Yet, they turn a blind eye to rich folks getting their less qualified kids in through legacy programs or donations.  Why is that I wonder?     

[simon43]

The parents are selfish, elitist scum.  I would hope that they all get lengthy jail time.

[Cryingdick]

The amount of arrests about to be made aren't a small amount. This is the era of investigations. There is probably around another 100 people to go.

[IAMHERE]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

"For every student admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student was rejected."

Wasn't all that long ago the big complaint was too many American-Asians were getting into the prestigious colleges. The rich and powerful in America have always enjoyed special treatment, nothing new here.

[ballpoint]

Soon they'll all be graduates of Yale. 

 

Sorry,  jail.

[malibukid]

4 hours ago, Emdog said:

Went outside normal channels by paying coaches for admission rather than usual one of donating to school foundations.

Trump could never get into Wharton without "donations", Bush Jr could never get into Harvard based on academic scores ( although Jr seems a genius compared to current WH occupant)

i miss Jr.

[malibukid]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

The parents are selfish, elitist scum.  I would hope that they all get lengthy jail time.

agree, they used to be my neighbors.

[malibukid]

3 hours ago, neeray said:

In business, I deal with many men/women who obviously hold a degree, or, I notice it proudly displayed on their wall in their corner office. Many come across as not too sharp (politely put). Some as downright dummies (not so politely put). Perhaps their Mommies and Daddies bought their way into University Whatever.

Occasionally I get asked what university I went to. I am always very proud to tell them U of SS.

 

(U of SS = University of Street Smarts)

yap, and for $5 you can get a library card and save $200K

[zydeco]

Time for RICO asset forfeitures.

[zydeco]

4 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Using (giver)ment money to fund Japanese courses in Iowa and other worthless degrees was a mistake. The colleges need to make their own loans from here on out. $58,000 a year if you want to study Japanese cultural studies in Grinnell Iowa. 

 

I am using an over simplified example but there is not much worth in the degrees colleges sell using government money.

Just why would the opportunity to study Japanese in Iowa be worthless? Might some students in Iowa seek out a career in international relations, business, diplomacy, or, yes, language study?  Universities were never intended to be mere adjuncts for business profits. They are about preserving knowledge and advancing learning, which comes in all forms. Not everyone need study accounting in order to have value. Now, whether today's universities, with their top heavy infrastructures of administrators, over abundance of counselors, and watered-down curricula designed to meet the demands of a middle school dropout are doing their job effectively, is another matter.

[bristolboy]

14 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Just why would the opportunity to study Japanese in Iowa be worthless? Might some students in Iowa seek out a career in international relations, business, diplomacy, or, yes, language study?  Universities were never intended to be mere adjuncts for business profits. They are about preserving knowledge and advancing learning, which comes in all forms. Not everyone need study accounting in order to have value. Now, whether today's universities, with their top heavy infrastructures of administrators, over abundance of counselors, and watered-down curricula designed to meet the demands of a middle school dropout are doing their job effectively, is another matter.

Years and years ago I read an essay by Kurt Vonnegut. What instigated it was the saying "If you're so smart, how come you ain't rich?" He pointed out that in folklore and in various religions wise men were mostly poor.

[SheungWan]

4 hours ago, Ulic said:

I fully understand how this all works in the US. Pressure to get into top schools is fierce. Many of these schools only are only known to Americans. To get into these schools is over the top difficult. Unless genius smart, even those getting in under affirmative action are far above average. Those getting in through sports performance as well cannot be dummies. Their sporting performance is a big addition but SAT scores have to be strong. Let the chips fall where they may in this prosecution. Parents just trying to do what they can for their kids, anyway they can and because they have money, they are using that as well. 

There is a difference between parents financially supporting their children and even gaming the system versus participating in outright fraud.

[SheungWan]

36 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Years and years ago I read an essay by Kurt Vonnegut. What instigated it was the saying "If you're so smart, how come you ain't rich?" He pointed out that in folklore and in various religions wise men were mostly poor.

Thanks for that. I always wondered where that saying came from. 

[from the home of CC]

I always laugh when told how corrupt Thailand is compared to the west. I know in Canada the corruption is just as rampant, it's just not as overt. Instead of stacks of cash being handed over it's more like favors being granted, positions being bestowed (which lead to stacks of cash) and decisions being rendered in certain cases. Because the actions are covert or convoluted the general public are unaware but that is not an indication that they don't exist. It's speculated that this university scandal in the states could be just the tip, certainly this one guy wasn't the only one cashing in. Corruption comes in many forms and if you feel it's not corrupt from where you originate it's because they're adept at keeping it from you. 

[SheungWan]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

As an amusing distraction:

Boston and Stamford derive their names from small towns in Lincolnshire England.

These towns have renamed their technical colleges from Boston/Stamford Technical College, to Boston/Stamford College.

Since doing so they are doing a roaring trade recruiting Chinese Students.

The fakery spreads.

The students know exactly where they are applying, but hope that in future job interviews the confusion will aid them. In London there is the London Business School and the London School of Business.

[Dap]

5 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

trump trump trump trump... when does it ever end?

LOL! I can only hope it's gonna get a whole lot more before he's out on his butt 

[Damrongsak]

Hey, they run a great service.  I got a scholarship for the varsity swim team ... 

 

[Cryingdick]

When you get bail for $1,000,000 you know you are facing 20 years. It is funny to see the chickens come home to roost. I am outraged 

[lannarebirth]

1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

When you get bail for $1,000,000 you know you are facing 20 years. It is funny to see the chickens come home to roost. I am outraged 

I think it's because she is working in Canada for the next several months and didn't want to surrender her passport.

[zydeco]

On 3/13/2019 at 6:10 AM, webfact said:

rosecutors said the scheme began in 2011 and also helped children get into the University of Texas, Georgetown University, Wake Forest University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Who needs help to get into Wake Forest?

[bristolboy]

14 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Who needs help to get into Wake Forest?

It's ranked in the top 30 by US News & World Report.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Forest_University

[zydeco]

29 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

It's ranked in the top 30 by US News & World Report.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Forest_University

I'm not sure exactly what those rankings mean, if anything. Back in the 1980s, I taught at SMU, another church school, which was/is "ranked" far higher than Wake Forest. And I would never consider SMU an elite institution requiring influence in order to gain admission. The students at SMU are your B-students from high school. Since then, I've taught at state universities in the US, where the good students were clearly superior to the top level at SMU, although the poor students were far worse. And I've taught at German universities and even at Mahidol, here, in Thailand. I can say that all these schools but one were serious institutions of higher learning. I think you can guess which one isn't.  

[bristolboy]

4 minutes ago, zydeco said:

I'm not sure exactly what those rankings mean, if anything. Back in the 1980s, I taught at SMU, another church school, which was/is "ranked" far higher than Wake Forest. And I would never consider SMU an elite institution requiring influence in order to gain admission. The students at SMU are your B-students from high school. Since then, I've taught at state universities in the US, where the good students were clearly superior to the top level at SMU, although the poor students were far worse. And I've taught at German universities and even at Mahidol, here, in Thailand. I can say that all these schools but one were serious institutions of higher learning. I think you can guess which one isn't.  

While exact rankings are close to meaningless, the fact is that it is not an easy school to get into. It has an acceptance rate of 26 percent. Certainly a lot harder to get into than SMU which has a 49% acceptance rate. And it's been over 30 years since Wake Forest was a Baptist School. Essentially the Baptists severed their relationship with the university because it encouraged far too much free thought.

[lannarebirth]

12 minutes ago, zydeco said:

I'm not sure exactly what those rankings mean, if anything. Back in the 1980s, I taught at SMU, another church school, which was/is "ranked" far higher than Wake Forest. And I would never consider SMU an elite institution requiring influence in order to gain admission. The students at SMU are your B-students from high school. Since then, I've taught at state universities in the US, where the good students were clearly superior to the top level at SMU, although the poor students were far worse. And I've taught at German universities and even at Mahidol, here, in Thailand. I can say that all these schools but one were serious institutions of higher learning. I think you can guess which one isn't.  

I remember back then. The number of high school graduates enrolling in college was less than 30% and mostly male. Now it's more than 70%, a majority of which are female. It's important to remember also, that rankings are relative and there are a couple of thousand colleges in the US no one should attend. Also, I think most publications have an East Coast bias.

[zydeco]

2 hours ago, bristolboy said:

While exact rankings are close to meaningless, the fact is that it is not an easy school to get into. It has an acceptance rate of 26 percent. Certainly a lot harder to get into than SMU which has a 49% acceptance rate. And it's been over 30 years since Wake Forest was a Baptist School. Essentially the Baptists severed their relationship with the university because it encouraged far too much free thought.

If you really want to determine the quality of a university, look at its faculty's publications. Are they tier 1? How often are they cited by other scholars? And the simple fact is that if you are in this profession for any length of time, you know the good places and the bad. Wake Forest isn't bad. But it is mediocre, as is SMU. Students, however, often have different reasons for wanting to go to a certain college. Is it nearby? Student events? Parties? Sports teams? Family tradition? And none of those has much to do with the fundamental worth of the school. If there is trouble getting into Wake Forest, it is because of the limited numbers overall it enrolls and has little to do with "exclusivity."

[zydeco]

One of the individuals gaining admission through the scam had this to say: "I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend. But I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying… I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know."

Olivia Jade Giannulli

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/meet-the-youtube-star-caught-up-in-the-college-admissions-scandal-who-once-said-she-only-cares-about-game-days-and-partying-2019-03-13?mod=mw_theo_homepage

[Berkshire]

2 hours ago, bristolboy said:

While exact rankings are close to meaningless, the fact is that it is not an easy school to get into. It has an acceptance rate of 26 percent. Certainly a lot harder to get into than SMU which has a 49% acceptance rate. And it's been over 30 years since Wake Forest was a Baptist School. Essentially the Baptists severed their relationship with the university because it encouraged far too much free thought.

Regarding the acceptance rate, perhaps that's the "unofficial" university ranking.  I just read an article about Arizona State University sort of being peeved for NOT being one of the schools caught up in the scandal.  The one that was (USC) had an acceptance rate of 13% while ASU was 80%.  I've been out of school for a long time, so it's interesting to see what's happening in academia these days.  

 

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2019/03/12/asu-mentioned-university-bribery-scandal-court-documents-lori-loughlin/3141574002/