IT PAYS TO BE RICH TO GET INTO U.S. VARSITIES

College entrance exams favour the wealthy

THE scandal of parents paying to cheat their children’s way into elite United States universities has put a harsh spotlight on the ultra-competitive college admissions process, in which the haves hold a massive advantage over the have-nots.

Thirty-three wealthy parents — financiers, lawyers, and two famous actresses among them — were arrested on Tuesday as part of an operation that charged from US$15,000 (RM61,000) to millions of US dollars to help them get their children into renowned schools like Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Southern California.

But as outraged as many Americans were at the illegality, even within the law, the rich have a huge, unfair advantage when it comes to gaming the intensely stressful annual college admissions battle.

The competition is clear in the numbers. Just 4.6 per cent of more than 40,000 students applying to Harvard University get in. The figure is 4.3 per cent at Stanford and 5.5 per cent and Columbia, two other top universities.

Many who are qualified gradewise are rejected, intensifying the competition to stand out.

The process favours the wealthy. They can apply to more schools and invest heavily in preparing for tests and essays.

The richest, too, can beat the competition by donating to universities.

ProPublica editor Daniel Golden documented how President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner gained admission to Harvard University in 1998 after his father made a legal US$2.5 million donation to the school.

“There’s a limited number of spots for those with enormous means,” said Hafeez Lakhani, whose Lakhani Coaching company helps prepare students.

“I understand that there is a disparity out there and that not everyone is able to afford the best help or any help at all.”

Many parents spend their kids’ lives planning their university career.

“In the US, families are obsessed with the entrance into university,” said Sylvie Bigar, a New Yorker whose daughter just entered the respected Smith College in Massachusetts.

“It seems like these things are decided almost in kindergarten, that admission to a prestigious university leads to a prestigious career and happiness.”

“It’s an extremely stressful process, especially for kids whose parents aren’t the most affluent,” said Angela Perez, a student at the highly-competitive Georgetown University in Washington.

“While I considered myself academically strong, getting in was one thing, and paying for it was another.”

Perez, from a working-class, immigrant Filipino family, said to maximise her chances at both acceptance and financial aid, she applied to 18 universities.

Adding together the application fees, test fees, training for the tests, and other, she said: “It was, honestly, quite costly.”

The process begins in earnest in 10th grade, three years before graduating from high school. Students prepare for and take multiple times the ACT and SAT entrance examinations — the ones the parents arrested on Tuesday paid to have fixed for their children.

Bigar said: “At every stage of this process, there are firms that help families who can afford it.”