How did I get my kid to college – without cheating: LAist

My wife and I have just gone through the process of admission to the university with our eldest son. It was exhausting, uplifting, disappointing and ultimately satisfying.

We did not cheat. And yet, this is not a surprise to other parents.

The most surprising finding of the FBI's investigation of how wealthy parents cheat and buy their children in elite schools is not the tweaked details of the program, which would include tests of performance and huge payouts to sports coaches.

Instead, the real news is that we have never heard of these tactics before. The case (and it's a case) of admissions to colleges almost encourages this kind of behavior.

After Tuesday's indictment – whose targets include actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, as well as other personalities -, judgments on the parents' actions will be innumerable, most of them being appropriate . And the so-called tactic is indeed extraordinary: fake students who pass tests, a photo-jumping on the body of an athlete, kickbacks to coaches and test supervisors, and much more again.

But what could be lost in all the gossip when dropping out is how the admissions culture in colleges is itself to blame because it helps turn otherwise rational people into, well, criminals – especially those who have money and privileges. You can see it in that a mother, marketing manager Jane Buckingham, reportedly told the government's confidential informant about her son: "I need you to get him to come in." # 39; USC. "

Our son is a freshman at Wake Forest University (who was also involved in the indictment of today). He worked hard in high school, got good grades and did a good job at ACT. He applied to several schools. He was rejected by some, admitted by others.

That's what's happening, and as I say to many parents: "The best school for your child is the one who wants it." And for our son, the school he attended proved to be a good match.

This is not everyone who sees it, and as soon as their son or daughter has more diapers, they try to get a different result. Gordon Caplan, a prominent lawyer charged today, reportedly said when he was discussing how he would cheat to get his daughter into college: "Do not forget that I am a lawyer. rule-oriented. "

"Somehow".

I know parents who, when their children were only 2 years old, were obsessed with applications in selective private kindergartens, convinced that there was only one place for them. paint by hand and shovel dirt to prepare their child for academic excellence.

I know parents who have hired tutors to try to put their children in these same kindergartens.

I know parents who are worried that their first year class is not difficult enough academically and could somehow thwart any possibility that their 7 year old has for an Ivy League college.

I know parents who do not question a high school curriculum that focuses on advanced courses (mostly designed for AP testing only, and its impact on academic applications), rather than for subjects whose benefits personal and intellectuals could be more significant than an AP rating. .

Parents are not the only ones to blame. Thanks to magazine rankings like US News & World Report, high schools are obsessed with college placement. University counselors sometimes move students away from college to attend a more prestigious campus for no obvious reason other than these rankings.

When parents begin to swim in this world, they can begin to believe in all the necessary ways. And that 's how we reached today' s indictment, which of course hurts the biggest harm to children that parents were trying to do. help.