US college bribery scandal

[bevelino]

Was anyone surprised to read about the college admissions scandal that exposed the elaborate lengths some wealthy parents go to in order to get their children into some of the most competitive American universities? The allegations included cheating on entrance exams, as well as bribing college officials to say certain students were intending to compete on athletic teams when those students were not in fact athletes.

I doubt such brazen cheating would happen in the UK, but do wonder if it is way more widespread in America than what has been reported so far.

Most people that I know consider each new horrible tidbit of information as the gift that keeps giving. The lengths that these parents went to were so over the top and ridiculous. I think that everyone knows that a parent making a huge donation (think, naming a building size donation) will get admission for their offspring, and the whole "legacy" student thing is still going on here and there, but the idea that non athletic students would be admitted to sports programs as a go-around was news to me and many other people. And that is just one of the things being discussed. These parents are bizarre. Just send your kid to a state university--many of them have programs that are actually better than the ivies.