I’ve been thinking a lot about Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin and the other parents involved in the Operation Varsity Blues bribery scandal. Like, I genuinely hope that those wealthy, well-connected parents have to serve at least *some* time in jail, just to send a message that this behavior is completely unacceptable. But what about their dumb kids? What should the punishment be for the scamming children who were not good enough to get into college on their own merits? Take, for example, Olivia Jade Giannulli, Lori Loughlin’s daughter who is attending USC right now, and who is using her college experience to push her spon-con branding opportunities? What of those young adults? Well, TMZ has some interesting info:
The 50 people who were indicted for allegedly paying bribe money to get their kids into college may just be the tip of the iceberg, and scores of very nervous and very rich parents are calling around L.A. trying to get recon. Sources familiar with the case tell TMZ, FBI agents have seized numerous cell phones and other evidence they believe will lead them to other parents, college employees and others who might have participated in admissions bribery.
We know a number of wealthy parents from some of the most exclusive private schools in L.A. were calling around Tuesday, asking if Rick Singer, the ringleader who just copped a plea, kept lists of clients. As one source put it, “These parents are sweating bullets.”
On a different front, sources at USC familiar with the scandal tell us the University has known about the investigation for around 2 months, but they did not investigate … because they didn’t want to undermine the feds. Our sources say they’ve dealt with the U.S. Attorney’s Office before, and they know if they conducted a simultaneous investigation it could tip off witnesses and targets, and result in the destruction of evidence. As for what USC will do with the students whose parents got them into the school via bribery, well-connected sources tell us the students will not all be evaluated the same way. We’re told if the students knew they were admitted because of bribes, they will be expelled. If they were in the dark, the University will evaluate all of the circumstances and the decisions will be student-specific.
And, one final thing, as for USC … we know officials are furious at the parents who engaged in bribery. They say it has tarnished the school, the students and the athletic programs.
Personally, I think it’s a bit rich for universities to pretend like this is the first time they’ve heard of any kind of corruption like this. Universities regularly turn a blind eye to exactly this kind of thing, the exception here is that the universities are usually the ones taking the bribes directly. As for deciding which dumb students will be expelled on a case by case basis… yeah, I hope that happens.
Photos courtesy of Olivia Jade’s Instagram.
As the parent of sons who didn’t get extra time on their exams bc the College Board refused to consider their *actual* ADHD diagnoses after they’d taken their first exam I am livid. As the parent of sons who *actually* rowed crew for 7 years in high school (6 days a week, 2.5 hours a day) I’m even more livid.
But what I’m happy about is that FINALLY we’ll see the veil lifted on this BS and real change and transparency can come to this ridiculous racket known as college admissions and testing.
Also fck all these people including William H Macy.
I have ADHD, and yeah, a lot of those schools do not give a f*ck about invisible disabilities. I was very fortunate to have a VERY understanding and flexible program administrator who worked directly with her students as a professor in some classes, so she was generally able to pick out the ones that just needed some leeway to turn in equality work and who was just gaming the system. I am extremely privileged in my intelligence and having a good support system in place. Most students are not that lucky. And most of them won’t have rich parents ready to pad their multi-thousand dollar fall when they get expelled/flunk out.
Your experience with ADHD, invisible disabilities, and most college campus’ lack of support for students with invisible disabilities is not abnormal. Most campuses in the US don’t have a great track record for accommodating disabilities, both visible and invisible. Most do the bare minimum because of both the staffing and money required. The other issue is the age of buildings on most college campuses.
I work in higher education and in the 5+ years I’ve been in my position, I have not had one training for disability accommodations for students and staff. I’ve had multiple trainings for other diversity issues, including gender and race/ethnicity.
We need training for addressing and recognizing disability issues, because I have a coworker who had a complaint filed against her for failing to accommodate a student’s disability. That’s rather ironic because she got a maternity leave and special accommodations for pumping immediately after she was hired because it was the right and correct thing to do. If my boss had followed official policy, she would not have been eligible until a year of work.
The building I work was built in the late 60s and has numerous ADA compliance issues. None of the bathrooms in the building are on the ground floor and are on floors that are only accessible via stairs or elevator. There also isn’t enough room for wheelchairs to get into bathrooms. The building is due for a renovation in the campus master plan, but that all is dependent on getting money, both state and private donations. Other older buildings that have been renovated have been bought up to ADA compliance.
As a former teacher at two universities, I can say that I encountered a number of students with disabilities like ADHD and they were given a tremendous amount of support. I was told about their disability in advance and to accommodate whatever extra assistance they required.
My son is a rower as well. It’s such an intensive sport that puts the body through so much. He comes home with every muscle in his body on fire, but he continues out of love of the sport and hope that it will some day get him into college and with his stellar grades. This Olivia Jade is the epitome of what is wrong with the younger, well-off generation.
She didn’t take a spot from an actual athlete – she just got in on the lesser academic requirements for student athletes -which in itself should be a discussion.
@ Caroline, you said it all. +1,000
It took him 7 years to finish high school?
I read it that way at first too, but her sons (plural) combined to row for seven years when they were in high school.
they rowed from 6th grade!!! one year apart so I was schlepping kids to rowing from 2011 to 2018
I, too am freaking LIVID at this privilege and assholery, I was going to say White Privilege, but it is just rich people being complete d-bags. My son has ADD and has struggled his ASS off to make it into university and stay there. He was too proud to ask for extra help, so he stressed and cried, and worked.
He graduated, and is now trying to make his way, without help, to make it in a competitive field. That’s fine with me, obvi, but even that is something I know isn’t fair. People who know someone will take any place that he is trying so hard to earn.
I feel the bile rising. I am PISSED. I want every one of the cheaters expelled and any credits nullified. How could they not know (some are saying that if the kids don’t know they won’t be held responsible, can’t remember if that’s in this thread).
Anyway, I am waiting. I hope I am surprised with some reparation. SHAME on these people.
How did your son row for 7 years in high school? Serious question
see above, they started in Middle School. And boy yes that sounds dumb “7 years in HS” LOL
lol That makes complete sense! I thought after 7 years in high school he should be a shoo in at any college 😉
Or have their diplomas retroactively revoked I hope.
I did go to university w mobs of these beautiful vapid a**holes. I dropped out after a year. Didn’t make friends and was just lonely. My life turned out awesomely & at age 49 I finished a degree w a “clique” of WOC moms my age- some of the best years of my life, and as a single mom, kiddos were extremely proud & inspired!
That’s amazing. Congratulations Good GRrrrrl!
Olivia admitted that she is only attending college to party. I doubt she will lose sleep if she is expelled. She can put out a sponcon, pity party after the fact.
I think she’ll find that she’s going to loose sponsors over this – plus its suggested in the affidavit that she may have known by posing for photo’s with the crew. I have a feeling that some of these kids may end up being indicted as well.
She looks as vapid as she comes across as.
But her parents are super wealthy so, its really no highlighter off her face.
Yes, she is vapid but she will be protected from reality. That is what sucks about this.
Yeah are we supposed to believe Olivia didn’t read her own acceptance letter to USC where it probably stated she was accepted as a member of the crew team? LOL come on she knew…SHE KNEW.
@Tiffany: “…so it’s really no highlighter off her face.”
I bow down to you.
I’m sick so I’ve been reading the indictment and Olivia Jade and her older sister knew. They took the fake crew pictures to send to USC. lololol.
I highly recommend reading the indictment. It’s not legalese at all. It’s a real look into social interaction of the nouveau riche. Huneeus had me in laughing so hard. Some of these kids didn’t know by design (Paletella), while some kids were in on it from the beginning (Zangrillo). I honestly feel REALLY REALLY bad for Huffman’s kids especially the younger one because she really wanted to do well on her SAT on her own merits, but she just wasn’t scoring high enough on her PSAT. Unlike a lot of these kids, she was putting in the work.
The parents will again come to their rescue with well paid attorneys. The kids who want to stay will be allowed by the universities. Case by case means which ever case has the better attorney!!
IMO it’s better to simply expel them all, since their initial admission was based on fraud. Regardless of whether the students knew what their parents did. The ones who actually took school seriously and did well can transfer (e.g. ask for admission to another school based on their earned grades or retake the SAT).
T’would be a beautiful thing, to see this vacuous thing indicted & jailed. Might have a schadenfreude fiesta!
Goodness, she seems like such an asshole.
I honestly can’t believe this girl has over a million followers. It makes me sad that so many young people follow such vapid nobodies like this. I’ve never ever heard of her before this. What has she done besides being spawned by rich celebrity parents?
It is sad, but not really surprising when you consider the fame and influence of the Kardashian-Jenner clan. These are unfortunately the times we live in.
Let’s be real many of those followers were bought, too. Nothing is what it seems on social media.
I think she lost a lot of those followers after this scandal. I peeked at her Youtube channel (froze the video because I’m not interested in what she has to say) yesterday. Some of those comments were just plain angry. This scandal hit its mark and a lot of people are pissed.
I doubt she can continue her channel with millions of followers.
I knew nothing about Olivia until yesterday. She is an infuriating, entitled brat. My daughter is her age and I am so grateful that she is responsible and hard working.
They should be expelled, period. They don’t belong there and took someone else spot.
I agree. It’s a merit-based system and they did not achieve what is required to be accepted. If the bribe students are working hard and getting top grades they can easily transfer to another top school. If they are just partying then they don’t need to be taking a deserving student’s spot.
biggest issue is – even if they do get expelled, the people whose places were taken will not get admitted now. but i agree; they should earn their position. i also hope the uni gets a punishment.
Absolutely agree. They got in for the wrong reasons and they took a hard working kids spot from them. Expel and no credits available to transfer in the future.
Yep. Zero credits. Let her finish cake at a community college in her 40s; that’s what I did as a dirt poor WOC.
If they couldn’t get into a college on their own merits, they have no business attending that college.
This^^^^ all day long!
I’m sure some kids knew like Olivia Jade but I don’t know if it’s fair to punish students who didn’t. Obviously if they got D’s in high school but got into Yale something was up. But if they were higher in standing and still doing well in college maybe they could stay. It’s just a mess.
Doesn’t matter if the student did not know, their acceptance was based on fraud done by their parents. They have no one to blame but their parents. The school doesn’t owe them. If they are good students they can transfer to another school.
We don’t know that for sure though. The sports recruits and the SAT kids that knew, yeah. The SAT kids that didn’t know, not so much. SAT scores alone are not the deciding factor because admissions officers have long since realized that your ability to pay for SAT prep sessions and buy books doesn’t dictate how well you are going to do in college. It honestly tells less than your transcript if you go to a particularly rigorous high school. The most baffling thing about this is that some of this was just needless cheating. The SAT folks had to have pretty good applications because a 1600 isn’t going to save a student with 0 extracurricular activities and a bad transcript whereas a stellar transcript from a prestigious school, great recommendations and many extracurricular courses will go a significant way if you missed 16 questions on the SAT and got a 1400. In some cases, SAT scores are more of a formality.
Olivia Jade’s grades had to be complete sh*t because with her profile, her role as a content creator and a decent transcript, she could skate by on a much lower score.
Why do people think a deserving student will go in their place? Reality check the schools need a percentage of parents to pay the ridiculous list price and give donations. Most schools can’t afford to have too many kids attend with large financial aid packages. Odds are it would be another uber rich student who is probably similarly qualified.
Second, a lot of students are statistically tied in their applications or within a few percentage points of each other. Keep in mind you only have a few standardized test scores, 3.5 years of high school, and their application and thousand of applications. There are always going to be very qualified people not accepted into elite schools, even if none of the rich kids get preferential treatment.
Third, these elite schools are not much harder if any than other colleges. I went to school in DC area and was allowed to go to the consortium schools for classes one being Georgetown. The difference in classes from Georgetown to Maryland wasn’t noticeable to me. I actually got better grades at my Georgetown classes. At the time Maryland was pretty easy to get into especially in state- 80’s, not as good as today. A lot of students could do well at these “elite” schools and it wouldn’t surprise me if these rich kids along with others could do the work.
Finally, I just wish the colleges would stop saying it is all on merit and need blind, talking about you Harvard whose suit pretty much shows you aren’t need blind. Just say it is one of the criteria and own it, and people can decide which schools to apply to without the illusion it’s all based on merit, as it never was nor ever will be.
Wow that’s…a lot of bronzer and highlighter in that first pic there
This heavy instagram filter makeup trend needs to end. Only drag queens should wear that much makeup.
Right? I don’t get it. Maybe it was my years working at Clinique but they were always about the clean natural look, not making you feel like you need to cover your ‘flaws’. Then again, this was 10 years ago when I worked there and trends have changed… It’s just icky, stop putting all that sh*t on your face.
@steff I agree. I was at a cousins sons 1st bday party, she and friend group are early 20s and I was so startled to see her answer the door in these massive false eye lashes and crazy make up. It took me a while to realize it’s because they are all looking “Instagram worthy”. I don’t really do social media so it just shook me to my core about what’s up these days, that life has become so performative.
This trend started w “reality television”. The “stars” noticed they looked better on camera w a shiTon make-up, then it spilled onto young dumb girls world-wide. We didn’t see this much day make up on young ppl in the late 80s or 90s unless it was punk/goth or Southern girl propriety; now it’s a “thing”, and oh so creepy IMO
All I see is greasy pores on a very middle-aged looking woman, in that picture. The fact that she’s a child, and stupid, and now exposed as a spoiled fraud, is just totally depressing considering she’s “influencing” youth. Vomit.
She looks like she’s in her 40’s and sun damaged!
She looks like an oil slick is the nicest thing i can say.
Right? This was the photo she posted to make people want to buy her makeup line?!
wow this is such a mess. it is also a very clear picture of how vapid society in general is today. all these kids and their parents prove is that there are double standards for money. which is something we all know but it’s actually good to have these stories out. i remember how hard i had to work to get in the uni, i remember that summer very well. it felt like my entire future was at stake. these kids, with their social media, “influencers” positions… i don’t think they have any clue about life. and i feel sorry for them. i honestly do. i’m not saying people should go through life the hard way, it’s great if you don’t have to. i had a support from my family and will always be greateful but i also learned that i had to achieve things by myself and it makes me feel good to know that i’m driven and passionate about work… these kids just seem like they don’t have a clue about anything. ugh… what am i even saying? it just makes me mad, thinking about kids who actually work hard.
I had never heard of this girl untill now but my god, she is annoying. Entitled, shallow and empty.
I suppose those with good grades will be spared and placed in academic probation. However, I would expel everyone, period. They didn’t get in fairly. Some can be encouraged to reapply, but I doubt it will happen.
Put them all in a room and make them take the SAT’s again. Let’s see who actually gets a good score. I’m doubting NONE.
Ah, thanks, me. I posted below. It’s the SATs they need to sit. They should make the results public, too, for the sake of transparency.
Yeah, I doubt the schools are going to empower the SATs even more after this scandal. People already inflate the importance of it to begin with and colleges have to deal with the “My kid got a 1600 on a retention test based on 2 high school subjects but didn’t get in over the guy with a 1500” drama each year. I doubt that they want to help College Board sell more SAT prep books and sessions than they already have.
The problem is a lot of parents were told when they were kids you can’t really study for the SAT and you can’t game the test. Which isn’t true. I know several tutors who have improved kids scores dramatically, without cheating. The college board finally acknowledged this and had Kahn Academy put up a free tutorial, because it became who had money to buy the expensive tutor. I guess that got old or your kid was too far behind so the uber wealthy went to cheating. Plus studies show for this reason and others standardized test aren’t a good barometer for college success. A lot of schools are making them optional or a smaller portion of the picture. Elite school Univ. of Chicago just became test optional for admission. I think the colleges may not be happy with the college board too, especially if you have that kind of cheating going on. If you haven’t done the test in a while a picture of the student is sent when you sign up, so this someone else taking the test is pretty elaborate of a scam. I would look to have colleges make the tests a smaller portion of admission.
Ditto!
On the one hand it sucks to punish the kids when it was their parents who orchestrated the whole thing. On the other hand… I feel pretty strongly that those kids don’t belong at those schools. Maybe expelling them is the right thing to do.
They did not earn their place there. They can look to earn their place elsewhere. And maybe this experience will make them better than their parents in not using their privilege for evil.
Olivia Jade went on record when she started college saying she didn’t really care about going to school, wasn’t sure how much she’d even attend, but was looking forward to games and parties. Expel her. She doesn’t even want it.
Right but that’s hardly a scandalous thing for an 18 year old to say. I mean, when I got accepted to my (art) college of choice I was excited to make art but I was also super-pumped for the social aspect. Of course, I got into my school the FAIR way.
I agree with you, Lindy. It may be punishing the kids to punish the parents, but I don’t see any other outcome than expulsion. Maybe their parents will finally understand the implicatio of their actions.
The affidavit also had an email from Lori to that college prep fraudster complaining how Olivia couldn’t complete her application and can someone do it for her? She was cc’d on that communications. So #1, she knew all about this scam and #2 she’s dumb!
I find it really hard to believe that the kids didn’t know what their parents did.
I said the same thing yesterday but to be fair, I truly have no idea how these things work. I’m open to the possibility that these kids are so removed from real responsibilities that they weren’t involved much in the admission process and relied on their parents to do most of the legwork (NOT unusual for rich, privileged, insulated kids).
BUT I could also believe that they knew everything.
Okay one story made me sad and mad for the kid. Apparently, her father a NY lawyer had the extra time and special quiet location exemption made for his daughter she took the test, and then a guy corrected it for her. She thought she earned her score. He even said on a taped conversation, now she’ll never know what we did right. Wow was all I could think of.
That Olivia Jade is one hell of a narcissist. That’s all I’ve got.
This has been going on for decades. The people who were caught in this case were using some random, shady middleman. The real ballers make massive “donations” to the school of their choice so little Johnny or Susie can magically gain admission. Look at Jared Kushner. His father donated $5M to Harvard so both he and his brother could go there. Unfortunately, that is not actually illegal, unlike what these people were caught doing (cheating on the SAT, really?).
Anyone surprised by this? How come that rich kids (but not super super bright kids) like Donald Trump or GW Bush made it into very good schools?!?!?!
Aunt Becky will never serve time. Lets be real here.
Yes she will for tax fraud. IRS likes to set people up as an example. No way they will let her walk.
They should not be able to reap the rewards of a crime. No thought is given to how the children of drug dealers will fare after the parents money a goods are seized as profits of crime. Why should this be any different?
I hope the same people who said it was the parents’ fault for seeking asylum when children were stolen from them and suffered at our borders say the same damn thing here.
they should be locked in a classroom and given an assignment of writing a full page essay (no double spacing; .5in page margins) on their selected major. handwritten. no dictionary. no iPhone/ipad/laptop/desktop.
then we’ll see.
you’d think the shame would be enough to have them leave of their own accord. but, they are truly shameless.
Completely off topic: Looking at the top photo, I wondered if Kendall Jenner’s MUA taught her the same amazing unknown trick about mixing liquid and powder highlighters, because she’s so “highlighterey”!
Anyway, even if the students didn’t know about the fraud (they had to at least know something was up, but lets assume they trusted mom and dad), they should not be allowed to continue their education at a school they fraudulently attended. Sorry, but those are called consequences. And the students who knowingly participated in the fraud (i.e. took fake photos for sports they never joined), there should be larger consequences for them. This is disgusting and Proves with a capitol P why people in middle and lower income classes never have a truly fair shot of moving up in the world. It doesn’t matter how qualified you are when someone buys your spot for themselves.
Yeah let’s not forget the crew team at USC having to keep quiet about that photo op because there would have been consequences for THEM but not that little empty-headed brat of a narcissist. Except, oops there WILL be consequences. 👏👏👏
The students should be expelled.
Often, kids like this KNOW on a very deep level that they are over their heads academically. In order to disown and disavow this notion, they project onto the faculty. They’ll do things to get themselves in trouble but then create all sorts of drama to get out of said trouble. Instead of just going to Fiji, for example, they’ll drag the dean into it and make EVERYONE play along with their little theater. As soon as anyone tries to stop that merry-go-round, say, for instance, a professor with actual standards, then it’s Professor Mean Meanie Mean Pants Who HAAAAAATES Me’s fault when Lil Precious flunks a class.
Now if it’s a We Aim To Please U, as is–it certainly does look like, anyway–the University of Spoiled Children (aka USC) then it will take longer before that cruel, heartless professor ruins poor Lil Precious’s junior year (or Spring Break or whatever). Or maybe there will be not a blip in her trajectory.
Who knows?
But make no mistake about it. The adjunct slaves know and care. The professors with integrity know and care. And the classmates whose teachers are dragged into this performance most certainly are affected. A demoralized teacher who has to bend into a pretzel year after year for kids like this is affected and, by extension, so are other students.
I hope they all get expelled and I hope that the deans and the admin critters and all of the people who let this happen are called out for it. And if anyone deserves some self-care, it’s the faculty and the students who unwillingly and/or inadvertently had to pay the price for this garbage.
First, “dumb…idiot…stupid kids” LMAO. I am assuming this will uncover further cheating. How on earth could these kids not know they were receiving special treatment? They have special proctors giving them the test in private and score off the charts? They have to fake rowing crew? Pahleeez! They are not prepared for this level of education and would flunk out if they weren’t still cheating. Buying tests and further bribery of staff…
The sports kid had to know. The SAT kids I’m not so sure. Many kids take their tests at alternate, approved locations since many schools only offer it on 1 date. I actually had to take my subject tests and my first SAT at different locations other than my school since they were needed before or after the school’s one “SAT day”. It was a weekend testing spot both times and they were packed. The way the SAT portion sounds from the reporting is that the one of the people connected with the scam became a proctor, which shouldn’t be hard for a former educator, and fed information about work dates/schedule to the company.
Again live in DC area, and my daughter goes to private school. She took an SAT subject test at one school – the public school she would have attended, but took the ACT at the Community College with lots of kids from all over. Her private school doesn’t offer it. The only test they offer is PSAT they schedule and everyone takes AP tests on the same date, and they must stay in the class until a certain time cause they are afraid the west coasters will get info sent to them from kids phones. Phones are not allowed, but just in case. I’m telling you this is elaborate to do this.
I get what you’re saying and I agree that the entire scam is elaborate. However, taking the test at an alternate location isn’t and shouldn’t be looked at as suspicious much like the disability exceptions for folks that need them shouldn’t be maligned because people gamed the system. There are 7 testing dates per year (2 in the summer) and depending where you’re at, going to an alternate location isn’t much of a foreign thing. My county only offered the test on one of those dates and since I had to take it earlier, I had to drive over an hour to a different testing site. I imagine things get more drastic if your state isn’t densely populated.
The problem is that these schools get their money and connections from these wealthy a-holes. I can see them expelling some kids as kind of sacrificial scapegoats, but waiting until the outrage dies down and keeping on the “useful” kids.
If Paul Manafort is doing 5 f**king minutes in jail for 3628367 financial+ crimes (and TREASON), then doesn’t that just show that this behavior is absolutely perfectly acceptable if you’re in the white wealthy set? Yep. I mean, if he (and the actual POTUS) can get away with all that then, really, what behavior is Unacceptable anymore?
Oh yeah…that would be black people bbq’ing in public parks.
I hope she and the other lying twits get expelled. My kid played NCAA water polo (NOT AT USC) and she loves this sport so much. The head water polo coach at USC and the associate athletic drector were arrested (while at a tournament in Hawaii!) USC is at the top tier of water polo teams and always so respected.
The competition to be recruited by a good college team is fierce. When I think of all the years my kid put into this sport with the hopes of playing in college. 5:30 am practices followed by another afternoon practice all while maintaining top academic grades. The physical demands and injuries. All the away tournaments with the private club team when I was going through a divorce, my business was suffering during the economic downturn and money was scarce and sometimes I didn’t know how I was going to pay. But I did. And it was worth it because it gave her opportunities to be noticed by college coaches and she got recruited. Signing an NCAA contract to play in college was one of the highlights of her life. Mine too.
I can’t even begin to tell you how this whole thing disgusts me. Real athletes work their butts off and people like this Jade twit waltz in as part of an elaborate scam pretending to be athletes. A legitimate candidate for the school gets turned away so this liar can claim her place. 😠 😡
Did you read the transcripts Other Renee? They’re kind of a laugh riot in an infuriating way. One kid was trying to get in under water polo and his dad bought him a cap and ball from amazon then had the kid stand in a pool holding a ball to try and look the part. The scammy company had to email back and essentially say ‘uhhhh the kid’s whole torso is out of the water, that’s impossible for water polo so you need to retake the photo.’
Definitely a case by case basis if they were in the dark. I assume that probably only applies to the SAT folks, who’s grades were changed, since the fake recruits had to know. It really just depends on the college and how much they take the SAT scores into account. Yes, they matter, but they never really outweigh the whole of the applications and are pretty meaningless after half a year of college. I imagine that they’ll probably investigate the rest of the application for similar fibbing.
They had to do more than just cheat on the SAT, right? No score is going to guarantee admission to an Ivy League.
Money is the biggest obstacle to Ivy League, which is why so many use it to get their kids accepted in the first place. I have the grades and qualifications to go Ivy League for medical school, and I plan on applying to a few just for the hell of it since the best immunology programs are mostly Ivy League (it’s where the research is). Whether I’ll get accepted is completely in the air, but even then, it’s a crapshot about whether or not I could afford to accept.
(Albeit, it’s roughly $200K in debt no matter where I go, so it’s not like it’s a massive difference in the long run. That’s part of why the competition is so fierce for those big schools – why not shoot high if you’re going to pay the same either way?)
Not necessarily. Ivy League schools offer substantial financial aid. It can be more affordable than other private and public schools if you get in.
Depends on the school. I went to Yale for undergrad for 50-52k a year. I only had to pay about 3k (standard student contribution) + books. Yale covered the rest of it through need based grants after accounting for the federal pell.
The whole “money is an obstacle” thing while true in many cases can often be a middle class money management and expectation issue that delves into people quite often living at the edge of their means and feeling poorer than they actually are. Therefore, when the bill comes around for college, it’s quite often perceived as too much. That’s a whole TED Talk that makes people angry though so I’ll save it for another day.
The competition for those aid packages can be fierce, though. That’s the kicker. You have to be exceptional and you have to be very lucky to get in and get lucky.
I went to a very expensive private college for my undergrad (in the $30K/yr range), but I scored a scholarship for an essay I wrote that cut the cost in half. Here’s where I was privileged: 1.) I attended a good high school and had a previous associates degree with honors standing at my graduation, 2.) my mother was an alumnus who donated regularly (not millions, but like…she’d throw a few hundred dollars at them when they asked, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave me a leg up), 3.) I was an older student returning to school with a background in the field I was pursuing, so I had the credentials AND a better idea of how to balance work and school than my younger classmates, 4.) I’m a talented writer. Not everybody has that going for them, and while I certainly earned my summa cum laude standing for graduation, I’m not embarrassed to admit those likely contributed to my college fortune.
As for college expenses…eh, maybe a little, but college costs have vastly outstripped wages. My parent’s generation having money management issues, I could see an argument for. Not so much for the Millenial generation and after – living expenses have far outpaced wage growth, and those who graduated into the 2000s recession are statistically still playing economic catch up more than a decade later. My mother was shocked to see how much my tuition was compared to hers twenty years previous. A sturdy middle class income with no debt behind it, sure, they could probably save and contribute well toward. I don’t have children or a mortgage, so I was able to pay for most of my second Bachelors out of pocket, but that’s not at all the typical situation for people in my age group. if I had children or a house on top of my car payment, it would’ve been impossible. Even then, I still wound up pulling out about $5,000 in loans – which I’m still steadily paying off, but it’s a sad statement that mentioning I only have $35K in school debt after three degrees is considered an enviable feat of calculated academic strategy.
Yale’s aid package is purely need based for undergrad at least. Other schools differ although many are heading the need based way. There was no competition involved in that. Once you’re in, you fill out the usual financial aid forms and they calculate it from that, not a resume.
I should also add that it depends on the level of “middle class” we’re talking about, by the way. A couple making $100,000+ plus with 2-3 children in an area that isn’t crazy expensive real-estate wise can absolutely afford to put money aside for college over time if they’re smart. On the other hand, people earning $40K who are “middle class” with three children in areas with heftier real estate costs are looking a substantially higher number of obstacles to such savings. Debt-to-income is a huge indicator of where people actually sit in the middle class. I had to laugh at my coworker who described his pharmacist son (whose college he paid for) as “middle class.” I told him flat out, in as friendly terms as I could, that nobody with any economical sense would apply that term to somebody making $250K a year with no college debt, no car debt, and a reasonable mortgage helped along by an equally high income spouse middle class. He’s straight up rich at that point, which is how he got approved for a million dollar loan to buy a pharmacy business.
As for Yale, that’s a generous package, I agree. But that goes back to my original point – how many kids from lower income or even working class neighborhoods are going to have the resources available to get to that point? I came from a working class background and spent most of my twenties, there. I can absolutely understand why a lot get stuck there or lower.
Veronica, you’re definitely right that students from low income families often aren’t competitive for either academic reasons or simply because they don’t have guidance or role models on how to navigate life in an Ivy League. The money might be there for them, but they may not know how to access it or have the familiarity on how to gain access to all the resources.
Ivy League financial aid is need-based solely, so my friends at other private universities paid far more for their degrees than my family did for Harvard. However, I acknowledge there are other barriers beside tuition.You still have to pay for books. You’ll want a computer, even if there are computer labs available. Internships? Travel home?
The Ivy League financial aid packages go a long way but there are other structural obstacles.
TLDR: Calling total BS on the 250K Pharmacist salary.
DH graduated with highest honors from Pharmacy school, plus has additional certifications. He’s never made more than 100K and even that salary is hard to come by now. Many Pharmacist can’t find jobs. Retail pharmacists in DFW all had their hours cut to 30 hours per week; we heard that this was pretty much a nationwide move with most drug retailers. Everyone is rushing over to clinical, pushing down salaries. LTC and nuclear – 80K, maybe, and the hours and on/call mean a rotten quality of life. There are some decent jobs out there still, but those are filled. New grads have a terrible deal. And In the near future, most of us will be stuck getting our meds filled via crappy mail order or Amazon anyway (they are entering this shitst*orm any time now). Oh, and pharmacists need to buy their own liability insurance. That’s more $$ out of the salary. DH caught a ring of pharmacy tech drug thrives at his store (not his hires). His reward for numerous (unpaid) hours of cooperation with police and loss prevention? Getting thrown under the bus by the drugstore chain in front of the state pharmacy board. 10k for his own lawyer helped, but he could have lost his license or have been stuck with the fine. He’s an amazing guy who always helps people- sometimes secretly covering costs or helping quietly. We feel awful for the new grads with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. It’s a terrible career choice, but the new schools keep popping up and peddling slick bullshit. We’ve got an exit strategy, but these poor new grads. Very, very few established independent pharmacies can make it. Reimbursements are not high enough. DH’s pharmacy actually loses money fillingMedicare/Medicaid scripts. The 250K pharmacist is a myth, just like the million dollar pharmacist job in Alaska rumor that has floated around for at least the last 20 years.
Yeah, I agree the majority of them don’t have anywhere near that kind of money, but this dude had CONNECTIONS. He got in with drug company that gave him that massive boost in the first couple years, then he decided to purchase a business because he was friends with a friend whose father wanted to pass on an extremely lucrative pharmacy. I’m sure his annual income is lower now because of it, but that’s what it was at the time. That’s why I was saying it was insane for him to describe his son as middle class when he was surrounded by new pharmacists with $200K in debt not even coming close to breaking six digits as clinical pharmacists. The vast majority of them were not making that kind of money, and it was beyond inappropriate for him to ignore that reality when he knew damn well he was privileged.
For the record, I work in the pharmaceutical industry. I was a pharmacy tech for ten years, and now I work on the corporate side for a very large medication and software distributor. I have a double Bachelors, but I’m not doctorate level. With the overtime I rack up on my job in the busy years, I can easily come within spitting distance of hospital pharmacist income, and trust me, I recognize how outrageous that is. Those people deserve better than to put themselves in massive amounts of debt and serve as the safety guard against doctor’s mistakes for comparatively low money.
Good GRIEF I don’t know where to start with this but I attended community college….years later I am FINE…no one has ever asked where I went to school
LL and her husband are loaded, why send her daughter to school anyway? Who ADMITS she has no interest in school (?!?!?!)
I’d say this would be terrible for the parent-child relationship, but these kids had to know what was going on.
That was my thought too. Unless they’re going into a specialized field (which I doubt these kids are if they couldn’t get into colleges on their own merit) then why does it matter where they’re going to school? Bragging rights for them or the parents? No job has ever cared where I got my degree from – just that I have one.
Honestly, the big thing about Ivy League is the connections. Every job I’ve had could care less about where I got my degree as long as its accredited, but the networking is what will really pull you up the ladder. You want to be a big name in an industry or research center, you go where the big names are. Just look at the resumes of our current Supreme Court. Half of them from Harvard Law (or attended previously) or another Ivy League. The path to power starts with money in America.
While it is true that not all of the kids knew what their parents did, the Loughlin brats did know. They posed for a staged “crew” photo so they could be admitted as part of USC crew team. The affidavit even states their high school counselor inquired how they could be applying as crew when they weren’t on the team in their high school. Their father confronted the counselor and told her they were on crew at their private beach club. Pathetic!
The Huffman daughter knew because Felicity took her to Dr. to get fake diagnosis to get additional time to take SAT which allowed her to take it at a different location with a fake proctor who corrected her answers after the test.
All of the parents indicted make me sick.
I so don’t understand the logic of adding a sport that the kid never played. I get that in general, schools take that into consideration since they need athletes, but in this case, the girl was NEVER actually going to be on the crew team and they had enough money to cheat on every other aspect of the application— so why bother adding this random sport into it??
The affidavit is very enlightening.
For USC, Donna Heinel was an athletic director who was in on the scam and getting bribery payments of $20K for month for her scam services. Her role was to take faked athletic profiles on the students into admissions committee meetings and sell them as recruited athletes- who then had a much higher chance of getting OK’d for admission once she vouched for them. The selection of what sport the kid was coming in as was pretty haphazard and it didn’t matter as it was not a binding commitment to play the sport or an athletic scholarship. Once admitted and enrolled they just didn’t join the team.
This was the hallmark of the “side door” admissions scheme – faking that they were applying as a recruited athlete. Bribing the USC athletic department people who were in on the scheme.
This is far reaching, I believe the students probably do need to be expelled and the parents jailed.
I thought to myself for a bit whether the kids who weren’t actively involved or aware should be expelled, and after a bit of thought, I decided – yes, they should. It sucks, but they should, because their presence devalues the college and those attending who don’t have golden parachutes to call them on the fall out. There has to be consequences to shitty behavior. The fact that there isn’t for the wealthy in society is why the majority of them behave like entitled children with no concern or awareness of how their actions impact others.
They should withdraw and try to save some face. And they should be expelled otherwise.
This type of “parenting style” is an epidemic and such a disservice to the children- padding them with money and wrapping them in bubble tape. It happens in every city, at all levels, and we wonder why so many youth suffer from depression, anxiety, and low self esteem.
It breeds kids who can only associate self worth with fragile, superficial exploits. They’ll never learn the value of REAL hard work or the valuable lessons of failure because they’ve been denied the opportunity to gain anything on their own merit.
THIS!! And I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg, too.
To be so young and look so plastic. I just think this is gross.
Yeah, I agree that it’s been going on for a long time. Our government wields great and strict control over our universities, but I’d bet this goes on here, too, because corruption is everywhere. Make all the kids sit a university entrance exam (do you have them there?), and if they don’t pass, chuck them out. That’s what uni is about, isn’t it? If they can’t pass an entrance exam, then they likely won’t be able to handle coourse work. They could have worked hard to earn a place at uni, and if they did, they should be able to pass an entry exam. If not, they don’t merit a place there. Give the place to someone who’ll appreciate it.
Lori’s daughter Olivia definitely should be expelled. She clearly doesn’t want to be in college and has said so publicly quite a few times.
And yet they begrudge under-represented minorities the little bit we get in admissions. I’m sure their defense will be that little Olivia Jade had no chance of getting into college because of all the black and brown kids, who aren’t smart enough getting into schools, so I had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get her in. It’s those unqualified, affirmative action kids’ fault. I hope they all go straight to jail and their spawns expelled.
It’s not that I was surprised because I have always known these things happen. However as a woman of color, and the daughter of immigrants, to boot, this story has been really triggering. I was always made to feel that I didn’t belong in higher education. My admission and attendance to top schools was always relegated to fulfilling a racial quota. I still remember an instructor at Columbia University that once pointed out, following our 2nd lecture, that it wasnt until he heard me speak that he realized I was “actually” really smart. Because of my skin tone and culture it was either assumed that I didn’t earn my way in or I was used as a “model minority” to shame my fellow poc students that were not getting the same grades as I was. Either way it was such a toxic experience that I remember crying at both my undergraduate and masters graduations and thinking “I made it through.”
Knowing that these entitled kids and parents will never know the pain of those of us that fought hard to survive the educational system or those that were cheated of the proper opportunities to do so is infuriating. Especially when you factor in the black and brown parents that have been incarcerated simply for using a relative’s address to send their children to schools that were as someone stated online “just adequate.”
Yale’s official statement is that it “is a victim of a crime.” Hmmmkay.
Any students who knew and went along with it definitely deserve to be expelled. It shouldn’t go beyond that for them though because mostly it’s the parents’ responsibility. The people I feel sorry for are good students who were passed over just because they didn’t have rich, conniving parents willing to be unethical just so they’d be able to say their kid went to college, and any students who didn’t know what their parents were up to and now have to deal with the blowback from that.
I don’t have a problem with Olivia’s comment about school though. It’s pretty common for teenagers to bitch about school or at least say there’s something else they’d rather be doing. That’s not limited to rich, spoiled teens.
Yeah, I agree with you about Olivia’s comments. It’s a common sentiment and frankly, if she weren’t a cheater, I’d say more power to her for sticking it through. I know so many kids who hate school after high school and decide that “college” is not for them, when those levels of schooling are rarely analogous. We’d be a better country if more people who hated school actually pushed through.
I went to 2 different high schools and the second was a boarding school that had a schedule similar to most colleges. We had the same requirements to met, but a lot of choice within each. For example, 11/12th grade English was a combined with regional histories, taught by 2 teachers, and taught at different times. After the requisite American History/English course, you could then choose a difference region, learn the history, and read and analyze the literature. The same was mostly true for other subjects. Yes, it was a school for students that were usually at the top of the class in their districts, but the structure and freedom allowed for a much better high school experience.
My summary of the rich being entitled pillocks this past month:
Ivanka “my daddy paid for my career” Trump thinks anyone can have “upward mobility” if they work hard enough.
Betsy DeVos decided poor hard working students don’t need money or fair loans to pay for school. They’ll get punished just for wanting a chance at life. Better yet their school loans will pay for another rich person’s third yacht or second private jet instead.
Rich assholes have always paid their way into institutions they claim should only accept people on “merit”. Different rules apply to them.
How dumb are these kids when the parents have to pay HALF a MILLION dollars to get into a public university??? She has to know she isn’t too bright if your parents have to pay that much. Just drop out and focus on your “Influencer” IG page with your bronzer dripped face and stamped on eyebrows like all the other rich white girl Nepotism Influencers. I have zero sympathy for these idiots.
omfg all you have to do is show up and open the door to get into a public university. money well wasted!
So is this how Ryan Locke got into college. I mean an athletic scholarship, but, don’t you still need good grades??
So is this how Ryan Locke got into college. I mean an athletic scholarship, but, don’t you still need good grades??
I’m pretty sure most of the top tier programs, especially football and basketball, have nothing to do with grades. I doubt many of those guys even see the inside of a lecture theatre once they get there. I’m not American but that’s always been my understanding of it.
They should be expelled.
And the parents should be punished/fined.
Staff that encouraged or permitted this BS should also be fired.
Let everyone one of these over paid, over privileged, spoiled rotten little twerps work and earn their educations.
Also, would the world not be better off if the truly hard working, intelligent people got into leadership positions? Not just the trust fund cheaters?
Man, some days I am just fed up with the ways of the world.
Huh. Switch college admissions with illegal immigrants and I bet most of you change direction in what you are saying you “wish” would happen. Parents crime, parents punished. Children should not be punished for their parents crime. Ever. Unless, you are only concerned about white privileged children being punished for their parents crimes. Parents will do extremely stupid things to better the lives of their children.
These “children” are all over 18 yo, Blocked cause I am a troll!
Some of the parents tried to hide it from the students but I know at least one of them eventually found out she was admitted under false pretenses and was worried about what people would think about her.
BUT THE MAJORITY… I’m pretty sure most of the dumbbell students were in on the scams. They signed off on their fake college applications.
They also flew to testing centers where they sat alone in a room with a proctor that GAVE THEM THE ANSWERS on the SATS AND ACTS!!!!!!!! tell me again those students weren’t in on it with their parents??!
Also, have Daca friends and am first college graduate in my mexican side. DO you even know any illegal immigrants or immigrants in general? LOLOL our parents would NEVER risk everything that THEY WORKED so hard for, this life and this opportunity and risk RUINING IT by CHEATING. Immigrants and children of immigrants know there is no such thing as “free Lunch”. We work our tails off to level the playing field just so we get a shot at what the rich kids get served with a silver spoon.
That is NOT how we roll.
You should really read this comment out loud to hear how foolish you sound comparing deportation of children born and raised in America to regions unknown to being expelled from an Ivy League where you’ll spend a year licking your wounds and then using your parent’s money to reapply to a different college.
USC is EMBROILED in scandal right now. This is just one of many.
they should just shut it down.
First of all, it’s COULDN’T care less, as “could” indicates the opposite. That there is more care to give.
I was also wondering why they didn’t just “donate” something instead. When you have so much, why risk it all? Felicity in particular is known for her professionalism. She and her husband have had such a good brand as a talented pair with integrity.
I’m so pissed by her poor decisions.
I don’t think the kids who were in the dark should be punished. If being in a school that expects higher standards made them work harder to be better, then that’s cool.
But if they’re skipping along and partying and not trying, because they know they’ll just pass anyway, then kick those babies out.
And yes, the schools clutching their pearls and pretending they had no idea, are going to be found out as liars very soon.
Maybe this is the best thing that could have ever happened for these kids and these parents. For the first time in their lives, these brats have to face consequences and live with shitty situations that they didn’t necessarily create. Welcome to the world, overbronzed baby girl! Maybe she’ll learn some character. I’m shocked she hasn’t taken down her social media. It’s brutal over there. And no matter what rich folks hi jinks happen in court, in the court of public opinion, she’s screwed! There are some fabulous memes though, including people who photoshopped their babies faces onto pictures of athletes!🍿
true that! maybe it will take this entitled family down a notch, but doubt it!
When I filled out my college application and when I took the SAT the applicant signed at the end that the information you were submitting was true. You also signed that you followed rules on the SAT when you submit it. You sign, no one else. On the application for the Ivy that I attended I was the only one who signed on my application that the information I was submitting was correct. So any applicant who submitted false information about their athletic background, or cheated their SAT also committed fraud. Maybe not jail-able but in violation of the school’s honor policy and code. Kick them out. Let them keep the credits they have earned and paid tuition for (I think legally they have to? I honestly don’t know) but they are expelled.
Most of the students that “cheated” will probably drop out before getting expelled…that way it’s not on their transcripts or school records. However, so late in the semester I’m not sure you’re allowed to drop classes now.
I just read on tmz that Olivia Jade was on the chairman of the board of trustees yacht in the Bahamas until last night when ‘she decided it would be best if she left the boat’.
good god.
I went to state college (my sister and I were first two in our entire family on our Mexican side to graduate from a 4 year college) and we loved college so much. We threw ourselves into our education. My sister went on to get her credential and to this day, I love to learn and take community college courses for funsies through out my adulthood even after I got my degree.
We loved our little college town SO MUCH, we never left for Spring Break. We wouldnt have wanted to be ANYWHERE else in the world for spring break besides OUR COLLEGE town!!!
When you can’t appreciate the little things, the non material things in your life, I feel your soul is SO LOST.
I dont understand this 19 year old instagram wannabe on yachts, cheating the system, making narcissistic instagram videos. To be honest, I think she is probably a total dumb bell but what a SAD existence.
The only reason I got ahead in life and did better than my parents, went to college and set the curve in my classes and was recruited by top firms is because I may not have been as smart, connected, rich or educated as the Olivia Jades but I will out work everyone in a room. I will work twice as hard as the next hardest worker. In fact, as a female minority from a poor family – I KNEW I had to work harder than EVERYONE to just LEVEL the playing field.
I just dont understand these rich kids.
TMZ is reporting that Olivia Jade was on spring break on the yacht of the Chairman of the USC Board of Trustees when the story broke (in the Bahamas, no less). Poor girl had to cut her vacation short to return to LA. I am without further words.
If you’re admitted on fraudulent grounds, you get expelled. Period. It’s not as complicated as they’re making it look.
Question: How much did Olivia Jade and her mother cheat in order to get her a high school diploma??
HAHA
I think they paid someone off for that as well! She never went to classes based on her video confession.
I worked for a American, very wealthy mother with 4 kids. She gave three of the 4 kids Ritalin drugs because she said they have ADHD when in reality they only wanted the children to „ function, behave and focus“ better. She had many friends who did the same. Doctors will easily prescribe Ritalin to young children in the US which is absolutely wrong. When parents just sit their children in front of the tv, gameboy, Xbox, let them use iPhones and iPads at young ages and don’t give them love and attention it is NOT ADHD. It is selfishness and it is being just a pretend and prestige parent on the outside. From what I have seen of rich American parents they are awful , superficial people. I am talking about the kind of people who get invitations to party’s where a lot of celebrities go. And how they treat employees and people of no need is a shame. I am glad it is all coming out. Next thing we will all get chips implanted under our skin and bible prophecy’s will be fulfilled. May you all be blessed. Power is in the Name of Jesus!
Can you imagine an actual athlete trying to sell things via YouTube? They’d get expelled or dismissed from the team for making money while in college and having been recruited. So fuck these – especially Ms. “I don’t care about college but my parents made me come here.” Any athlete of color would have gotten in trouble for making money while attending college.