whatbogsends

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Yes, both could impact admissions. One though, is beneficial to the university and all students and transparent. The other, is deliberate fraud.

The other thing is this; if it is a university that is private and does not get public funds, they are pretty much free to do as they please. If they are getting public funds, all students, no matter who they are, should be evaluated the same.

I'm not sure if I find it humorous, sad, or sick (probably a combination of the 3) that a celebrity paid $500,000 for their kids to get into state school. If you're going to bribe to get your kid into college, at least try to do it in an elite school.

But, you're absolutely correct. The standards for a publicly funded school are wholly different from a private entity. While it's still shameful for a private university to accept bribes/give special consideration for donors, they are free to set whatever standards they want.
 
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bhsmte

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I'm not sure if I find it humorous, sad, or sick (probably a combination of the 3) that a celebrity paid $500,000 for their kids to get into state school. If you're going to bribe to get your kid into college, at least try to do it in an elite school.

But, you're absolutely correct. The standards for a publicly funded school are wholly different from a private entity. While it's still shameful for a private university to accept bribes/give special consideration for donors, they are free to set whatever standards they want.

If i am not mistaken, USC is a private university.
 
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SummerMadness

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The topic of this thread is The College Admissions Scandal Is About More Than Just Bribery.
If you read the article, you would see it discusses how wealthy parents and communities skew the system unfairly, it is about the other ways in which they use their wealth to secure an undeserved advantage. This topic is how those with wealth and privilege uphold systems that keep them in power.
 
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whatbogsends

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If i am not mistaken, USC is a private university.

I stand corrected. Did a little extra checking - I wasn't aware of the schools reputation. Still sickening to attempt to get your kids into the school fraudulently, but at least she was paying an absurd amount of money to get her kids into a top notch school.
 
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durangodawood

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I stand corrected. Did a little extra checking - I wasn't aware of the schools reputation. Still sickening to attempt to get your kids into the school fraudulently, but at least she was paying an absurd amount of money to get her kids into a top notch school.
Do they still call USC "University of Spoiled Children"?
 
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Albion

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If you read the article, you would see it discusses how wealthy parents and communities skew the system unfairly, it is about the other ways in which they use their wealth to secure an undeserved advantage. This topic is how those with wealth and privilege uphold systems that keep them in power.
Yes, that was part of it, but only part. The topic could have been limited by the poster, but the OP was nothing more than a cut and paste article with no additional commentary, so it wasn't.
 
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Albion

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I stand corrected. Did a little extra checking - I wasn't aware of the schools reputation. Still sickening to attempt to get your kids into the school fraudulently, but at least she was paying an absurd amount of money to get her kids into a top notch school.
Actually, some of the schools that were reported to be the targets for the bribery are not exactly "top notch." Not bad, but not on the level of Stanford or the Ivy League institutions, for example. Maybe there were some sentimental attachments on the part of the parents.
 
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essentialsaltes

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Do they still call USC "University of Spoiled Children"?

They certainly do at my alma mater, UCLA (also sadly involved in this scandal).

(Since turnabout is fairplay, we Bruins attend the 'University of Caucasians Lost among Asians' - which I think tells you a lot more about the people insulting us than about us)
 
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iluvatar5150

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I'm not sure if I find it humorous, sad, or sick (probably a combination of the 3) that a celebrity paid $500,000 for their kids to get into state school. If you're going to bribe to get your kid into college, at least try to do it in an elite school.

But, you're absolutely correct. The standards for a publicly funded school are wholly different from a private entity. While it's still shameful for a private university to accept bribes/give special consideration for donors, they are free to set whatever standards they want.

Some of the UC schools are pretty highly regarded. Berkeley is no joke.
 
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CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN

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I stand corrected. Did a little extra checking - I wasn't aware of the schools reputation. Still sickening to attempt to get your kids into the school fraudulently, but at least she was paying an absurd amount of money to get her kids into a top notch school.
I cant judge to much. Because I might do the same thing. If I was rich. I'm not sure either way.
 
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Hank77

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I wasn't referring to what he said more like the correlation between the group of people who usually rant about white privilege and the people involved in the scandal, the silence was deafening.
We don't know all the people so why would we think they were all white?
 
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CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN

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What, no mentions of white privilege?
shocked-smiley-emoticon.gif
Personally, I wonder if some white people like to make a big deal about white anything. For no reason at all. Or maybe some white people feel guilty about their ancestors past.
 
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TLK Valentine

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Actually, some of the schools that were reported to be the targets for the bribery are not exactly "top notch." Not bad, but not on the level of Stanford or the Ivy League institutions, for example. Maybe there were some sentimental attachments on the part of the parents.

Well, $2.5 million seems to be the going rate for a bribe- ahem, "donation" to Harvard... if you can get into a school 1/3 as good for 1/5 the price, that's good business sense...
 
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Ana the Ist

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again i'm not saying that you are wrong about the legality of the thing. i'm stating that the final intention is both the same. a mechanism that a monied parent can utilize (legal or illegal) to ensure their (potentially undeserving) child has an advantage that a poorer more qualified child might not.

Education at the university level is a product, that one buys. It's not considered necessary, or a right, but a good/service that is purchased.

That makes it much like a car....and wealthy people tend to buy more expensive cars. If you want to argue that wealthy people shouldn't be able to buy their dumb kids an expensive education....then the argument needs to be about how college educations aren't a product/service but are a right instead.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Used to be no joke.

If you're talking about their politics - that's always been pretty far to the left. US News has their engineering school ranked 3rd in the country, behind MIT and Stanford.

Education at the university level is a product, that one buys. It's not considered necessary, or a right, but a good/service that is purchased.

That makes it much like a car....and wealthy people tend to buy more expensive cars. If you want to argue that wealthy people shouldn't be able to buy their dumb kids an expensive education....then the argument needs to be about how college educations aren't a product/service but are a right instead.

That's probably an argument worth having. We made primary & secondary education a right because it was important for enabling people to function in society (and important for society itself). We're getting to the point where the same could be said for college.
 
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Ana the Ist

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If you're talking about their politics - that's always been pretty far to the left. US News has their engineering school ranked 3rd in the country, behind MIT and Stanford.

Yeah...and they used to stand for freedom of speech. Now they have people punching others in the face over their opinions and students protesting against taking tests.


That's probably an argument worth having. We made primary & secondary education a right because it was important for enabling people to function in society (and important for society itself). We're getting to the point where the same could be said for college.

Perhaps it is...or perhaps the discussion should be why one must struggle so hard to get by without a post-secondary education.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Yeah...and they used to stand for freedom of speech. Now they have people punching others in the face over their opinions and students protesting against taking tests.

That's great. Also, not relevant to my point.


Perhaps it is...or perhaps the discussion should be why one must struggle so hard to get by without a post-secondary education.

That's a fair question, too.
 
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mala

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Perhaps it is...or perhaps the discussion should be why one must struggle so hard to get by without a post-secondary education.

because unlike the past many jobs that were once something you'd take after high school now require a college degree.
 
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mala

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Education at the university level is a product, that one buys. It's not considered necessary, or a right, but a good/service that is purchased.

That makes it much like a car....and wealthy people tend to buy more expensive cars. If you want to argue that wealthy people shouldn't be able to buy their dumb kids an expensive education....then the argument needs to be about how college educations aren't a product/service but are a right instead.

whilst i understand what you're getting at here and don't necessarily disagree the analogy doesn't quite work. it's not that you are buying a more expensive car but you are trying to buy the same car at market value and someone else is doing so as well and also donating twenty other cars to the dealer in an effort to block your bid from being considered.
 
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