I don’t think anyone is asking colleges to verify every line of every application. But I don’t think is it too much to ask, in order to bolster faith in the system, for there to be a few spot checks here and there on accepted applicants.
The Varsity Blues scandal had a lot to do with corrupt employees in the athletic departments of the universities. But a secondary check on recruited athletes should not be too difficult. Other cases with claimed high level awards or recognition can also be checked to see if such awards or recognition exist and were awarded to those claiming them.
As the linked article notes, stuff written in essays can be much harder to verify.
It would seem reasonable for school counselors to include in their report anything they have actual knowledge of-so they could say, yes John is often in the paper for his rowing championships or Sue won city-wide student of the Year or whatever.
It seems to me that some up and comer in the Athletic Department could be out validating kids backgrounds, especially if the coach is going to spend a scholarship or an admission slot on a kid.
The Varsity Blues issue is they did leave vetting to a supposedly reasonable resource: the athletic depts these false recruits were meant to enhance.
If you look at chance threads, you can see kids’ assumptions. When that’s off, validating isn’t the magic answer.
Many adults remained silent in the face of fraud-the elite high school counselors who knew the scores submitted were highly irregular; the athletic directors who knew the sports claims were phony. High schools aren’t asked to confirm and colleges make little effort to verify, so the whole process encourages corruption. I think it is much more widespread than known.
When the system creates incentives for misrepresentations and deceptions, how can we act surprised when we discover corruptions?
This is the kind of stuff that’s been going on at private universities for decades. Private schools cater to the wealthy because those are the ones who donate the money. That’s why admissions are so ridiculously competitive for students who actually apply based on credentials. The rich kids have the connections and get the slots before anyone else. Why do you think there’s so much grade inflation? No one wants to upset donors.