Community college students hurt by bribery scandal

The bribery to get into top schools by the wealthy frustrates transfer students and their accomplished feats.

By Savannah Simmons, Opinion Editor

While students from community colleges work overtime to get accepted into elite schools,

the children of wealthy parents waltz right in.

Some of the universities involved in the admissions cheating scandal nicknamed, “Operation Varsity Blues” are Harvard, UCLA, and USC. Wealthy parents have been caught paying bribes to get their kids into these prestigious schools under the guise of athletic recruits and faked SAT test scores.

“It makes me so mad,” said Melanie Gazazian, a Valley student who is transferring to La Verne in the fall. “It’s especially frustrating because these people have the money to pay for the tutors and the ACT/SAT prep classes to study and get in naturally.”

It is no wonder, students are upset. Imagine working hard to get into renowned school and discovering that people bought their way in; people rich enough to not worry about how they are going to pay tuition but have the audacity to rig the admissions process is a huge slap in the face to students who are coming from different situations that have to work for what they want.

Students who work to get where they need and want to be know that there are other kids out there getting things handed to them by their parents, whether it is money for a shopping trip or a new car. There is no surprise there, but the fact that admission to colleges that some students can only dream of going to have been handed to these wealthy kids on top of everything else is defeating.

“I have had to sacrifice experiences to pay for college, meanwhile these kids are able to pay for both at the same time.” explained Gazazian passionately when talking about “Operation Varsity Blues.”

The scandal is not morally correct. As the kids whose parents paid their way in get admitted, a spot is taken away from a college hopeful that may have got admitted under normal circumstances. If there were to be a chart of comparison, more students coming from hard working backgrounds would have gotten in over these wealthy ones and the proof is in the faked SAT scores.

Self-awareness is something that everyone needs to get a grip on. If the children of these wealthy parents did not want to go to these notable schools, where a lot is asked of them, they should have spoken up. If they did, and their parents forced them to go anyway, the parents need to realize that they are creating a whole other problem for their child.

The issue with the status created this scandal because these wealthy parents and/or their kids wanted to be known as going to USC instead of University of Arizona. To be a student at any school is something to be proud of whether it is at a private university or a state school. The act of getting a higher education is notable in itself.

Transferring out of community college is a huge accomplishment and not an easy thing to do. It takes endless hours of studying, meetings with counselors, and money to even submit applications. The kids admitted into these colleges under this scheme take away from all the adversity that transfer students fight through to earn a spot in the college of their dreams.

To be honest, the child of a wealthy parent going to a university like USC does not wow anyone, but when a Valley student gets admitted people recognize the gravity of the accomplishment and the congratulations are deserved.