College Admissions Scandal: Who’s to Blame?

Until recently, college acceptance was looked at as a mostly fair process. People could donate money to the school, but it would not always directly influence their children’s acceptance. Everyone wanted to believe that getting into his or her dream school was based on the accomplishments he/she achieved. But, after a shocking investigation uncovered a college admissions scandal, many things have been questioned about the college acceptance process as a whole.

College means different things to different people. For some, it could be a time to study and work hard in order to be the first in his or her family to graduate. For others, it might be the “best four years” of their lives to party and have fun. Others look at it as a time to begin the future, get a job, and have a successful career.

Recently, it was uncovered that many wealthy people and celebrities have been paying off and lying to colleges to get their children into school. Celebrities Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) and Lori Loughlin (Full House, Fuller House) were both charged in this investigation. This is how it worked: wealthy people would secretly pay people to take their children’s SATs or ACTs. Others paid off schools and coaches to help get their children accepted. Along with this cheating, there was lying. The parents would lie about a sport their child played, because being an athlete makes it easier to be accepted. They would take fake photoshoots of their child “playing” the sport. When attending the school, the children barely went to practice and never played. The schools involved were prominent; universities such as Georgetown University and the University of Southern California are both being investigated. A lot of things about college acceptances have been put into question, and investigations are going on at universities across the country.

With over fifty people charged and millions of dollars involved, it is hard to say who is to blame. The parents, coaches, and other adults have been charged, but should their children have been too? At 17 and 18 years old, they know that lying is wrong, but they still went along with it. Fifty adults were charged, thirty-three of these adults were parents. The children were not right to go along with the plan. Yet, at the end of the day, the parents are “in charge” in most of these cases, so they are mainly to blame for this situation. They used their money to pay off the coaches and colleges. They also were the ones who orchestrated the cheating on the tests. It would be unfair to charge the children. They were already expelled from the school, so now they have to find a way to have a future without cheating. The remainder of the blame falls on the colleges and coaches because they lied and cheated many innocent children out of spots that might have been theirs. The parents, coaches, and universities were all in the wrong in this situation.

This scandal has affected many people. The children, parents, coaches, and schools are the obvious ones, but there are many people across the country affected. School Psychologist Jordan Richman states, “People were robbed of spots.” That is the truth. Many children across the country worked extremely hard to get into school but did not get accepted because these children took those spots. Guidance Counselor Jonathan Spector also gave his view on the subject. He explained that while he expected things like this might happen on a smaller scale, he did not realize the “national impact” it would have. This scandal has affected schools and children all across the country.

When asked about who is to blame, both Spector and Richman immediately responded “the parents.” Richman explains his opinion: “As a psychologist, the most valuable lesson a parent can give to his/her kids is teaching kids that they can be independent and that they have to advocate for themselves. This scandal shows that a lot of parents are doing the work for the kids and doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing.” Spector agreed, stating that “helicopter parents” have become “lawnmower parents.” Spector and Richman have both seen firsthand how hard children work to get into college. They both are upset and disappointed that so many people were involved in something that was illegal and wrong.

Parents, children, teachers, and schools all across the country were shocked by the scandal. The process of college acceptance must be altered and made more equitable. The parents involved in the investigation hurt their children and others too. After this whole scandal, there is one thing everyone wants: an equal playing field to get into college.