In March of 2019, William Rick Singer plead guilty to federal conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of justice charges for his work as an academic admissions “fixer.” Following an FBI sting, Singer admitted to bribing college admissions staff, getting ringers to take ACT and SAT tests, and fabricating athletic resumes, all on behalf of the offspring of wealthy parents seeking to get into elite colleges such as Yale and Harvard. Charges are also pending against dozens of parents, including Hollywood celebrities, college admissions officials and athletic coaches across the country who participated in Singer’s scheme. But Singer’s and his clients’ alleged crimes are but an extreme example of the legal strategies that generations of wealthy scions have used to get their kids into a good school. Julie Posselt is a University of Southern California Professor of Education, National Science Foundation and Mellon scholar, and author of the book “Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity, and Faculty Gatekeeping.”

The Conversation | Why meritocracy is a myth in college admissions