Operation Varsity Blues

This story made me sad, frustrated, and furious all at once.

A story about a college fraud. There is a "back door" and a "side door" and who knows how many more doors available to get anything in life, not just education for your kids.

If you have the money, your options are limitless, yet it is never enough. They have enough money for the rest of their life but they always want more. Can you imagine the audacity to push illegaly for your kids to get into schools knowing they dont deserve it? knowing they will kick out someone who actually deserves it, paying money and in the end get a joke, literally a joke of a sentense for doing so (few weeks to a few months in jail)....give me a break please. With that kind of punishment they will do the same thing tomorrow if the opportunity arrives.

I just finished this documentary, and thought it was very well done. What is atrocious, however, is that the "back door" donations (parents donating multi-millions directly to colleges to get their kids in) is apparently a legal and accepted practice. This has to stop, as it's really no more ethical than the Operation Varsity Blues scandal. Colleges can make money from their sports teams, donors who are truly *donating* without expecting something in return, as well as any government grants. That's IT. Routine auditing needs to be conducted on the admissions process, and the bribe donations that are deemed legal need to be exposed and ended.

Before watching this, I, of course, was familiar with the scandal and who the big players were, but I didn't know the intricacies of the scam. The ONE person I feel sorry for is the former Stanford sailing coach (who agreed to take part in this documentary). Sure, what he did was technically wrong, but he didn't do it to financially benefit HIMSELF, he did it to benefit Stanford's sailing team. I can see the difference, and am glad he has overcome this and appears to be doing well. As far as the others (with the exception of the kids who had no knowledge of the scam), I think they got off way too easily. However, their reputations (as well as their kids') have been permanently damaged, and that might negatively affect them more than any fine or prison sentence. They have huge egos, so that likely hits them where it hurts the most.

I highly recommend this program to those who are interested in true crime and the exposure of injustice.

"Back doors", "side doors", and endless loopholes - this documentary shows how the world is just an infinite playground for the wealthy. One of the unique elements to this doc is the recreation of conversations which were achieved through wiretapping. These conversations are... disgusting, to say the least. This format really allows you to see just how culpable and guilty these people are. The fact they're on tape admitting to knowingly doing wrong is sickening.

The sentences at the end are, of course, a joke. Without enforcement, this signals there will be a continuation of such practices in the future. But that's how it is in America. A high profile bust with lots of glitz and cameras, followed by an anemic jail sentence. Something's clearly broken here.

Overall, excellent documentary. I'm not usually a big fan of dramatic reenactments in this format - but it worked very well this time.

This documentary sheds light on the system of getting into a top notch college and reveals how flawed and fraudulent the system actually is. The shocking reality is, it is actually not any different with other systems in our society. For example, in politics, large corporations donate millions of dollars to their representatives to buy influences and outcomes. So for me, the subject of this documentary isn't that shocking at all and all the players involved are just folks who used the flawed system in their advantage.