<p>And it makes the morning news shows…</p>
<p>Point wasn’t that UMich or Emory aren’t good schools or hard to get into - obviously they are - and this kid apparently was one who could be bought, felt this exercise was worth his time, and who also could achieve something close to the desired score. </p>
<p>Point WAS - these kids did not come up with this idea, conceive of plane flights back to various test centers, orchestrate fake IDs and kick in 10 grand of their own money all by themselves. One or more parents either knew what was going on or, more likely, organized the whole thing. </p>
<p>I will be very suprised if an adult is not thrown under the bus quite soon.</p>
<p>
Good question, sybbie. There was a cheating scandal at our hs 4 years ago and many in the community were concerned about whether other students would be considered “tainted” because of the criminal acts of a few. Thankfully, that doesn’t appear to have happened here - our hs has continued to post strong results in admissions to top schools.</p>
<p>I firmly believe that there are students who cheat at every school. Perhaps it doesn’t take the form of buying SAT scores or other means of cheating that require what most students would consider a significant sum of money. But it exists because there’s a segment of the human population that will cheat, regardless of community values or how effectively a specific hs discourages cheating. I would hate to see innocent students further victimized by cheaters. It’s bad enough to have the value of their legitimate work undercut by cheating, but to be suspect solely because they come from the same hs as a ring of cheaters would be unjust.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree, and always feel bad for students at testing sites that have all scores cancelled for the actions of a few students. Happens more often than we would like to believe.</p>
<p>Other threads on this type of thing a few weeks back: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/1208238-professional-test-takers.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/1208238-professional-test-takers.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/224508-reporting-cheating-sat.html?highlight=sat+cheating[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/224508-reporting-cheating-sat.html?highlight=sat+cheating</a></p>
<p>I do not know what the recent situation is but years ago it was a common problem to have people take union entry tests for others. The solution was to have every applicant fingerprinted. There were times at test centers when this was first introduced (without fanfare) that huge numbers of “applicants” just walked away before even going in to take the tests.</p>
<p>Sad really, that people can actually do that and impersonate others. You would think collegeboard could prevent this given the amount of money they make and have.</p>
<p>Yes, it certainly sounds like the College Board needs an additional method of verification inside the test centers to deal with the kids who switch names inside the room. That could be as simple as having the name pre-filled out on each test and then handing it to that student when they show their ID.</p>
<p>It is easier to understand why a 17 year old does something stupid. However, any adult who enabled them or funded them should be nailed to the wall. </p>
<p>To build upon English’s comments above about the importance of verification: remember years ago when the IRS started to require that taxpayers list the Social Security numbers of each dependent that they claimed? The number of dependents in the US declined by something like 20% that year.</p>
<p>There is another very active thread ont his topic here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1106338-long-island-sat-cheating-ring-great-neck.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1106338-long-island-sat-cheating-ring-great-neck.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is not any teen age stupidity. At 17, they all know this is wrong. To brush it as teen stupidity is an easy way out.</p>
<p>I kind of agree with Igloo on this one. Teens do stupid things, and their impulsive behavior is biological. But this is a planned, manipulative behavior. It is not a bad impulse decision. And they do know it is wrong.</p>
<p>I agree with Igloo as well. I was 17 not very long ago (a few months), and I knew very well then as I know now that cheating is wrong. Its not only wrong to ones own self, but also to others. Students work hard for their high scores, the ones that don’t deserve the high score should not get the high score, simple as that.</p>
<p>I’m worried about other holes in the SAT test administration system. What about difference in time-zones? Do they have different variants for different time zones? I mean if some people out there are paying money to have someone else pretend to be them, would they even hesitate to contact and pay a person from a different time zone to give them easy scoring information such as test-vocabulary (and these are words students have learn’t throughout their life), the reference to the passage that came on the paper, the most difficult of Maths questions that distinguish the 99th percentile?</p>
<p><em>Worries for those who worked hard and got their scores cancelled. (I think if I was them and in my senior year, I would’ve gone for the ACT (just in-case I don’t get a chance to retake the SAT through my school at all).)</em></p>
<p>I would just note that the reason the main suspect is still at Emory is probably that he hasn’t been convicted of any crime yet. It seems unlikely that he’s innocent, but who knows?</p>
<p>I have family in that school and it comes as no surprise. The culture is one of entitlement and “superiority” by the wealthy and elite segments of the district. They even presume their influence will handle this “bump in the road” for their children.
So far, they’re correct or the names of these miscreants would be published.</p>
<p>The white collar criminals, lying politicians, shyster lawyers, etc. of the world were once high school students. While not every cheater in high school is irretrievably corrupt, for some the way the twig is bent will deform the tree. </p>
<p>People are taught not to compete these days, but to win. “Just win Baby!” “Winning is not everything, it’s the only thing!” “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” Those are some of the expressions I have heard giving paramount importance to winning. From high school sports to the pros, players try to fool the ref into a favorable call that is factually incorrect. That is cheating that everyone ignores or laughs at, but it shows acceptance of cheating in the culture because responsible adults - coaches, boosters, parents, don’t discipline kids who do it. Basketball players learn how to foul without being detected in real time - no one cares about the replay when the foul hasn’t been called. Tournament tennis players are tempted to make bad line calls at crucial moments to win the match. </p>
<p>The conspicuous consumption of the rich to show who is a “winner” in life pressures social climbers to cut ethical corners to move upward. That competition filters down to competition to get pre-schoolers into the best slot in their quest for the Ivy League where financial success awaits. Parents “cheat” about residences to qualify their children for placement into the best school districts. </p>
<p>I have seriously questioned whether my efforts to teach my kids to be honest and not to cheat is quaint, old fashioned, and putting them at a disadvantage in the modern world. It seems that a lot of kids are taught to do what they need to do. We need to take the John Adams approach when he told his son that he would rather that he be “an honest shoemaker than a dishonest senator” (or something to that effect). How one succeeds should be as important as the success, but it clearly is not unless you get caught. While I generally agree with most that competition is a good thing, it creates dangerous temptations for adults, and certainly more for children, who are driven to “win.”</p>
<p>Bogney, I have had the same thoughts. But I still try to believe in Karma…and what comes around, goes around. So teaching honesty, and modeling honesty will hopefully bring honesty into my life. </p>
<p>I also believe in competition, but the problems with the current level of college admissions, as well as job search etc is that there is such an emphasis to being #1, that #2 -#100 in a very large pool is looked down on. And that is sad.</p>
<p>A number of years ago while coaching my sons in LL, one received in-school suspension for a day for a prank.
I suspended his playing in a play-off game for this misdeed to affirm there are penalties for everything, despite his being one of our top players and the importance of the game.
I was chastised by a board member for this suspension and I told him my chief concern was raising a good, honest kid, not a ball player.
Couple years later another player laughed at a crying opponent after hitting him with a pitch and calling the opposing coach filthy names during a game…the board took no action for this conduct because they wanted the kid for their travel team.
WTH are we teaching our kids???</p>
<p>No money changed hands, courts were not involved, but little has changed…remember this: [From</a> the Archives: “Our Sons Have Something To Say” - News & Features (washingtonian.com)](<a href=“From the Archives: “Our Sons Have Something To Say” - Washingtonian”>From the Archives: “Our Sons Have Something To Say” - Washingtonian)</p>
<p>I do hope that the Great Neck situation is treated as a crime because there are real vicitms and consequences that can be life altering for those who are honest!</p>
<p>While I hope and pray that this is restricted to certain areas and schools, I am always the realist…</p>
<p>I know what it’s like to live on the North Shore of LI; or Bergen county, NJ or any other affluent, seemingly entitled area of the country…</p>
<p>This will not stop until the " culture" of entitlement and success at all costs is changed by the parents of this generation…; lots a luck on that happening…</p>
<p>I just bought a plaque for my kitchen:</p>
<p>“When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed they are not it”</p>
<p>@Hunt are you just amusing its a male student or has that been confirmed?</p>