Words by Gabriela Figueroa
Illustrations by Gabriela Figueroa and Katie Herchenroeder
If therecent college admissions scandal did not come as a shock, then it could just bea confirmation that there may never be justice when it comes to competing againstthe wealthy. After the scandal, which involved 33 parents paying College CounselingConsultant William Singer to falsify students’ SAT and ACT test scores and evenphotoshopping their faces onto the bodies of real athletes, people are nowquestioning the validity of thousands of other students dedicated to making themost of their degrees.
Thisscandal came as a huge disappointment for students like Kayla Viteri, a juniorat City College majoring in English. Hard work comes as her only option since shemust pay out of pocket for school. She says, “I have busted my ass with my momto get into CUNY and earn my degree!”
Transferringfrom St. Francis College, a private college in Brooklyn, Viteri says she couldno longer afford the tuition and chose to enroll into a CUNY college. Afterhearing that actress Lori Loughlin, one of the parents involved in the scandal,had paid for her daughter to get into USC without any true credentials, Kaylaadded, “It’s like, ‘wow you’re just throwing your privilege in my face.’”
MaguireAssociates, a research-basedconsulting firm that serves educationalinstitutions, conducted a survey to observe how well collegesprepare their students for the workforce and what employers look for whenhiring these individuals. Overall, employers are not so much caught up in astudent’s GPA, major, or achievements as much as they are in their experiencewithin the companies’ field of work. Considering the ease with which thechildren of the parents caught in the scandal were able to get intouniversities, there comes another suspicion of how easily they can pass offworking in high-ranking companies as an intern, as opposed to the hard workingstudents who have full time jobs, an internship, and take on 14 to 20 credits a semester.
Accordingto the study, “extracurricular activities, like professional clubs, athleticsand service, are valued more than GPA…” to employers. When money can boguslyraise a student’s achievements, the future of other students is in jeopardy, ifnot already destroyed.
AutumnRodriguez, coming into CCNY with the credits of a sophomore, has the Excelsiorscholarship, which requires her to take 15 credits a semester, totaling to 30 ayear, on top of keeping up with extracurricular activities. Given that studentsthat have their seat in school from bribery, rather than merit, she added, “Idon’t think that’s fair when that’s the spot that they’re taking, when otherpeople actually do the work.”
Anotherpart of the application process to remember is that not all jobs are the same,and some employers have different requirements. For example, those going towork in healthcare do not need as much experience as they need good academicstanding and high GPAs. For biology major Leslie Tavares, the lengths thatparents took to get their child into top universities was frustrating. “Even ifyour child does get into theseschools, they won’t know what’s going on,” she says.
Asidefrom students that have their parents’ financial help at all, there is also alarge part of college hopefuls that have absolutely no aid. Especially forthose whose parents are immigrants from another country, there are countlessobstacles - such as the language barrier, the cost of tutoring for exams suchas the GRE, and multiple applications - which often require a lot of time fromparents.
In thewake of the scandal, it is now a waiting game for thousands of other studentswho have earned their degrees. They can now only rely on their achievements,and, according to The New York Times’s article “Honest Applicants AwaitCollege Admissions Results,”students feel as though their hard work may not even be sufficient. In otherwords, they do not feel “authentic” enough – despite their toweringachievements.
When askedhow much value a degree has in finding the right candidate, employers foundthat the proof is beyond that of the education. In their words, “it preparesthe individuals for the workforce by teaching them responsibility, strong workethic, writing and computer skills.” This point is a key difference in lookingat those who have put in the effort and those that have not.
