Survey Reveals Applicants’ 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 was celebrity television celebrity Felicity Huffman, who’ll invest 2 weeks in prison start 25 october.

As you without doubt already know just, the scandal involves moms and dads having to pay college officials bribes to have their kiddies admitted to colleges, USC in particular, several times through the “side home” of activities coaches. The ringleader that is alleged organizing these bribed admissions is Rick Singer, who is thought to have obfuscated the bribes as contributions to universities through their foundation, which was intended to facilitate the effectiveness of parental efforts.

This tale has been raging into the media for most weeks and shows no sign of abating. Consequently, the consequence on prospective university applicants has, custom essay writing service in a true number of cases, been to discourage them. Some applicants (and moms and dads) have started to begin to see the college admissions plan as innately corrupt and, according to the evidence that is scandal has emerged, found themselves thinking, ” How can I compete with candidates originating from families who are able to afford to purchase their way into university?”

It is an unfortunate and attitude that is perhaps irrational but one that is understandable in light for the circumstances. Nonetheless, there clearly was basis for optimism, based on a survey that is new just came out yesterday. Russell Schaffer of Kaplan Test Prep published if you ask me saying:

“… The fallout from Varsity Blues, the scandal that included wealthy and celebrity parents college that is bribing, coaches, and test proctors to simply help their young ones get admitted for some of the country’s most acceptable colleges, is causing concern [among] students and admissions officers, according to two brand new Kaplan Test Prep surveys. Regarding the more than 300 aspiring college students polled, 57 per cent say they truly are worried that their spot at their top college choice might be given up to a less qualified applicant because of who that applicant is connected to. And 23 % state they actually know an university applicant who they think was less qualified, but received treatment that is preferential admissions as a result of family members wide range or connections.

The company has done annually for 15 years — admissions officers suggest that the corrupt practices exposed in Operation Varsity Blues are rare in a separate Kaplan survey of over 300 top colleges and universities across the United States — something. Lower than a quarter (24 %) describe the unlawful activities as typical. Simply 11 % say they were ever forced to just accept a job candidate who don’t fulfill their school’s admissions requirement because of who that applicant had been or even to who this applicant had been connected. This represents a drop that is significant the 25 % whom said these were pressured to do so when Kaplan first asked this question of admissions officers in 2014 …”

That trend should be motivating for those who are anxious about their possibilities for admission. Clearly, college admissions won’t ever be 100 percent fair across the board, mainly due to the alleged “institutional priorities” that look for specific kinds of applicants to fulfill particular needs that vary from year to 12 months. Those requirements consist of diversity balances, athletic recruiting, development instances, additionally the regularly controversial legacy applicants, among other considerations.

As an general percentage of admission decisions made every year, though, the number of Varsity Blues cases is miniscule. The intense media coverage, which may charitably be deemed a madness, has magnified their effect and spawned angst that is unnecessary.

Students Express Concern About Admissions

In the press release about it survey that is new Kaplan provides an encouraging headline: College candidates Are Concerned About Unfairness in Admissions, But Most Admissions Officers Say Widespread “Varsity Blues” Behavior is Uncommon. Here’s a percentage of that release:

… stated one school that is high whom planned to just top colleges, “we know numerous people that have connections to my top school, whereas I actually do perhaps not. I will be particularly concerned than them, but they will have an upper hand and be admitted because I have a greater SAT score. It has been seen by me formerly with buddies now i will be concerned for myself.” Another student revealed less concern and indicated some optimism, saying, “In light of the admissions scandals, colleges could be more mindful and conscious of those kinds of schemes. Additionally, considering a number of the parents who were caught and punished, I don’t think that this will be a big problem in the long run.”…

… But despite admissions officers’ feeling that this is uncommon, 49 % say the scandal might have done term that is long to your general public image associated with university admissions procedure; 37 per cent don’t believe it offers, while 14 percent are not certain. When expected about how precisely colleges can persuade families that the admissions process isn’t “rigged” against them, admissions officers had been largely unable to offer any policy that is specific, nevertheless the theme of transparency had been mentioned usually. One admissions officers called the scandal a call that is”wake-up for colleges become more “ethical along with of the procedures.”

“Like most individuals, we were appalled at what was exposed as an element of procedure Varsity Blues. We know firsthand from working with thousands of pupils every year exactly how effort that is much put into their academics, and they should feel confident that they’re being evaluated by university admissions officers centered on their own merit and overall quality of their application,” stated Sam Pritchard, Kaplan’s director of college prep programs. “While our study discovers that many pupils think they could be at risk of being kept from their top university picks towards the good thing about their well-connected peers, it’s notably encouraging to know that the the greater part of colleges think these activities are unusual and fewer report being pressured to just accept unqualified candidates compared to years previous. Still, much more needs to be performed to shield the process and restore integrity and trust. Candidates deserve better…”

Any particular one phrase bears saying: “… it’s somewhat encouraging to learn that the great majority of universities think these activities are uncommon and fewer report being pressured to accept unqualified applicants than in years past.”

Filter out the Sound

As I stated earlier, despite having the high profile of process Varsity Blues and also the associated convictions and sentencings, there is always some amount of unfairness (some would call it “corruption”) inside the university admissions process. Nevertheless, my advice to prospective collegians is to ignore the exaggerated media concentrate on the scandal.

Why do I say that? It’s easy. All this, or just what stays from it, is wholly away from control. There is nothing you can do, a good way or one other, to improve the span of how a university makes its admission decisions. What’s totally within your control, though, is the way you manage your academic, extracurricular and personal pages. Make your best effort in the class room, outside of school as well as in your overall life. These actions count, and in many cases they shall be duly noted by the admission staffers who can read your applications and letters of recommendation.

Thus, I encourage you to focus on these foundational areas. The good news is that Operation Varsity Blues has aimed a bright spotlight into a previously dark spot and things are changing. This fall and winter, you will be the beneficiaries of what should be one of the most objective and unbiased admission processes ever — subject to those institutional priorities I mentioned for those of you who will be applying to college.

The fact to do now could be to have working on the application essays, when you yourself haven’t already done this, and tend the residual information on your applications, all while you’re doing your best academically and EC-wise. You’ll be going right through this method just once that you experienced during the undergraduate degree therefore do not let the sound associated with the VB scandal to affect your university process. Stay concentrated and things that are good happen!