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Today\\u2019s show is my perspective on the college admission scandal that has been grabbing headlines across the US. At the center of the scandal is a Rick Singer, a former Canadian football League player who has more recently been in the speaking circuit and working as a college admissions consultant.
\\nFifty people, including 33 parents, were charged last month for their alleged roles in a scam by which California college-admissions consultant William \\u201cRick\\u201d Singer said he helped get their children into selective schools either by creating fake athletic profiles and bribing coaches to list the students as recruited athletes, or boosting their ACT or SAT scores by having someone fix their wrong answers.
\\nHere\\u2019s the problem with the whole story. Who was really harmed by all of this? Some people say that the students who legitimately should have been accepted to these elite schools are the ones who were harmed.
\\nI have a different view. The parents who engaged in this deceit have hurt their own children. I believe that children learn by modelling the behaviour they witness. Rather than teach their kids to work for their accomplishments, the parents are leaving the field open for their kids to create several unhelpful interpretations.
\\nThere is so much about this story that is screwed up on so many levels.
\\nA university education is a valuable step in many people\\u2019s lives. But it\\u2019s not everything. In fact, numerous studies have shown that graduating near the top of the class from a smaller lesser known school results in better life outcomes than graduating in the bottom half of the class from an elite school.
\\nIt comes down to reinforcing beliefs. If you are doing well in high-school, you might represent the top few percent in your class. When you get accepted at Harvard, you might be at the bottom of your class and still represent the top 0.1% of the global student population in terms of academic achievement. But if you spend 4 or 6 or 9 years at the bottom of your class, the message is you\\u2019re a screwup. When kids are in their formative years, developing self reinforcing patterns of high self esteem is incredibly important to constructive life outcomes.
\\nLet\\u2019s frame this story in a larger context. In 2017, Kessler international published a study based on a survey of 300 students.
\\nThe survey found:
\\nThere is something wrong with our culture that places more emphasis on the appearance of credentials than the substance of actual education. The education is the real knowledge, wisdom, perspective, and resilience that comes from integrating experience gained on the journey of life.
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