Rating: 4/5
Photoshopping students onto athletic pictures, faking learning disabilities, and paying off head coaches are just some of the ways some of the wealthy have gotten their kids into elite universities, such as the University of Southern California (USC), Stanford, and Yale. In March 2019, federal prosecutors charged over 50 people for their involvement in the College Admissions Scandal with over 30 being parents who were influential business leaders and famous actresses. Most notably, Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were charged for committing fraud and inflating their kids’ SAT scores.
When breaking the admissions process down to the basics, there are three ways to get into college. The front door is getting in on your own merit, while the back door is having your parents donate a large sum of money, often over 7-figures. The Netflix documentary “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal” takes a deep dive into how Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the College Admissions Scandal, gets some of the wealthy into prestigious colleges through the side door, where the wealthy pay a smaller sum of money to fraudulently boost their child’s chances.
The documentary’s format was interesting in that it was directed more like a feature film. With no interviews with the parents involved in the scandal or with Singer, director Chris Smith decided to tell the story as truthfully as he could by having actors reenact wiretaps and the 200-page affidavit the FBI released. The format adds some drama to the film, and one of the most insightful parts of the film is when the documentary producers sit down with the former Stanford sailing coach. Through the interview, viewers learn why Singer was able to sneak kids who weren’t athletes into top athletic programs. For example, Stanford sailing wasn’t funded heavily, and the bribes Rick Singer gave the Stanford coach to sneak in unqualified kids would go far in developing the program.
The documentary exposes existing loopholes in a broken educational system, what college means to families in different income brackets, and the reality of selective college admissions in 2021. The scenes make it abundantly clear that wealth and privilege are embedded in the American educational system. Wealthier families can afford to pay for tutors, fancy extracurricular activities, and standardized testing prep, giving them a leg up in the process.
For low-income and middle-class families, an Ivy League education is often a ticket to a higher quality of life. For the wealthy elite, it’s just another status symbol, equivalent to an expensive watch. One of the saddest scenes was a clip of a high school senior heartbroken over her college decisions but content knowing that her spot went to someone extremely qualified. Immediately after, the camera cuts to a vlog by Olivia Jade, Loughlin’s daughter who gets into USC, where she shows her utter disregard for education. Getting a USC education will do nothing for Olivia Jade, but for thousands of other high school seniors, it would have been life-changing.
The demographics of most families involved in the scandal were white and wealthy: a demographic that can easily score well on standardized testing and have a high-quality application. One of my favorite quotes from the documentary is “They had every advantage, and yet they still cheated” because it sums up not only how competitive admissions are but also emphasizes how the white and wealthy continue to have an advantage.
Throughout the documentary, I found the outright lack of confidence parents placed in their children alarming. In phone calls, many of them would speak about their children like they couldn’t accomplish anything and were desperate to ensure their kids ended up at good schools. Singer would acquire testing accommodations for students who did not need them to buy them extra time on the test and allow them to take the test alone instead of in a room with other students. Singer would also hire proctors to allow the students to take the test first and then fill in the right answers after the child left. The parents often lied to their children about how they were able to achieve a great score, how they got into good schools, and hid the fraud from them. From the child’s point of view, they think they got into these schools on their own hard work but then find out through a federal investigation that their parents didn’t think they could do it.
By the end of the documentary, I think it’s evident the existing loopholes within the educational system are far more damaging than the parent’s actions. The parents were driven by the desire to help their kids. People who possess that level of wealth know they have the power to give their kids the future they want, and I imagine it’s tempting to make that a reality.
Despite the college admissions scandal, students from wealthier families will continue to have an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. Parents can still make large donations, and wealth will continue to impact how students approach extracurriculars, testing, and school. Although the loophole was unlawful, the parents and Rick Singer simply exploited an inadequate system that is failing students today.