BY VIRIDIANA CAMACHO / VN COLUMNIST
In March, a couple dozen people who were charged in a college admissions scandal (nothing involving Detroit Mercy, of course).
Basically, wealthy people bought their kids admission into prestigious schools, including Harvard, Yale and UCLA.
They allegedly paid a college admissions counselor, William Rick Singer, more than $25 million total within the course of a couple of years.
During this time, he used the money to bribe college officials and to boost student test scores.
The money was paid to him through the Key Worldwide Foundation, authorities allege.
This benefited the people who were paying as well because they could write it off as donations.
Singer said he used bribes to get the kids into schools with fake athletic credentials.
One of the main parents that I saw all over social media was Lori Loughlin, Aunt Becky from the show “Full House.”
She bought her daughter admission into USC.
Her daughter made a YouTube video where she said she was only in college for the parties and once the media got this information, companies such as TRESemme and Sephora started to retract their brand deals with her.
I feel as though the person who allowed this to happen should be punished the most.
Being an admissions counselor, he should know what struggles other kids face, whether it be academic or financial.
Not every parent is wealthy and has money to pay to get their kids into school.
It is not fair to other students or parents who may be denied a spot in a college only for someone who paid and doesn’t have the grades to get in.
It is sad that this world revolves around money and only the wealthy are able to get what they desire..
There was also cheating on standardized tests.
They would pay a third party to go and take the exam for the kids in order to have higher test scores when attempting to get admitted into the college.
Some teenagers spend hours upon hours trying to perfect their essays or studying for the ACT/SAT just to get a chance at being accepted – only to be edged out by people with a large sum of money who pay their way in.
This takes away the opportunity from other kids, kids who from when they started school have been working hard to get into an elite college.
Many universities are reevaluating their admissions systems as a result of this scandal.
Hopefully they will come to a reasonable sentence or punishment.
Maybe they will pay the tuition of a couple deserving students, as well.
