<p>Though this article is 5 years old it is still relevant and worth a read.</p>
<p>I read the Time magazine article to which you linked. As you mentioned, it is a bit dated, but still makes some relevant points.</p>
<p>Anyway, on page 4 of the article, a reference to Kaavya Viswanathan caught my attention: “College students this spring watched the flameout of Kaavya Viswanathan, the prepackaged Harvard prodigy who published a best seller at 19 and had been exposed as a plagiarist by 20.”</p>
<p>I remembered reading about her at the time her plagiarism was in the news, but never really heard anything more about what happened to her. So, I searched for some updated information. Apparently, “Harvard never formally reprimanded Viswanathan; on the contrary, famed novelist Jamaica Kincaid oversaw her senior thesis. Viswanathan was soon accepted to Georgetown Law School and is currently interning at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, one of the most blindingly white of all white-shoe law firms.” This information is current as of May 2010. [Making</a> (Up) the Grade: Top All-Time Harvard Grifters](<a href=“AOL - News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com”>AOL - News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com)</p>
<p>Another article about her stated: "So Kaavya wasnt just another student applying to Harvard. She was an elaborately packaged pitch. [How</a> Kaavya Viswanathan Got Herself Packaged | Dallas Public Relations Idea Grove](<a href=“http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/05/how-kaavya-viswanathan-got-herself-packaged.html]How”>http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/05/how-kaavya-viswanathan-got-herself-packaged.html)</p>
<p>First, one would think that her dishonesty would matter a great deal to Harvard, but apparently it didn’t. If it didn’t affect her standing at Harvard, one would think that it just might concern Georgetown, which admitted her to its law school. Second, one would think the folks at the Harvard admissions office would be astute enough to see through such an “elaborately packaged” applicant, but apparently they’re not. Though she had the ability to make it through Harvard and Georgetown Law, one wonders what equally able, but more honest and less packaged, applicant was turned down by Harvard in order to offer a place to Viswanathan.</p>
<p>Consider Eliot Spitzer. He did not crash, burn, and fade away from scandal. He repackaged himself as a media personality. Is Rod Blagojevich a breakout star yet? I’m almost surprised that Bernie Madoff isn’t showing up on the Nightly Business Report, at the very least.</p>
<p>Being able and honest still pays the rent, maybe, but it does not get your name on millions of screens. For that you need a “story”. Harvard loves “story” kids. For the kids, Harvard becomes part of the story. Funny, sad, or disgraceful, it does not matter much. Stories sell.</p>
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<p>For a college to discipline a student for off-campus conduct, they must have a rationale that the off-campus incident poses some kind of impact on the campus. For example, a student getting into a fight or selling drugs across the street from the campus could clearly pose a campus threat. A student getting cited for an open beer can on a public street in Daytona Beach over Spring Break wouldn’t. Plagiarizing a term paper for a class clearly does, but being criticized for plagiarizing a novel unrelated to student work that was written prior to enrolling at the college would be a stretch. A college that attempted to over-reach in disciplining a student for private behavior that doesn’t impact the college (other than perhaps, being sensitive to negative publicity) could result in a lawsuit that the college would certainly lose.</p>
<p>“First, one would think that her dishonesty would matter a great deal to Harvard, but apparently it didn’t. If it didn’t affect her standing at Harvard, one would think that it just might concern Georgetown, which admitted her to its law school.”</p>
<p>Looking at the issue from another angle, why wasn’t she admitted at law schools at Yale or Stanford? It’s quite possible that she had the GPA and LSAT (a novelist such as her would be able to get admitted with GPA and LSAT before the 25th percentile numbers), but Yale and Stanford knew about her plagiarism, inflicting punishment for not admitting her.</p>
<p>“a novelist such as her would be able to get admitted with GPA and LSAT before the 25th percentile numbers”</p>
<p>Heck no, she wouldn’t. I don’t know how much time you’re spent at Stanford and Yale law schools, but you need a lot more than one chick-lit publication to get in with low numbers. URM plus work experience and/or groundbreaking original research is more like it.</p>
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<p>I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall from the detailed stories at the time that she actually wrote the book while a freshman at H. The book deal was arranged with the book packagers by her packagers at IvyWise based on some kind of outline and/or writing sample. The deal was in place for admissions, but the book had not been written, or at least not finished.</p>
<p>“Harvard loves “story” kids.”
That’s an interesting point, tk21769.
Perhaps, Harvard’s attitude is best represented by that scene in “The Social Network” when the Winkelvoss twins met with Larry Summers to complain that Zuckerberg violated the Harvard Code of Conduct.</p>
<p>“For a college to discipline a student for off-campus conduct, they must have a rationale that the off-campus incident poses some kind of impact on the campus.”
But if Viswanathan’s admissions application indicated that she had a novel in press, it might be considered a misrepresentation. It’s not known, however, whether she indicated this when she applied. </p>
<p>“Looking at the issue from another angle, why wasn’t she admitted at law schools at Yale or Stanford?”
Do we know that she even applied to Yale or Stanford? Certainly, schools other than Georgetown could have considered the plagiarism in their decisions whether to admit her. </p>
<p>BTW, even though her publisher pulled the book from the shelves, you can still get it at Amazon. [Amazon.com:</a> How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life: Kaavya Viswanathan: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Opal-Mehta-Kissed-Wild-Life/dp/B002HVPMSK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298919767&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Opal-Mehta-Kissed-Wild-Life/dp/B002HVPMSK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298919767&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>“Heck no, she wouldn’t. I don’t know how much time you’re spent at Stanford and Yale law schools, but you need a lot more than one chick-lit publication to get in with low numbers. URM plus work experience and/or groundbreaking original research is more like it.”</p>
<p>I spent three years at one of those places. URM is enough to be admitted with below 25% numbers. Special talent, which writing top selling chick lit is, is enough to be admitted with below 25% numbers. The below 25% region is there for a reason.</p>
<p>“writing top selling chick lit”</p>
<p>Where did you get the idea that Kaavya’s book was top-selling? Maybe it could have been under different circumstances, but it never went anywhere. We’re not talking about Elizabeth Wurtzel here.</p>