chose to corrupt and illegally
manipulate the system.
>> While operation varsity blues
is what everybody is talking
about, does it stem from
pressure?
Is the admissions system broken?
We are going to get to the
bottom of it.
>> Educational consultant for
rose educational consulting.
She has worked with teenagers
and parents.
She's been doing this over 35
she's legit.
She's seen it all.
>> Make sure people know.
>> This was the talk, and it
still is the talk of the town,
especially I think in your
industry as well, right?
>> That's right.
Everybody yesterday was talking
about this.
All of the counselors, the
admissions officers at the
colleges.
You may have seen that the
national organization for
admissions put out a statement
saying they did not stand behind
anything that this criminal has
done in terms of rigging the
college application.
>> Were you surprised when the
story broke?
You were in the business.
>> I have to tell you, this is a
level of criminality that we had
never seen.
It was shocking to know that
there were, not only parents who
would pay to have somebody else
take the S.A.T., which is --
>> How does that even happen?
Like how can a proctor change
the grades?
>> Obviously the proctor was
bought off, the school where the
test was taken was purchased.
The whole thing was bought and
sold.
>> We've seen like the illegal
lengths, but what are some of
the resources that are legal
that parents are going through
to get their kids into school?
>> There are so many wonderful
legal resources.
Obviously your first level, of
course, is you have your school
college counselor and schools
really do have wonderful
counselors.
And then you have, if you want
outside help, somebody like me.
I am a private college
counselor.
And so we work with kids,
private college counselors, and
really get a chance to know the
kids one on one over four years,
and get to help kids choose
colleges that are the right
colleges for them, and help
point them toward getting even
more resources.
So S.A.T. Prep classes, that's a
real way to get ready for the
S.A.T.
Everybody knows about that.
That's what you need to do if
you're really trying to get
ready for college.
And summer programs, there are
all sorts of ways.
>> But is the college admissions
system broken?
>> Right.
>> That's a hard question.
Let me tell you this.
About 30, 40 years ago, if you
wanted to get into a great
college and you were a great
student, you could.
The pipeline was pretty clear.
But now there are really four
reasons that I've been thinking
about this so much yesterday,
there's really four reasons kids
can't get into college any more,
get into the top colleges.
There's too many kids.
The population is just huge.
On top of that, everybody goes
to college now, as opposed to 40
years ago when getting a high
school diploma was sometimes
and then on top of that, so I'm
not a million years old.
But in my lifetime, Harvard was
not coed.
Princeton.
Yale.
Amherst.
Duke.
Dartmouth.
Those schools were not coed in
my lifetime.
When I was born, they were
single-sex school.
Now that they've gone coed, of
course, we have all the girls
applying, which obvious lit is
wonderful, but which has doubled
the number of kids applying to
college.
So, to top it all off, the
number of spots for freshmen has
not increased.
>> You talk about the pressure
kids are under.
Here it's a case of parents
putting that pressure and
cheating the system.
Have you had instances where
parents say, you know, tried to
bribe you or tried to offer you
something so you could --
>> I'll double your rate.
>> I like to say that if a video
camera from Harvard were looking
into my office, it would always
give the thumbs up to what I'm
but to actually answer your
question, yes, in at least two
instances I have been proposed
bribes by parents to get their
child into whatever college.
Honestly, I can't get you in.
Nobody can get you in unless
they are a criminal doing what
this gentleman has done.
>> Not a gentleman, not a
gentleman.
>> What advice on your end to
parents out there, as far as
pressure in what we're doing to
our children -- because I'm sure
working with the kids, you're
working very closely with the
parents.
>> Sure.
I'd love to open the pipeline up
to all the great four-year
colleges in America.
I'd like to see our society
change, to recognize the great
professors and the great
educational programs in -- what
do we have, over 1900 really
good four-year colleges.
Because if we keep focusing on
those same 20 schools over and
over again, we are jt going to
continue to turn our kids and
our parents into, I guess, just
sort of panicked people running
on a treadmill that will not
always get you what you --
>> I'm thinking about these kids
now in these schools.
Perhaps it's not a good fit for
them, too, because it wasn't
where they were meant to be.
That's a system -- kids are
weeded out for a reason.
>> Now you get the kid into
school.
Can they stay in school?
>> Given that everybody is going
to know probably who they are.
>> Well, you're absolutely
right.
And again, we are looking at
colleges, big colleges, small
colleges.
It's not just ivy league
we're looking for a good fit for
a student.
Not just academically, but size
and activities, the social
situation and the location,
there are so many things to
take --
>> $500,000, you could have
started a scholarship, you know
what I mean?
>> Right.
You're exactly right.
In fact, a lot of these kids, it
seems like from this particular
scandal, could have gotten in if
the parents stepped back and let
the kids do what they needed to
do.
A lot of them would have gotten
into if not that specific
college --
>> I read one couldn't even fill
out the application.
>> Alexandra rose, you are
terrific.
>> Thank you so much.