03-14-2019, 12:33 PM
Every year, lots of "qualified" applicants to Stanford are not admitted. I don't think anybody on this board really knows exactly what criteria are used in selecting students to be admitted. It is not an objectively "fair" process, as there are many factors that cannot be compared directly. The University also has its own weightings factors that vary from year to year. That is why many parents desire an extra "push" from some factor such as athletics, or community service involvement, or ... Phony credentials in these areas probably haven't been a big enough problem in the past to require vetting. Henceforth, they will require scrutiny. I have no idea how much difference being on the sailing team will make in any given year. In the future, the University will now have to verify such factors for anybody they want to accept.
Cheating on standardized tests is entirely another matter. The fact a "ringer" can take the SAT for you and not be detected is absurd. The fact that a person could do this for years and not get caught is even more problematic. Simple things like requiring proper photo id (like you need to get on an airplane) should make it difficult to get in the room if you are not who you are supposed to be. Random assignments of proctors to venues should make it very difficult for corrupt proctors to help anybody with the test. Requiring two randomly assigned proctors should make it virtually impossible. It is unfortunate that this type of concern is required. It is also probably true that no scheme is foolproof. It should be possible to develop a protocol that will make it very improbable that anybody could get away with this at all, let alone long-term as appears to have happened in this case. It shouldn't be possible to make a business of it!
Cheating on standardized tests is entirely another matter. The fact a "ringer" can take the SAT for you and not be detected is absurd. The fact that a person could do this for years and not get caught is even more problematic. Simple things like requiring proper photo id (like you need to get on an airplane) should make it difficult to get in the room if you are not who you are supposed to be. Random assignments of proctors to venues should make it very difficult for corrupt proctors to help anybody with the test. Requiring two randomly assigned proctors should make it virtually impossible. It is unfortunate that this type of concern is required. It is also probably true that no scheme is foolproof. It should be possible to develop a protocol that will make it very improbable that anybody could get away with this at all, let alone long-term as appears to have happened in this case. It shouldn't be possible to make a business of it!