Why "Opal Mehta..." has me so ticked-off

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I’m trying to figure out why this whole “Opal Mehta…”/plagiarism thing has me so ticked off. My main source of anger is not that a 19 year old Harvard sophomore has been accused of plagiarizing several other books in her first (and undoubtedly her last) novel (the plagiarism book count is now up to an amazing count of 6 different books). I think what really angers me so much is how and why this girl got an undeserved, unmerited half million dollar book deal book in the first place.</p>

<p>Kaavya’s ability to get a literary agent, and subsequently a book deal, all started with her parent’s ability to spend $30,000 with the primary goal of purchasing her admission to Harvard through one of these pricey college counselors. </p>

<p>And this Pricey College Counselor packaged her, marketed her, and even created a phony admissions “hook” for her – the hook being that she was such a brilliant writer that she already had a literary agent by the age of 17. But Kaavya’s literary agent was part of her parent’s $30,000 purchase -- a contact gained solely through Kaavya’s association with Pricey College Counselor, with the intent of falsely inflating Kaavya’s resume for college admissions. </p>

<p>Now, Kaavya may actually be a decent writer for a teenager. Maybe she’s actually a really good writer, maybe even better than really good. However, in today’s competitive world of Ivy admissions, the perception is that being “really good” at something just isn’t good enough to get you in. You have to be The Best.</p>

<p>Do you play a sport? That’s not good enough – you have to be a nationally ranked, gold-medal winning phenom. Do you like to play a musical instrument? Well, the perception is that to get into Harvard you must be the prize winning first chair performer of the National Youth Orchestra.</p>

<p>And Pricey College Counselor used her contacts and her influence to take a girl who liked to write, and probably was a good writer, and created the false and phony perception that this girl was something she wasn’t – a “wunderkind” writer with a literary agent, a teenage writer who was The Best.</p>

<p>I think the rest of this tale, which started out as a phony college admissions marketing ploy, snowballed out of control and took on a life of its own, perpetuated by ambition, and, dare I say?, greed. And since Kaavya undoubtedly wasn’t the “wunderkind” writing prodigy that her Harvard application made her out to be, it’s no surprise that this phony sham has fallen apart.</p>

<p>This incident makes me angry because it brings attention to the need for kids to feel that they have to make themselves into something they’re not just to get into college. And I am even more angered by the adults around these kids who are willing to pay astronomical fees to market their kids, and by the adults who take these obscenely large amounts of money and perpetrate false images on these kids’ behalf, with the sole purpose of getting these kids into college.</p>

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<p>The chick-lit novel itself was basically a satire aimed at the very excesses that bother you so much!</p>

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<p>I agree! I first found out about Kaavya when a neighbor gave my daughter an article about her (pre-scandal) because my D's ambition is to be a writer. My daughter's reaction to the article was of the nature, "I'll never get into an Ivy because I haven't published a book yet." It is sad that there is that kind of pressure on young, bright people today. It is crazy to find out that there are parents who have been planning their child's entrance into an Ivy since they were toddlers. (Not unlike Opal's parents!)</p>

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<p>You're right on the money, so to speak, lurker!</p>

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<p>$30,000? Jeez, Kaayva is a bad as Opal...I'm sorry, but there a lot of better ways to waste that kind of money.</p>