MIT dean of admissions resigns after lying about her academic credentials

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by mystikchick

scratch what i said earlier, i'd be furious if i/my child had gotten turned down from MIT and that decision was made by her

I think this is a pretty weak stance to take - there's no evidence MIT admissions suffered because of her lies, and there's absolutely no reason to think your child would have fared differently under a Rhodes scholar.

Actually, it's a really bizarre connection to draw, the more I think about it. She should certainly be fired for lying, but this is not evidence of any sort of endemic flaw in MIT admissions.

[Honeykiss1974]

I'm not surprised she was able to get away with this, including for the amount of time that she did. It's no secret that references/credentials often go unchecked for "higher up" positions as opposed to entry-level / middle management roles. This is very prevalent in the business world and I guess it does spill over into academia - which surprises me.

About 3-4 years ago, it was discovered that the CEO of Cessna Aircraft at that time had done something very similiar (he bought his degrees from one of those schools that spam your hotmail with those "degree for sale" emails).

At that level, I guess they depend upon "word of mouth"/networking moreso than anything else.

[mystikchick]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

I think this is a pretty weak stance to take - there's no evidence MIT admissions suffered because of her lies, and there's absolutely no reason to think your child would have fared differently under a Rhodes scholar.

Actually, it's a really bizarre connection to draw, the more I think about it. She should certainly be fired for lying, but this is not evidence of any sort of endemic flaw in MIT admissions.

it's true, and i can completely agree with that as a person who has no personal stake in this - i meant it more in the context of wanting someone to blame had i (or my child) not gotten into MIT - a hypothetical. assuming i was qualified enough to attend MIT and had the requisite stellar grades/recs/ECs and got turned down by someone who lied about her credentials to make them more impressive when my genuine credentials weren't 'enough,' she'd make a good target. it's not rational, but i can see it happening.

[alum]

I wonder when the first lawsuit will occur? Don't forget that a kid at Yale sued Princeton for not admitting him despite his perfect scores.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by alum

I wonder when the first lawsuit will occur? Don't forget that a kid at Yale sued Princeton for not admitting him despite his perfect scores.

Okay, but he didn't win, did he? (I actually hadn't seen this news story about the Yale dude.)

[alum]

He sued for the "principle" of it all. He felt that ORMs are held to higher standards than other ethnic groups as well as legacies, URMs and athletes. Apparently he wanted it as a class action suit, but no one else joined.