Fake Student Scandal at Yale Raises Focus on Academic Fraud
“It was a suspicious roommate who uncovered the scheme, according to the report — by looking at her luggage tags and finding another name and address.”
A student apparently got into Yale with a fictitious history and people are wondering how it happened.
FOX News reports:
Fake Yale student scandal raises alarms over academic fraud, foreign influence risks
An Ivy League student accused of making up an entire life story to gain admission was expelled earlier this semester, prompting fresh concerns over academic fraud and gaps in university vetting that experts say could also expose elite institutions to foreign influence and espionage risks.
At Yale University in Connecticut, administrators recently kicked out an undergrad student identified as “Katherina Lynn” after she allegedly lied about her background, according to the Yale Daily News, a student-run paper.
She reportedly comes from California’s Bay Area but adopted a “Western name” to distance herself from her Chinese-American roots, the online magazine Air Mail reported, and allegedly concocted a fake origin story, reinventing herself as a daughter of rural North Dakota.
“She knew that… when it comes to diversity, it’s not just about race,” said Adam Nguyen, founder of Ivy Link and a former Columbia admissions advisor. “Diversity for colleges has a much broader definition. It also includes socioeconomic diversity… and geographic diversity. So she made herself into basically a White applicant with a very Caucasian-sounding name from a little town in North Dakota.”
Next, she spent years plotting to fool Ivy League admissions teams and forging paperwork until she wound up as a Yale freshman. It was a suspicious roommate who uncovered the scheme, according to the report — by looking at her luggage tags and finding another name and address.
“As with any institution, whether it’s elite universities like Columbia, Harvard, Yale or workplaces, any employer, you’ll see that if someone has the intent and the talent to do it, they can get through the screening process, whether it’s faking your transcript, faking employment record, faking even testimonials from former employers or teachers, etc.,” Nguyen said. “So you’re seeing that here, this particular individual went through great lengths, right, and knew how to do all the right things. That said, the college admissions process is essentially trust but verify. Right now, they use different things like software, they do spot checking, but at the end of the day, it’s not 100% foolproof.”
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Comments
I think she should be commended for her ingenuity (and grasp of reality; I mean, her success proves her point). One assumes her test scores were sufficient.
So they have “affirmative action” for white people from flyover country, which is just as wrong as any other kind of “affirmative action” and someone who deserves to get in but was excluded for her race is entitled to cheat the system in order to get what she should have been given in the first place.
Well, you can look at it that way… or you can ponder the possibility that she was AVOIDING being discriminated AGAINST as a California Asian.
If she had applied under her own name, “her” spot could very probably have gone to someone less deserving.
Oh wait — I missed the part about cheating the system. So we said the same thing.
Was this the last year that Yale didn’t use SAT/ACT? There is a limit to cheating, as a person has to go through school with their real name and SSN for success going forward.
I do give her props on her ingenuity, and I do wonder about the other studen who had suspicions. Wouldn’t that be kind of racist?
I’m sure any Dreamer could give you ten ways to live the entire experience without an SSN,
Search Assist
Mindy Kaling’s brother is Vijay Chokal-Ingam, who gained attention for pretending to be African-American to gain admission to medical school. He is also known for his close relationship with Mindy and has been involved in some controversies regarding his actions.
Controversial Medical School Admission
Claim: Vijay Chokal-Ingam pretended to be Black on medical school applications in the late 1990s.
Reason: He was wait-listed at several schools and believed this strategy would improve his chances.
Outcome: He was accepted into medical school but later dropped out.
Current Activities
Writing: He is working on a book titled “Almost Black,” detailing his experiences and views on affirmative action.
Public Stance: Chokal-Ingam has expressed opposition to affirmative action, claiming it constitutes “reverse racism.”