America is still reeling from the admissions scandal that erupted in the United States just over two years ago. The Netflix documentary based on these events has further promoted public interest in what happened. People were truly outraged by the fact that admissions into prestigious schools, including Ivy League colleges and some of the best undergraduate business schools, is not always fair. Certainly, bribery is a criminal matter that must be dealt with by law, but there are many other ways admissions are skewed and unfair that cannot be measured by the legal system. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs often use admission tools that uphold unfair admissions practices and their bias selection criteria.
This is not always done consciously. Most programs truly want to get to know their applicants through college application essays, supplemental essays, activities sections, a variety of college admissions interview questions, and anonymous situational judgment tests. However, rather than breaking down barriers and biases, most educational institutions end up further driving a wedge between accessible education and the majority of America’s population. And while the college admissions scandal incensed Americans, nothing has changed since it has been uncovered. The educational system remains the same and these colleges continue to boast competitive acceptance rates, prestige, and most importantly for them, prosperity.
It was only in a recently revealed that employees of some of the most renowned and prestigious schools in the world, such as Georgetown University, University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Wake Forest University, the University of Texas at Austin, Yale University, and Stanford University, were involved in taking bribes to secure admission for children of rich and prominent families. Bankers, actors, CEOs, and other affluent parents broke the law to ensure that their children attend UC schools, Ivy Leagues, and other top-ranking US colleges.
A question on many people’s minds was “why”? Why would the rich and the privileged care so much that their children attend these particular colleges? There are thousands of great colleges in America, why break the law and risk your livelihood and reputation just so that your kid can boast of attending Yale or Stanford.
One of the reasons may lie in prestige. In most countries, including the US, it is not enough to be rich. There are pockets of society that cannot be accessed simply with money. The term nouveau riche is commonly used to refer to people who have money but are not part of traditional high society, e.g., particular background, education, connections, and so on. The colleges involved in the scandal are pillars of that high society, often inaccessible to most Americans. They represent the entrance to the world of families like the Bushes, the Clintons, the Kennedys, and so on. The parents involved in the scandal wanted their children to be part of that world. A world of prestige.
Just think about this: who is more respected in today’s world, a rich actress or a well-paid doctor who graduated from Harvard? While the Hollywood actress may be richer, her position in society is considerably less esteemed.
Many colleges perpetuate this image of prestige and unattainability, including the colleges involved in the scandal. While there is no doubt that these schools provide quality education, it’s important to know that so do other colleges. We should remember that in many ways education is what you make it. Prestige has nothing to do with the quality of education you get. Whether you attend UCLA or one of the other thousands of colleges in the US, your curiosity and commitment are what will determine whether you learn anything.
But education for their kids was not the goal of these parents – they wanted their children to have access to a world, which is not accessible for most. Attending one of these schools will mark their children as equals to the likes of John Kerry, Anderson Cooper, George W. Bush, Hilary Clinton, etc., and set them apart from the majority of Americans.
I am not saying that every child who attends these schools is rich. Many of these colleges have policies that help underprivileged applicants. However, attending and graduating from one of these schools is typically associated with high social and economic status. Furthermore, kids who get in and attend are somehow viewed as smarter or better educated than kids who attend less renowned colleges. You might have noticed that people change their voice and get very serious when they say: “Oh yes, this person attended Yale", as if that tells us something about a person. But the truth is that it somewhat does.
Attending one of these colleges does somehow convey significance, but it has nothing to do with the person’s intellect. Being a student at one of these colleges usually signals that you are a part of a certain social class. These schools have reputation for nepotism. Being a student in one of these schools means that you are somehow connected to the world where everybody attends these kinds of colleges and attending a college outside of this network would be deemed inappropriate. I am sure you have heard of families where everyone goes to Dartmouth or Princeton – these kinds of genealogical ties to a school are quite common in America. Rather than insisting that professions are passed down from generation to generation (although this happens as well), families are more concerned with making sure that their offspring attend the same school. This means that their preparation for the high GPA requirements and exam scores starts from early childhood. They are expected to perform well in school from a young age and receive all the support they may need to succeed.
Many children do not grow up in these circumstances which is why it is seen as a great feat if a child from lower economic status gets into one of these schools. And rightfully so. Any child who works hard to achieve their academic dreams should be praised, whether they come from a rich family or not. What outraged Americans about the scandal was not that rich children get to go to these prestigious schools, but the fact that these particular kids had every privilege to access these schools fairly. Their parents could have easily hired college admissions consulting services or college essay advisors to help their children with applications and to prepare them for life in university. The life circumstances of these kids allowed them to study without interruptions, such as handing out resumes to work part-time in McDonald’s after school or helping their immigrant parents run a small business. They had access to tutors and prep courses if they ran into challenges with homework, while many kids cannot even ask their parents for help because they are at work or busy with household chores. These kids were set up to access any and all opportunities that could help them succeed, but their parents chose to go a different route. Ultimately, it was not the class divide itself that upset the majority of the population, but the fact that even with all the privileges in the world available to their kids, these parents had to cheat to get their kids into some of the best schools in the world.
In the end, the admissions scandal did not change our perception of these schools. Their esteemed reputations remain untouched. These colleges continue to be the gatekeepers of the entrance into high society. But we must remember that prestige is not a virtue. Prestige will not sustain you throughout 4 years of college, prestige will not inspire you to learn in your courses, and prestige will not help you determine your vocation. What I think we learned from the admissions scandal is that your sense of self-worth and status in society should not depend on which college you attend and that we are too beholden by superficial merits.
