Dear friends,

During recent weeks, we have received a growing number of questions and concerns regarding the college admissions cheating scandal that has captured the attention of students, parents, counselors, and educational professionals across the country. William “Rick” Singer offered his clients an opportunity to cheat the system, exchanging huge sums of money for admission to top colleges. 33 parents have been charged in the investigation, accused of paying bribes to athletic coaches or test administrators and of hiring “professionals” to cheat on entrance exams for their children. Their actions have caused grief and outrage among hard-working athletes and students with a legitimate, diagnosed need of testing accommodations, as well as students, families, and education professionals more generally. These troubling revelations have raised concerns in many quarters about fairness, wealth and privilege, and the ethics of the college admissions process. I believe that they offer us a valuable opportunity to reflect.

The anger at those who nearly got away with cheating the system (and those who enriched themselves facilitating it) is well founded. But the way I see it, the issue’s value to us lies in the opportunity to consider the way that we look at the admissions process and its outcomes. Here at Moser, we have always believed strongly in the growth mindset — the idea that everyone is capable of growth, and that no matter one’s level of achievement, growth should be our focus and source of pride. If this concept is new, I strongly recommend Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset. Embracing the growth mindset means that cheating is a shortcut to nowhere. The accused parents and their students skipped over some of the most important aspects of moving toward college just to get a stamp of approval that announced their accomplishments to others. But of course, they knew that all they had bought was an announcement of success… not the real thing.

If our only goal is to convince others of our success, cheating might offer a shortcut, as Rick Singer’s clients believed. Unfortunately, the process he and his ilk offer ultimately works to erode personal confidence. I have to imagine that most of the students Singer “helped” through bribery and cheating are forever stuck with a sense of inferiority: while all of the students around them got into college on the strength of their own merits, Singer’s clients have to admit (if only to themselves) that they did not.

In our test prep process, we encourage our students to build confidence by building skills. That’s why we focus not just on the score students get on their best test day, but on all of the growth that leads to that point. The college counselors that we work with and recommend to our clients focus not on getting students into top schools, but on getting them in the right schools for them: places where they can belong and continue to grow. Here at Moser, we will never offer unethical (or illegal) assistance to any client, because it truly does service to no one. 

In spite of my anger at Rick Singer and the coaches, administrators, parents, and students who went along with him, I am grateful for this opportunity to remember what we should always be focused on at the core of the educational process. In this season of college admissions decisions, let us all remember that students are the same people the day after they receive a letter from the college of their choice that they were the day before. Therefore, when we congratulate them, we should do so not because of a decision over which they had no control, but because of the many good choices that they have made and challenges they have surmounted to get here. Otherwise, we risk teaching them that they should be focused on outcome rather than process, and we fall into the same fallacy that led families to believe in the services of Rick Singer.

As always, I welcome conversation with any of you. Please don’t hesitate to email me at scott@mosereducational.com or call me at 303-819-4328.