A well connected call to the university president can influence chances

[sgopal2]

Great article. Thanks for sharing. Here is an interesting tidbit from the Kroll report that resonated with me:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/255593634/Final-Report-of-Investigation-2-06-2015

The purpose of a hold is to prevent a negative decision from becoming final until the President’s Office (in the case of Q and B holds) or a Dean (in the case of L and B holds) is first notified. If the decision by Admissions is to admit, there is no issue; the applicant is notified of his or her admission and taken off the hold list. But if the preliminary decision is to deny admission, the hold designation requires that Admissions first notify the President’s Office (in the case of Q and B holds) or a particular Dean (in the case of L and B holds). During the application review process, the reader(s) of the applicant’s file cannot see whether there is a hold on a candidate. Consequently, there is no reason to believe that the members of Admissions staff who review and evaluate applications are aware or in any way influenced by hold designations.

I wonder if a similar practice is used by other schools around the country.