Chinese Families Paying to Get Their Kids into Elite, American Colleges

[sanantone]

I don't know if Dave Ramsey is old money or new money; I'm going to guess new money since he went bankrupt. Old money is a different culture.

[ReyMysterioso]

"Our culture doesn't see it that way, but theirs does." This recent college admissions scandal begs to differ.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

So, I am a college admissions counselor in Beijing, associated with a top HS here. The students are exceptionally gifted. I know Chinese students in general have a bad rap, being perceived as "cheaters," but the kids I interact with daily are the type to study all night while juggling independent research projects, international competitions, and multiple ECAs, doing it all in a foreign language. My kids have gotten into Ivies and dozens of top programs around the world, and it is largely through their own hard work.

However, stories like this make me regret donators' privilege and legacy admissions, since it puts everyone at an equal disadvantage. I would like to see donations removed as an factor in admissions, but the financial reality of many unis precludes this as a possibility. Same goes with skewed admission policies toward athletes in general, although at least research indicates they actually often perform better academically than non-athletes. Either way, the families here are driven by rankings posted in a mediocre news magazine, and this seeps down into the children's minds. Kids cry over "just" a Top 20 program admission. It hurts to see such abuse-of-process like this, when the process itself is already an excremenganza.