So when I heard about this now infamous college admission scandal involving celebrities and other people who have lots of money, I wasn’t totally shocked. When will people learn, that there is no such thing as a smart crook, blue collar or white collar types. Here is my opinion.

A Guilty Conscience Will Always Win Out in the Long Term

A college scandal such as this will always have that one person who will look at what they have done, and feel remorse. Of course, it’s only fair that if they go down, everyone else will go down with them. That was the case here. This college admission debacle is no different than ponzi schemes or other financial crimes. What is different is involving children, be it known or unknown to them, at the time it is perpetrated. This past week several who were implicated, made a plea deal of sorts, apologizing to the heavens for what they had done.

If it had been you or I, the book would have been thrown at us! The problem with justice in the United States, is that it sometimes depends on who you are, who you know, and how much you can spend to defend yourself. For those who saw the ills of their selfish ways, good for them, but a little to late. I have no sympathy for after the fact, self righteous moral reckonings. You shouldn’t have done it to begin with. Why is your kid any more special than mine or that child who works his butt off but lives in the middle of an urban setting, being raised by one parent?

College is Not a Crap Shoot People

I say this because, what happened here shows how little certain privileged people in our country, view academics. Thinking it’s a status ranking depending on where you send your child to college, is past snobbery. It’s all about hard work! Pretending that your kid is on a rowing team to get into a certain high caliber school, is in itself, to me, hilarious. If you saw what some of these kids looked like, seriously, none of them looked like they would know what to do with the oars. It is a sad state of affairs.

Let it be known that most colleges are fairly run and do not cater to the whims of those who have wealth. You will always get those few bad apples who see dollar signs, no matter what the deal might involve. I’m sure they didn’t think it would include jail time though! Big universities and colleges for the most part, want the best our country has to offer. Most of our college aged population do it the right way. The schools involved have known good solid reputations in the world of higher learning, and have for years.

They have graduated many successful individuals, from all backgrounds in life. Let me clarify here too that not all wealthy families lie and cheat to get their children into good schools. Once again, it is only the few who think money gives them the power and upper hand, to do it criminally. Most people still do it the right way.

College Admissions is Serious Business

The job of college admissions is not to be viewed lightly. Having had two college graduates of my own, and also myself, the work involved is enormous to say the least. It involves, time, money and hard work on the part of those wanting to go the route of big colleges and universities. I will always respect those parents and children who understand that it takes hard work to accomplish dreams. Many children will not always get their first choice, because this is the reality of trying to get into a good school. The other reality is that there will always be a school out there who wants that one kid that another one didn’t. I’ve been there myself, and so have my children. But you pursue other paths, other schools, doing it the right way, and life can still be good. Maybe if these parents would had left some of it up to their children, they wouldn’t be looking at jail time for themselves.

Lessons learned? Maybe, but at what cost? We shall see!