Chinese react to U.S. college admissions cheating scandal
Earlier this month, the U.S. was rocked by the largest known college admissions scandal in the country’s history. Prosecutors say that between 2011 and 2018, wealthy parents paid a total of $25 million to a company called The Key to get their kids into their college of choice. Fifty people have officially been charged.
China has traditionally valued education: to many here, education is a necessity, a source of pride, and a way to break the spinning wheels of class stratification. But with this educational obsession comes cheating, and lots of it, typically from students trying to get into prep school or college abroad.
Anecdotes about students faking transcripts, hiring ghostwriters to write personal statements, and producing falsified credentials are commonplace. Given that there are more than 360,000 Chinese students in American universities, we wanted to see how the American admissions scandal would resonate here.
How has China reacted to the scandal? Has it impacted how students view the American education system? Has it grabbed the attention of the Chinese mainstream? Watch this video to find out.
