[Genuine Realist]

Per Stanford's statement, neither was admitted.

Yes, you're right. Stanford revised its original statement to add these details:

"one student was initially denied admission and intended to reapply but never did, and the second never completed an application."

Based on what we know now, the bottom line appears to be that Stanford's admissions system worked. A coach tried to subvert the system by recommending an applicant who had fraudulent qualifications, but the attempted fraud failed. The applicant was rejected. 

This reinforces what we already knew -- the admissions office exercises independent judgment and the athletic coaches can't dictate admissions decisions.

I think that is pretty encouraging.

I am stunned, stunned that the full weight of our sailing coach's power and influence couldn't get a kid through the admissions process successfully.

There's a lot of conflicting information. Evidently the dad wanted either Harvard or Stanford. The notation was that she 'intended to reapply', which presumably means the rejection wasn't final. Maybe she found a different school that suited her better and didn't bother. The dad was sufficiently happy with the results to leave the gift in place for his second daughter.

[Genuine Realist]

Per Stanford's statement, neither was admitted.

Yes, you're right. Stanford revised its original statement to add these details:

"one student was initially denied admission and intended to reapply but never did, and the second never completed an application."

Based on what we know now, the bottom line appears to be that Stanford's admissions system worked. A coach tried to subvert the system by recommending an applicant who had fraudulent qualifications, but the attempted fraud failed. The applicant was rejected. 

This reinforces what we already knew -- the admissions office exercises independent judgment and the athletic coaches can't dictate admissions decisions.

I think that is pretty encouraging.

I am stunned, stunned that the full weight of our sailing coach's power and influence couldn't get a kid through the admissions process successfully.

There's a lot of conflicting information. Evidently the dad wanted either Harvard or Stanford. The notation was that she 'intended to reapply', which presumably means the rejection wasn't final. Maybe she found a different school that suited her better and didn't bother. The dad was sufficiently happy with the results to leave the gift in place for his second daughter.