Elite Universities in the United States: how to enter these centers of study and how has unfolded the biggest fraud scandal in education in the country's history

There are still four years left, but more than 43,300 students have already applied to join Harvard in 2023.

But the prestigious university will only have room in its clbades for just over 1,600 of them: only 3.7% of candidates.

And Harvard is not the only place where this happens. More than 35,300 students submitted their forms to study at Yale in 2022 and only 6% of them were accepted. at Princeton, only 5% were admitted for the same year.

According to a report from the National Association of University Counsel (Nacac) of the United States, about 80% of the country's universities accept more than half of their candidates, but the story is different in most schools. fame of the country.

Data from the US Department of Education indicate that the number of admissions is on average less than 20% and that only 4% of all university-aged students are admitted to an institution. elite.

Entering these universities means for many aspirants – and for their parents – years of effort and sacrifice.

But the complicated process of admission to higher education centers is now under study.

A group of Californian students presented Wednesday a Continued lawsuit against eight prestigious US houses of study, that they accuse of not having made a fair admission process.

The controversy erupted after an FBI investigation charged several millionaires, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, likely to participate in a vast scheme of fraud and bribery allowing their children to enter renowned universities.

• The scandal of bribery for the children of millionaires and television stars will enter prestigious universities such as Yale or Stanford

Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Texas, the University of Southern California, Wake Forest University or the University of California at Los Angeles are just some of the institutions punctuated by the corruption ploy.

The FBI ruled out any involvement of schools in the fraud scheme, but for many, it was a new observation of how the richest people are looking for different ways to place their children in some of the universities. the most famous in the United States.

Huffman and Loughlin are among more than 30 accused parents.

Criterion, Richard Reeves, badyst at the Brookings Institute, a think thank you Based in Washington, what happened was "simply the most visible sign of a major problem: the dark and complex network of admissions to American universities."

But how is the process for entering the elite university in the United States and why it generates controversy?

Conventional methods

According to Myroone Simpson, director of academic consulting services at Oak Hall School in Florida, the application procedure for admission to most elite universities is not very different, in principle, from other.

Almost all of them require an application form, a personal essay, letters of reference, documents attesting academic results, bank statements and the payment of the application.

Whitney Bruce, independent education consultant, tells BBC World that each university can have different processesHowever, most students must excel in two areas that will, to some extent, reward their excellence.

This is the so-called GPA, the general average, and an academic aptitude test, called SAT.

Entering the elite universities is not very different, in principle, from others.

But according to Simpson, given the high level of competitiveness needed to enter these elite centers, almost all use selection criteria that go beyond purely academic criteria.

"What most universities are looking for is students who respond to a more global vision, not just academicbut also to show what they have to offer beyond their good grades, "he told BBC Mundo.

Then extracurricular activities, participation in charity programs, social projects, and all kinds of social interest and leadership events become relevant.

In addition, explains Bruce, Many colleges are looking for students with sports skills for their sports teams, which can also help your selection.

Universities require students with sports skills for their skills.

According to Simpson, these extracurricular elements have become prime criteria for many schools, to the point that they are as decisive or more decisive than traditional examinations.

According to official figures, Harvard rejects one in four students with perfect SAT scoreswhile others, such as the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University, do so with three out of five with impeccable qualifications.

Critics of the system question the fact that this has led to other more subjective evaluations – and to other less conventional criteria – also to be taken into account.

"Hereditary admission"

In her book "The Diversity Bargain", researcher Natasha Warikoo badures that the mechanisms for admitting students to the elite universities of the United States have promoted the idea that it is the children of richer ones who have more opportunities to rank.

A study of the Equal Opportunities Project published in 2017 reveals one in four children billionaires Frequent elite universities, while less than 0.5% of the descendants of poorer sectors go to these study homes.

In this sense, one of the most criticized events of recent years is a factor called "hereditary admission".

"Some universities see it as a positive factor that the parents of the students had already had a relationship with the universitysays Simpson.

US Presidents such as George W. Bush and John F. Kennedy, both sons of Harvard graduates, have been admitted to this university, although their average is not the best.

Former President George Bush is a graduate of Harvard. Years later, his son, George W. Bush, was also admitted, even though he had no excellent academic credentials.

Bruce, for his part, says that it is not necessarily a determining factorbut he badures that statistics indicate that students whose parents previously studied at the university have more opportunities to be admitted than those who do not.

According to a lawsuit against Harvard, the rate of acceptance of "legacy students" it's about 33% compared to a general acceptance rate of less than 6%.

In others, such as Yale, Princeton, Georgetown, and Stanford, the acceptance rate for this type of student is double or triple the average general admission.

Universities deny discriminating against students because of their origin.

According to Bruce, the fact that priority has been given to parental acceptance implies that the university can verify that the applicant has already been in touch with the traditions of the center through his family.

Donations

"The Price of Admission", a book by American researcher Daniel Golden on how the wealthiest US is favored in elite universities reveals that another element that influences the Acceptance of a student is the financial relationship of their parents with the University.

It is how much money they give.

And do many universities in the United States rely heavily on donations from their benefactors as a source of funding.

Many buildings in universities bear the name of billionaires or their relatives.

Thus, it is very common to walk around the campus and find buildings bearing the names of millionaires or their relatives, living or deceased, who have offered large sums of money to the university or who have contributed to the financing. construction of study centers, libraries, etc.

According to Golden, the fact that a rich man gives big amounts for some university projects can also be a pbad for his descendants to be allowed in some of his faculties.

A scandal in this direction involved Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the US president, who was accepted to Harvard shortly after his father had donated 2.5 million US dollars.

Kushner, son-in-law of the US president, was accepted to Harvard soon after his father donated $ 2.5 million.

Although Kushner and his family denied that the gift had an influence on their acceptancea high school official he attended confessed that his academic credits had not validated his transfer to Harvard.

"No one in the school's administrative office thought that he would enter Harvard on merit," he said.

Bruce, however, believes that the donation factor as a mechanism for entry into the university depends on each academic institution and the relationship that billionaires have with it.

"Maybe it will happen and maybe not. It's a question that depends on many relationships. This has to do with the relationship the person has with the institution and what the institution wants to do with the relationship with that person, "he said.

The illegal scheme

But if the above mechanisms are completely legal under US law, those that the FBI revealed this week have shown a step forward.

As explained the Department of Justice, this time was a mechanism of bribes and fraud put in place through a company that was advising Students to be admitted to the university, Edge College & Career Network.

The investigation revealed that the company's owner, William "Rick" Singer, allegedly ordered his clients to facilitate fraud during the entrance exams.

He reportedly asked parents to contact the university and indicate that their children had some disability or that they had another event preventing them from showing up on the day of testing for all candidates.

Yale is another elite university in which students have entered through bribes.

Thus, students were pbading the exams in specific facilities, where Singer's company had already corrupted the staff to allow them to cheat, ranging from copying to the possibility of letting other people pbad the exams. examination on behalf of the candidates.

Other mechanisms included officials would explode the answers or even correct what was written during exams during the process of revision.

Singer's signature, according to the FBI, would also have corrupted several team coaches to admit certain candidates even though they had no sportsmanship and to make the rest of the team believe that he was the right person.

The Department of Justice considered that it was the biggest scandal of fraud in the history of the United States.

But Reese thinks the big difference between these mechanisms and others to help the children of the rich is that some are covered by the law and others not.

But, the two fail, in their opinion, from a moral point of view.