Earlier this month, two wealthy Americans were convicted of spending money to send their children to prestigious universities. They were Aziz, a former U.S. casino executive, and Wilson, the founder of a private equity firm, who even paid up to $1 million (about 6.5 million yuan) to get his twin daughters into Harvard and Stanford.
The parents will be sentenced next February, the first to go to trial in the world-shattering U.S. college admissions scandal two years ago.
Fraud cases involving multiple parties
In 2019, U.S. prosecutors filed a lawsuit over a "sports specialty student admission fraud case", which involved Yale University, Stanford University, Harvard University, UCLA and many other well-known American universities, and about 50 people were sued, including celebrities, film and television stars:
Lori Lugelin, who starred in "Full House of Joy," was exposed for sending her two daughters to the University of Southern California through improper means. Emmy winner Felicity Hoffman, who played the role of Le Knight in Desperate Housewives, was also embroiled in the scandal by paying bribes to revise her daughter's SAT score and was arrested by the FBI in Los Angeles.
Southern California University Gate ▲
In this case, there are also Chinese faces — the parents of Chinese student Guo Shirley "bought" Yale university offers for $1.2 million (about 7.72 million yuan); Zhao Tao, chairman of China's leading pharmaceutical company Buchang Pharmaceutical, even spent $6.5 million (about 41.8 million yuan) to enroll his daughter Zhao Yusi in Stanford.
These parents, who come from all walks of life, are drawn into the same case because they all fall into the trap of the same person, William Singer. He is known as the "trader" of this fraud case, and over the years, he has taken advantage of the expectations and anxieties of parents from all walks of life at home and abroad about their children's academic qualifications and future, and has repeatedly carried out illegal manipulation in the university admission process and sought huge profits from them.
Manipulated parental hearts
After the incident came to light, William Singer pleaded guilty to all charges and has not yet been tried in court. The children involved seem to have experienced more: most of them did not know how they were "favored" by the school after the incident was revealed, after the incident, they were expelled from school, verbally reprimanded by public opinion and people around them, and some witnessed their parents being taken to the police car. All of this runs counter to the expectations of parents.
Looking back, these students involved in the case are not really "useless", and many of them have excellent grades and have ample opportunities to enter excellent universities.
For example, the above-mentioned Zhao Yusi, she has previously had an ACT 33 score (out of 36), TOEFL 111 points (out of 120), called a first class student; Guo Shirley has studied at the well-known private school Sierra Catholic High School in the United States, she has performed well, and has also been praised by the principal.
Yale University Library▲
There are also many children who have their own plans and goals, and do not appreciate the "efforts" of their parents.
A Los Angeles businessman once spent $250,000 to send his son to the University of Southern California, but his son Matteo was very emotional when he learned of the incident, questioning why he did not believe he had the strength to get into a good university. Actress Lori Lugelin's youngest daughter, Olivia, is focused on her own internet celebrity business, and has repeatedly made remarks on social media such as "I don't care about my studies" and "I don't know how many classes I will go to".
In this storm, the love of parents for their children has become a weapon to stab them.
In 2018, a Stanford University study found that what college students do in school is more important than the school they attend, and that hard work in school and hard work after graduation are the cornerstones of accumulating a sense of achievement and happiness later. From this point of view, it may be debatable whether a good academic qualification is directly equated with success.
Bookstore on the Stanford University campus
This is not a denial of the good universities. They have advanced scientific research facilities, pioneering academic standards, accomplished masters and excellent classmates around them, they give children not only excellent competitiveness, but also beyond the calm and vision of their peers, but all of this is based on the premise of students' own ability.
A good university is difficult to enter and difficult to get out, once the ability does not match the hobby and the conditions of the school, the academic pressure after enrollment, interpersonal relationships, etc. may also cause a series of problems, so that the "academic aura" eventually becomes "seedlings to promote growth", and ultimately the gains are not worth the losses.
The purpose of education is to enable every child to find the right path for themselves and move towards the future they want. The blind "school theory of meritocracy" not only reverses the cause and effect of education, but also gives people like Singh an opportunity to take advantage of it.
There is an old Chinese saying, "It is better to teach people to fish than to teach people to fish", the best education for children is actually the habit of reading, the direction of hard work, the principles and qualities of lifelong growth, rather than the means of quick success, or the status and achievement of the moment. Putting students more rather than schools in the lead role may lead to more appropriate choices at critical moments.