I think it is telling that the scammer identified “Institutional Advancement” as very expensive and ineffective, which is not true at all. If anything, they are the easiest to ply because they only thing they want is credit for donations. They have zero skin in the academics of the school at all.

Olivia Jade in particular would have been the most popular, most loved, most successful girl at dozens of small colleges. Class president, head of student ambassadors, literally on the cover of the catalog. The girl who can solve every problem by finding someone who would be swayed by the opportunity to talk to Aunt…

But doesn’t Ohio have state schools that are as big and respected as the big Cal schools, but not as attractive to out-of-state applicants because they’re in Ohio? I always assumed it was a bit like VA, your state schools are way more competitive than you would think because of the quality of education, but they don’t…

In this girl’s case, “make-up artist” is probably a realistic, lucrative career plan.

It’s funny that you mentioned FIDM because that was the first school I thought of too! Their bread and butter is letting kids who technically don’t meet minimum requirements, but genuinely do know about fashion buy their way into the school. The “just get them to college” method is much more likely to work when the…

The think the answer is right there - this was ultimately a scam on parents who didn’t know how college admissions work. They walked into it and should be held responsible, but if they had been less ignorant they would have known that they could have bought their kids into a smaller school the normal way or that…

....she also might not know the difference between strict vegetarian and vegan if she’s advocating using soy milk without any concern about the other ingredients. I have a milk allergy, so I run into this confusion a lot, even with people who claim 100% vegan. I’m usually like “Listen, I’d be a carnivore if I could so…

The dumbest part is this was ultimately a scam on the parents. They deserve it and they deserve to get hit with charges, but there are so many legal ways to grease your kid’s acceptance. I think the ringleader was taking advantage of their ignorance about how higher education works, both bureaucratically and like how…

The FBI: No.

I agree that the kids who had activities they just plain didn’t participate in have zero excuses, but I can see how someone who really does have a mild-to-moderate learning disability could simply think they got the maximum accommodation without even knowing the other part was possible. Those are the kids I feel the…

I think it is one of those things where you literally could not find someone who found him charming, literally not one single person. What you can find are people who became accustomed to saying that he is charming for 20 or so years. He was basically a bridge troll who convinced people the only way across the river…

It’s just heartbreaking that Frankie Shaw benefitted from one of the best attempts at intentional development and mentorship for female directors I have ever seen. The education programs, the grants, the opportunities that she was chosen for over thousands of other applicants. Paul Feig literally let her shadow him…

Right, but the distinction is still important in the context of what crimes were committed and who can be held responsible for what. Everyone is getting caught up in the federal case, but the employees of public colleges are probably going to get hit with state charges too. Depending on how high up on the food chain…

USC is a private college, but UCLA was also a main target in the scam and is for sure a public college.

Yeah, but it’s fiction so they’re the ones who decided what to name her and what to call her.

I was just coming to say this. I liked the overall story for Person of Interest, but it is undeniable it was initially a vehicle for Taraji, she did a great job, they fired her and systematically killed or wrote off people of color in any speaking roles aside from Shaw (who they always called by her white sounding…

No, that’s called being laid off. There’s an actual legal difference.

I don’t know if this counts as being fired so much as the director realizing they made a mistake by casting someone who is too far from the character and make-up just isn’t doing the trick. Same idea as when Peter Jackson realized the original Aragorn was way too young, looked too much like Orlando Bloom and costuming…

Don’t worry, they’re getting rid of everything except their mall brands. The article is misleading when they say jeans and undies. It’s their premium label that no one has worn since Clueless that’s finally getting put down.

I like Raf Simmons just fine but it’s absurd to pretend that the luxury collection didn’t look like the same shit you find on sale at Macys and copies of Coach pieces that didn’t sell well for Coach either.