College Admissions Negative 101

Here's some news that will help ease the guilt of all you parents who desperately want to give your children a leg up on the stiff competition that faces them on their journey to institutes of higher education.

So you occasionally help out with your student's science projects or you maybe drafted a few of his research papers and had him pass it off as his own. Not good. But, definitely not as bad as what Caroline Maria McNeal did to help increase her daughter's chance of getting into the college of her choice.

The overzealous mom, who used to be employed as a high school secretary, recently admitted to changing her daughter's SAT scores--on more than one occasion.

McNeal reportedly confessed that she used the school's computer to tamper with students' tests scores. In one case she allegedly changed her daughter's SAT scores from 1370 to 1730. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Police, who arrested the score-tampering mom, claim that McNeal spent the last two years consistently changing other students' grades as well, in an effort to improve her daughter's class ranking. All tolled school officials estimate that McNeal changed more than 200 test scores or grades.

The tech savvy mom is now facing criminal charges, including 29 felony counts of unlawful use of a computer and tampering with pubic records. McNeal was also fired from her job. In addition, her daughter, who graduated from high school in 2008, says she has become the target of outraged former classmates, and is completely humiliated by her mom's poor decisions.

Meanwhile, McNeal maintains that she was only trying to help her daughter "get ahead."

Oh, her daughter has gotten ahead all right; she's way out there... far, far away from the embarrassment she once called "mom."

What do you make of McNeal's decision to make her daughter look smart? Pretty dumb, huh?

Michele Cheplic

2009 Inspiration Awards Go to Schools in California, Mississippi and Texas

NEW YORK — Three exceptional high schools have been named College Board 2009 Inspiration Award winners for improving their academic environment and helping underserved students achieve equitable access to higher education. Each winning school will receive a $25,000 award, and each of the two honorable mention schools will receive $1,000 to apply toward programs that encourage students to attend college.

Remarking on today’s announcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, “At a time when higher standards and increased college readiness have become critical to our nation’s future, it is encouraging to know that these Inspiration schools provide a wonderful example for all of us as we work to reform our education system. Congratulations to these schools, their principals, their teachers and their students for this tremendous success. They show us what is possible.”

The 2009 Inspiration Award-winning schools are:

• Hidalgo Early College High School, Hidalgo, Texas
• Riverdale High School, Riverdale, Calif.
• William B. Murrah High School, Jackson, Miss.

The College Board will honor each of the schools at special inspirational assemblies attended by administrators, faculty, students and parents. On May 6, College Board Senior Vice President Peter Negroni will present a 2009 Inspiration Award to Hidalgo Early College High School. On May 12, he will present an award to Riverdale High School. Then on May 14, College Board President Gaston Caperton will present the third Inspiration Award to William B. Murrah High School.

The Inspiration Awards celebrate America’s most improved high schools. These schools create a culture in which success in the classroom is “cool”; they help their students acquire self-confidence and the skills necessary not only to gain admission to college but to succeed on campus. Winning secondary schools demonstrate significant and consistent growth across the entire student population in the number of students taking rigorous courses and the percentage of graduates accepted to institutions of higher education. 

In announcing the winners, College Board President Gaston Caperton said, “We are delighted to honor the 2009 Inspiration Award schools. They have made a difference in their communities and in the lives of their students. Because of the unique programs they have created, teachers, parents, community organizations and local businesses have come together to help students graduate from high school and go on to college.”