SAT Cheating Scandal Widens
Rachel Monroe
Back in September, Sam Eshaghoff was arrested and charged with helping other students cheat on college admissions tests. Eshaghoff, who had graduated from high school in 2010, got paid a few thousand dollars to take the SAT and ACT while posing as other students — one of them a girl.
And now, according to the New York Times, several of those involved in the scandal are expected to turn themselves in today. The Times's anonymous source claims that at least four students who paid for stand-in test takers and three more test-takers are going to speak up. And that's just the tip of the iceberg — a total of 35 students are under investigation. And while when the story first broke, it sounded like it was limited to Great Neck High students, now prosecutors believe that students from two public and three private schools are involved. (Some of the students may be off the hook because the statute of limitations have expired; others were under 18 at the time, and so will face only misdemeanor charges.)
Long Island residents seem both shocked and not shocked. "The pressure from parents and peer groups to get into Ivy League schools is incredible," a local teacher explained. If it's happening in Long Island, do you think it's happening in Baltimore, too?
seenthatinthe80's November 26, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Is it really so easy to fake id's nowadays? A fairly-smart guy from my high school had his older (and smarter) brother take his SAT's back in the early 80's. It got him into Duke (where he graduated), and I'm sure nobody was the wiser. He probably had a lot of Baltimore lacrosse recruits in his class.