Not a direct reply, but my two-cents worth

As someone who has helped thousands of high school students and their parents with the college application process over the past thirty years, I am not shocked by this recent admission scandal; only saddened and angered. The unscrupulous efforts of third-party agents, students hired to take SAT exams for other students, grades being changed by high school counselors, essays being written by others and then submitted as the student’s own work, and admission officers giving “extra special consideration” to certain students for “certain reasons” have all been a part of this process for a long time. However, the recent findings involving the complete fabrication of student athletic abilities, the photo-shopping of pictures to support these bogus accomplishments, the university coaches and employees who received thousands of dollars as their payment for their complicity, and all of the other recent findings take the whole system to a completely different level. I have seen far too many honest, hard-working students receive the dreaded “Wait List” decision, only to find out now that part of that decision, even if only a small part, was the result of workings behind the admission’s office door and totally out of their control. The only positive that I take from this expose is that it will draw attention to the problem, force universities and testing agencies to be even more forthright in doing full diligence to demand complete honesty in all aspects of their respective obligations, and therefore help eliminate the stench of the current situation. I am extremely proud of the students I have helped who earned their acceptances to these very selective colleges, acceptances based on their own merits, hard work, and their own honesty. You have shown that it can be done the right way.