Some elite US universities favor wealthy students in admissions decisions: Lawsuit
Source: ABC News
December 18, 2024, 4:07 PM
Children of the wealthy and connected get special admissions consideration at some elite U.S. universities, according to new filings in a class-action lawsuit originally brought against 17 schools.
Georgetown’s then-president, for example, listed a prospective student on his “president’s list” after meeting her and her wealthy father at an Idaho conference known as “summer camp for billionaires,” according to Tuesday court filings in the price-fixing lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court in 2022.
Although it’s always been assumed that such favoritism exists, the filings offer a rare peek at the often secret deliberations of university heads and admissions officials. They show how schools admit otherwise unqualified wealthy children because their parents have connections and could possibly donate large sums down the line, raising questions about fairness.
Stuart Schmill, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a 2018 email that the university admitted four out of six applicants recommended by then-board chairman Robert Millard, including two who “we would really not have otherwise admitted.” The two others were not admitted because they were “not in the ball park, or the push from him was not as strong.”
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/elite-us-universities-favor-wealthy-students-admissions-decisions-116923102
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Next you might tell me that athletes might get in with less than normal academic credentials at places like Cal Berkeley and Northwestern.
What a shock. 
The only surprising thing at all was that there were some kids that the admission office didn't let in. Of course, the unspoken part was that the donation was not increased to counterweight the stupidity and laziness of the kid. Had there been another zero or two at the end of the check, those other two would likely have gotten in too.
