The agencies getting Chinese students into US colleges (often by cheating)

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/11/09/pm-chinese-students-too-qualified-to-be-true

With the one-child policy "little emperors" in China growing up into adulthood, their doting parents want to do everything they can to get their kids accepted into the best Western schools, even at the cost of $7K to top "placement" agencies. These agencies have a lot of money and reputation on the line, so they do what needs to be done to please customers. Whistleblowers claim that they wrote entire college apps for about 75% of clients. When a Wisconsin school was informed of an investigation concerning their recruiting partner in China, Shanghai Shenyuan, they immediately terminated their relationship.

I know that those with means are entitled to press their advantages in order to beat the competition, and a little tutoring or coaching is fine. But outright fraud, so they take admission spots away from honest, hard-working students who gave full effort (American, Chinese, or otherwise), is just outrageous. But these are the times we live in. And I guess some colleges aren't as rigorous as they should be to check on foreign students' credentials, because they get full tuition from a Chinese student instead of the discounted in-state rate. And yes, I know American students cheat plenty too (NY SAT scandal: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/nyregion/sat-cheating-inquiry-on-long-island-expands-to-include-act.html), but it's not as blatant as this:

A report by consulting firm Zinch China seems to confirm [this fraud]. Zinch advises American colleges and universities on recruiting Chinese students. The firm interviewed agents and admissions consultants, as well as more than 200 Beijing students headed to U.S. schools. Zinch estimates 90 percent of these students submitted false recommendation letters; 70 percent had other people write their personal essays, and half of them submitted forged high school transcripts. Two former employees of a college placement agency told Marketplace they routinely falsified application materials. We did not use their names, because they feared they would lose their current jobs... There are numerous colleges that are having difficulty assuring the integrity of the essays, transcripts and credentials, coming from other countries, and in particular in Asia.

-Marketplace

Currently 1/5 of all foreign students in the US are from China, totaling over 130,000. You can check marketplace.org today for the 2nd part of this story - what is going down on the US side of the issue. As I am starting an MBA program, I know that it's pretty bad for b-schools too (what do you expect from the future execs and who will lie and cheat their way to the top?) :). Despite clear warnings that it is a violation of school honor code, I estimate that many applicants ghost-write or team up with their managers to draft letters of rec. Bosses are busy, and it reflects well on them to get their reports into top schools, so I guess they are OK with it. I recently heard complaints from peers that the writing abilities of some of our classmates are like middle-school level (the parties in question happen to be Chinese-born, but not making any generalizations). Clearly that level of writing on an admission essay won't cut it for top schools, so they either got help or magically forgot their English in a year. And then there's the GMAT. I had to give a thumb-print, e-sign, and show my driver's license to use the bathroom during test breaks. Is the GMAC test firm just paranoid? Apparently not: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2009/bs2009123_558900.htm (again, China is implicated here).

But the whole system is just out of control. College is a major determinant for future prosperity and happiness. Demand vastly exceeds supply for top education, and even more so for good employment. Any leg up a young person can get may help. But the ludicrous costs associated with college acceptance/tuition make wealth, not student merit/potential, the major driver of admission - and that's not how a meritocracy is supposed to work. But some cash-strapped schools are thinking about future alumni giving, so would they rather hook up a trust fund baby, or take their chances on a bright kid out of the inner city who wants to major in ethnic studies? I guess we have to get real regarding what college is about. Forget their idealistic mission statements and credos. It's not about inspiring the brightest young minds to make the big contributions that better humanity. It's about giving already privileged people the skills and connections necessary to do even better after graduation, which will augment the school's marketing, reputation, and endowment. Yes I know I'm being harsh, but this successful cheating industry would not exist if schools were serious about academic integrity, so I blame them more than the Chinese or whoever. Well, university trustees, professors, and coaches lie, steal, and cheat too, so I shouldn't be surprised if students just follow their authority figure role models. Cheaters may be in the minority overall, but like we discussed about Greek tax evasion - when the honest people see that the corrupt can do as they please with impunity, what's in it for them to remain honest?