Survey Reveals Candidates’ Emotions About Varsity Blues Scandal
This week if you have been following the ongoing saga of the so-called “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal, you’ll know that more sentencings of charged violators will be taking place. The first to be sentenced had been celebrity television celebrity Felicity Huffman, who can invest fourteen days in prison start October 25.
As you no doubt know already, the scandal involves parents spending college officials bribes to have their children admitted to colleges, USC in particular, several times through the “side home” of recreations coaches. The so-called ringleader for arranging these bribed admissions is Rick Singer, who is said to have obfuscated the bribes as donations to universities through his foundation, which was designed to facilitate the effectiveness of parental contributions.
This story was raging within the news for a lot of months and shows no indication of abating. Consequently, the result on potential college applicants has, in a true number of cases, gone to discourage them. Some candidates (and moms and dads) have started to begin to see the college admissions process as innately corrupt and, in line with the scandal evidence that has emerged, found themselves reasoning, ” How can we take on applicants originating from families who are able to manage to buy their method into university?”
This is an unfortunate and attitude that is perhaps irrational but one that’s understandable in light associated with the circumstances. However, there is certainly cause for optimism, considering a new survey that just arrived yesterday. Russell Schaffer of Kaplan Test Prep published if you ask me saying:
“… The fallout from Varsity Blues, the scandal that included rich and celebrity parents bribing college officials, coaches, and test proctors to help their kids get admitted for some associated with country’s most competitive colleges, is causing concern [among] pupils and admissions officers, according to two brand new Kaplan Test Prep studies. For the more than 300 aspiring university students polled, 57 percent state these are typically worried that their spot at their top university option might be provided with to a less qualified applicant due to who that applicant is connected to. And 23 per cent say they myself understand an university applicant who they believe had been less qualified, but received preferential treatment in admissions due to family members wealth or connections.
In a separate Kaplan survey of over 300 top universites and colleges over the United States — one thing the business has been doing yearly for 15 years — admissions officers suggest that the corrupt methods exposed in procedure Varsity Blues are rare. Not as much as a quarter (24 %) describe the unlawful activities as typical. Simply 11 per cent say they were ever forced to just accept an applicant who did not meet their college’s admissions requirement because of who that applicant was or even to who this applicant was connected. This represents a drop that is significant the 25 percent whom stated these people were pressured to do this whenever Kaplan first asked this concern of admissions officers in 2014 …”
That trend ought to be encouraging if you are anxious about their opportunities for admission. Demonstrably, college admissions won’t ever be 100 percent fair over the board, mainly due to the so-called “institutional priorities” that look for certain kinds of candidates to meet particular requirements that vary from year to year. Those requirements include variety balances, athletic recruiting, development instances, plus the always controversial legacy candidates, among other considerations.
Being an general percentage of admission choices made each year, however, the number of Varsity Blues cases is miniscule. The intense media coverage, which could charitably be considered a frenzy, has magnified their impact and spawned unneeded angst.
Students Express Concern About Admissions
Within the pr release about any of it survey that is new Kaplan has an encouraging headline: College candidates Are worried About Unfairness in Admissions, But Most Admissions Officers Say Widespread “Varsity Blues” Behavior is Uncommon. Here’s a part of that release:
… stated one school that is high whom planned to just top colleges, “we understand numerous people that have connections to my top school, whereas I actually do perhaps not. I am especially concerned because i’ve a better SAT score than them, nonetheless they may have an upper hand and stay admitted. I have seen it previously with friends and now I am concerned for myself.” Another pupil showed less concern and indicated some optimism, saying, “In light of the admissions scandals, colleges will be more aware and attentive of these types of schemes. Additionally, considering a number of the moms and dads have been caught and penalized, I don’t believe this is a problem that is large the future.”…
… But despite admissions officers’ sense that this is uncommon, 49 per cent state the scandal might have done term that is long to your public image associated with college admissions procedure; 37 per cent don’t think it has, while 14 percent are not certain. When expected about how colleges can persuade families that the admissions procedure isn’t “rigged” against them, admissions officers were largely unable to provide any policy that is specific, nevertheless the theme of transparency had been mentioned often. One admissions officers called the scandal a “wake-up call” for colleges become more “ethical along with of these processes.”
“similar to individuals, we were appalled at the thing that was exposed as an element of Operation Varsity Blues. We understand firsthand from dealing with thousands and thousands of pupils every year how much effort students put into their academics, in addition they should feel confident that they’re being assessed by college admissions officers based on their particular merit and overall quality of the application,” said Sam Pritchard, Kaplan’s director of university prep programs. “While our survey discovers that many pupils think they may be at risk of being held out of their top college picks to your good thing about their well-connected peers, it really is notably encouraging to know that the majority that is vast of think these activities are uncommon and fewer report being forced to simply accept unqualified candidates compared to years past. Nevertheless, a complete much more needs to be performed to shield the process and restore integrity and trust. Applicants deserve better…”
That one expression bears saying: “… its somewhat encouraging to know that the majority that is vast of think these tasks are uncommon and fewer report being pressured to just accept unqualified applicants compared to years previous.”
Filter the Sound
When I stated earlier, even with the high profile of process Varsity Blues as well as the associated beliefs and sentencings, there is always some amount of unfairness (some would call it “corruption”) in the university admissions procedure. However, my advice to collegians that are prospective to ignore the exaggerated news focus on the scandal.
Why do I say that? It is simple. All of this, or what remains of it, is completely beyond your control. You’ll find nothing you certainly can do, one way or one other, to improve the course of how a university makes its admission choices. What exactly is totally within your control, though, is how you manage your scholastic, extracurricular and personal pages. Make your best effort into the classroom, outside of school plus in your current life. These actions count, plus in most cases they shall be duly noted by the admission staffers who will read your applications and letters of suggestion.
Hence, I encourage one to concentrate on these foundational areas. The very good news is that procedure Varsity Blues has aimed a bright limelight right into a previously dark destination and things are changing. For those of you that will be signing up to university this fall and cold weather, you will be the beneficiaries of just what is probably one of the most objective and impartial admission processes ever — susceptible to those institutional priorities I mentioned.
Finished . to do now’s to obtain focusing on your application essays, when you yourself haven’t already done so, and have a tendency the rest of the details of your applications, all as long as you’re doing all of your most readily useful academically and EC-wise. You’re going to be going right on through this method one time in your lifetime at the level that is undergraduate do not let the noise associated with http://www.customeessay.com/ VB scandal to restrict your college process. Stay focused and good things will happen!