Adam Wheeler, a senior at Harvard University, was recently convicted of larceny (when a person steals someone's belongings and uses them for their own good) and identity fraud. After Wheeler's application for the distinguished Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships seemed suspicious to Harvard English Professor James Simpson, his application was investigated further. Simpson determined that Wheeler had plagiarized the writing of another Harvard professor, and upon further investigation it turned out that Wheeler changed his transcript and changed/added to the letters of recommendation professors had written for him.
This scandal caused Harvard to additionally examine Wheeler's background information before being accepted to the university. Wheeler claimed he went to high school at Phillips Academy in Andover and additionally spend a year at MIT before Harvard. His SAT scores (a perfect 1600), high school recommendation by the director of college counseling, letters of recommendation from MIT professors, and MIT transcript were all faked.
Personally I cannot believe an academic institution like Harvard failed to do a background check on at least some of Wheeler's information. A school that prides itself on excellence relied on numbers and written information to admit Wheeler, and the lack of communication in the admissions process of this student astounds me. Clearly Harvard assumed that a student with a "qualified" written background could be accepted. This reliance on written data can clearly cause problems concerning believability and truth. Truth is found through the use of different types of sources, not just statistical data.
What are your reactions to this situation? How does it reflect on America's education system?
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