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Writer's pictureMaria Castillo Lund

Operation Varsity Blues: A review of the College Admissions Scandal

Netflix recently released a new tell-all documentary about the 2019 College Admissions Scandal. This documentary introduces us to Rick Singer, the “coach” who was behind the plan to bribe colleges in order for his clients (the students) to be assured an acceptance letter. Even though this happened two years ago, it’s a very important topic to discuss because it’s very relevant to our school community.


To get into colleges you can approach it from two different ways. The first way is to work hard and apply as normal, while the second way is to have your wealthy parents donate a considerable amount of money to the university/college you want to go to. Rick found out that neither of these assure that you will be accepted into the university of your choice. So what he did to assure that his kids would get into school was to create a ‘side door’. This ‘side door’ started by lying on their resumes, saying that they participated in activities they really didn’t do, and went on to bribe college coaches to accept the kids into their programs, 100% assuring their spot at the school. While some people worked hard their whole lives and actually did stand out in sports or clubs, some wealthy parents would just pay for their children to get in dishonestly.














Netflix poster for the documentary.


Personally, I really enjoyed this documentary because in a few years (two to be exact) I’m going to apply to college. This documentary informed me about all the discrepancies that go on behind the scenes. It showed me that no matter how hard you work, you can lose it all because someone had more money than you. Yes, this sounds really sad, but it’s the harsh reality; not everything is going to go the way you planned it. It might give you peace of mind to know that almost everyone involved was arrested (even though some of them just went to jail for a few days). Sadly, the mastermind Rick Singer has not been arrested or even prosecuted yet because he helped out so much during the investigation.


Most of the SAT and ACT results were rigged.


Overall, this is a good watch and I recommend it to everyone who has the time. Watch the trailer here. And remember, next time you see a millionaire’s son or daughter at college, think twice about the way they got in.





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