How could kids not know they were getting fake scores

[osewalrus]

This article pull out the relevant pieces of the charging docs. While some parents told their kids about the scams and cooperated, others were kept totally in the dark. That was part of the "service" singer offered. If parents wanted their kids to "feel good about themselves" and "think they were super smart" after all, that could be easily arranged.
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/14/18263876/college-admissions-fraud-investigation-fbi-quotes

Basically, it involved shifting things to the back end to hide from the student. The parents told these kids that "maybe they have a learning disability" and they should get tested. The test doctor was bribed to confirm a learning disability that required 100% extension of time. This also explained to the child why s/he was now apparently doing much better than previously. Now that the "learning disability" was "diagnosed," child could get special accommodations for standardized testing. Singer had a network of bribed administrators and exam proctors on the back end who would alter scores, including doctor transcripts. As Singer explained, what was important was to show that the child was "improving." The combination of the supposed "learning disability" and "transformation" of the child into a superior student as a result of the diagnosis made the admission plausible -- when combined with the other "side door" services Singer provided.

If this sounds elaborate, keep in mind these are parents who were willing to pay potentially $100s of thousands if they got the right results.

Comments

[conuly]

I legitimately feel bad for any of those kids who didn't know what was going on. None of this is their fault, but they're gonna be tagged with this.

[osewalrus]

i also can't imagine how devastating it would be to discover that your parents did not believe in you and that what you thought were your accomplishments were totally fake.

[luscious_purple]

Legally, can any of the offspring of the accused parents be expelled from college? Does it depend on whether the kids knew about the scam, or the individual university's policies?

[conuly]

Whether they knew or not, they ought to all be expelled. And since, apparently, at least some of the parents were also paying for grade fixing once their kids were enrolled, all their grades have to be wiped with the credits non-transferable anywhere else. It's an awful thing for the ones who didn't know and who really did put effort into their studies but....

[osewalrus]

Not sure how it works. I don't know that this sort of case has ever come up before -- where the kids were unaware of the fraud.

One question unanswered is how are these kids actually doing in the colleges once there. Nothing indicates that Singer's services extended to doctoring grades once admitted (although Lord knows they may have)).