Cassie Bizzarro, Lindsay Tucker, Delaney McGowan

Headline: Money over merit

Subtitle: How the wealthy have been buying their children into Elite universities

Last week, news on a college admission scandal spread across the United States. Since
it involved many A-list celebrities and individuals with high ranking social statuses, the event
quickly gained traction. Multiple wealthy CEOs and celebrities were intervening in their
children’s college application processes through a number of different avenues.
A prominent form of cheating involved parents paying William Rick Singer to alter
answers on their children’s SAT/ACT tests in order to raise their scores. Singer would arrange
for proctors at two high schools to overlook the children and their answers while also forging
learning disabilities forms in order to have extra time to take the test. Additionally, some parents
were paying the head of the tutoring company to create a fake sports profile, so their child could
get admitted to the university’s sports team without having to ever attending a practice or a
game.
Clients of this cheating scandal ring would pay anywhere from 15 to 75 thousand dollars
for their children to be accepted into elite schools, with one parent spending an astronomical
amount of 1.6 million dollars for admission to Yale University. The money was disguised as
charitable donations to the The Key Worldwide Foundation, but it was actually used to bribe
coaches at elite schools and to rig students’ test scores.
This event has caused a massive controversy to break out over the ethics of
standardized testing and the college admissions process. As this scandal is unfolding, people
are beginning to question the integrity of the process and the need for standardized tests.
The consensus on this issue is a unanimous decision; it is unfair for students who spend
their high school careers working hard to get into elite colleges to be easily replaced with
wealthy students whose parents use their money to get to the top. As all young people know too
well, the college admissions process is about how much you can exert yourself in order to show
a university that you are qualified to attend their school. This results in kids taking on too much
such as joining numerous clubs, playing sports, and juggling hours of schoolwork just to show
colleges they can do it all. Students have to insure that they are excelling in these activities and
maintaining worthy grades.
College admittance is especially difficult for students who do not come from a well-off
family. Often, affluent families will donate large amounts of money to schools in order to
persuade universities to admit their students. This is a legal way of wealth influencing a child’s
acceptance. However, families who cannot afford to pay large sums of money to a college are
at a disadvantage. For that reason, the news coverage over this scandal has proven to students
that the college admissions process may be more focused on who can pay the most rather than
who is actually qualified.
Moreover, the scandal has called into question the importance of standardized testing;
people are wondering if these tests are truly the best way to eradicate unqualified students and
accept only the best. Not only are there ways to cheat on the exam, but there is also the
opportunity for some students to hire a tutor. With enough tutoring and taking the ACT/SAT
multiple times (a costly test), students familiarize themselves with the test and are more likely to
attain a higher score. Some students cannot take advantage of this privilege since tutoring or
taking the test multiple times is not part of their family’s budget. The test then seems to be
measuring which students can hire the best tutor. This questions the need and ethicality of
schools using ACT/SAT scores to select their students because those who are able to afford
grade A tutors are at an advantage compared to those who cannot do so.
The good news is these parents are being charged for the crimes they have committed.
In addition, many top rated schools declare themselves “test optional” meaning that students do
not have to submit their ACT/SAT scores. This is a step in the right direction and can have a
largely positive impact on those who come from low-income families.