20 Ways to Get Your Kid into College…Legally

Athletic coaches on the take, forged SAT scores, and crooked celebs willing to break the law. As the great college admissions scandal continues to unfold this month at a Boston courthouse, getting into an elite school will never be the same again. Here’s everything honest (but anxious) parents need to know, but no one is telling you—until now.

Photo by C.J. Burton

It’s the story everyone’s been talking about since Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling stood in Boston federal court on March 12, 2019, and announced charges against 50 people—including A-list Hollywood stars—in a college admissions scandal that rocked the higher education industry and reverberated across the country and the world. Many Americans were shocked to hear about a system by which the rich and famous could get away with bribing athletic coaches and paying to have answers changed on standardized tests—but not everyone. “For those of us who have read The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges—And Who Gets Left Outside the Gates, the admissions scandal was not surprising,” says Sharon Olofsson, a Lexington-based college consultant. “People have been getting in for a long time in a lot of different ways.” The good news? There are plenty of legal ways you can boost your son’s or daughter’s chances of getting into his or her dream school, and not all of them require being a former president or donating a building. To find out what parents and students can do right now to get a leg up, we asked locally based independent college consultants like Olofsson to give us the inside scoop. The result? This scandalously simple guide to getting your kid into college—without going to jail.

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20 Tips to Get Your Kid into College…Legally

From choosing the right test, to crafting the perfect essay—here’s how to hack the college admissions process without committing fraud.

Photo by C.J. Burton

Everything You Need to Know About the College Admissions Scandal

Part I: The Key Players
Part II: Will It Be Harder to Get Extra Time on the SAT?
Part III: Who’s Watching the College Counselors?
Part IV: Closing the Athletic Side Door
Part V: Does Any of This Even Matter?

Photo by C.J. Burton

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