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I have been offered by 4 separate people four separate amounts to take the SAT for them, 4,000, 5,000, 8,000 and 10,000 dollars. These are serious offers. I turned them all down. There are two problems this shows me a) people are trying to cheat in these and b) people who live me are way too bloody rich, and despite the ethical issues if I wasn't paranoid about getting caught I probably would have accepted the 10,000 dollar one... that's just so much money.
This problem seems rampant, what do you guys think?
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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I suspect if you were to take them up on the offer, tell them to give you half up front - you'd never see $2000, $2500, $4000, or $5000 handed to you.
I think what you have are people making bold offers they know are going to be turned down, and who have no intention of following through on what they assert they will.
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That's what you would think if you lived anywhere except my neighborhood where I have no doubt in my mind they could come up with the money.
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Yeah, aside from that being even more unethical... the guys who are offering are football jocks, they could beat the living tar out of me, which is probably why they need me to take the test for them: too much focus on sports.
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And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
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quote:Originally posted by JonHecht: Yeah, aside from that being even more unethical... the guys who are offering are football jocks, they could beat the living tar out of me, which is probably why they need me to take the test for them: too much focus on sports.
I'd take a beating for $10,000.
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
That's a good idea too, that should be a separate thread.
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If you really think this is serious, report it to the testing board or your school officials.
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
That's a good idea too, that should be a separate thread.
I'm pretty sure we have a few. Or more than a few.
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Woah this thread is generating a lot of posts, "What was their plan for getting you into the test center?" one of many reasons I said no. I commented that they check ID and one of them said "No they don't" another said "Only rarely" and the two others said "I know a guy who can get you fake ID".
"As long as we're being unethical, you could take the money and bomb the test." If I accepted they would probably do half first half after they get good scores back, and would once again beat the tar out of me if I got a bad score.
Anyway, I don't like theft.
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Is the KID paying the $10K, or is this parentally sanctioned? Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that a high school senior just happens to have $10K lying around for this particular purpose, but then again things have changed a lot in the past twenty years.
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: If you really think this is serious, report it to the testing board or your school officials.
As appealing as that thought is, there is no evidence and they are friends of my brother, and I would rather not.
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
Yeah, barely pulled a 3.0 in high school, but managed a 1200 on the SAT. Not quite sure how that happened. My wife had a 3.7 and got a 1000.
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quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk: Is the KID paying the $10K, or is this parentally sanctioned? Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that a high school senior just happens to have $10K lying around for this particular purpose, but then again things have changed a lot in the past twenty years.
I have 6,000 dollars sitting around in my bank account. I am by FAR the "poorest" kid in my neighborhood. On my street alone I know of at least 7 CEOs. My brother's best friend's father is a billionaire. Let me repeat that they would have no issue financing it.
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: If you really think this is serious, report it to the testing board or your school officials.
As appealing as that thought is, there is no evidence and they are friends of my brother, and I would rather not.
I would refuse, that is your best recourse. If you want to go the extra mile, figure out a way to talk them out doing something that could ruin any chance any of them have at attending college, getting a degree, and a decent job.
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quote:And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
The SAT is set up to predict performance in college (more specifically, the first year of college), which, as far as I remember, it does better than any other single measure employed in the college admissions process.
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: If you really think this is serious, report it to the testing board or your school officials.
As appealing as that thought is, there is no evidence and they are friends of my brother, and I would rather not.
I would refuse, that is your best recourse. If you want to go the extra mile, figure out a way to talk them out doing something that could ruin any chance any of them have at attending college, getting a degree, and a decent job.
I've been doing the extra mile thing... mostly just calling them idiots and morons for even considering it.
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quote:As appealing as that thought is, there is no evidence and they are friends of my brother, and I would rather not.
There is no evidence, and I doubt you'd get any. Refer back to my first post. I still maintain that this is a bluff and if you called them on it, it would disappear.
And I don't care where you live, what they drive, what their parents make, I don't think any kid can get $10,000 without his parents knowing about it, so unless it's, as Nighthawk says, parentally sanctioned, I still don't believe it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you a liar, I believe they may well have asked you, but I don't believe they'd follow through. Sounds like typical high school student blustering to me. No offense, but this type of thing is typical, predictable, and not anything to be taken seriously.
I volunteer with teenagers, I have one in my home, and I hear this kind of stuff every day and surprise! I've never seen it pan out to be real.
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quote:I have 6,000 dollars sitting around in my bank account. I am by FAR the "poorest" kid in my neighborhood. On my street alone I know of at least 7 CEOs. My brother's best friend's father is a billionaire. Let me repeat that they would have no issue financing it.
That does sound impressive. Where do you live? (area, community, zip code - I wouldn't ask a minor to post their address or anything.)
If you seriously think this is real and concern, ask for the money, and when you receive it, take it to the police and turn it in, along with a full report. Then you would have evidence.
Forgive me Jon, I may just be in a cantankerous mood today. Perhaps this is real, and I'm being unfair. It's possible. I just have seen this type of comment so many times, and like I said, it's just not real. I still have my doubts about this situation. Please don't take it personally.
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95070, Saratoga, California. Median house price is something like a 1 million. Across the street a house just sold for something like 16 million.
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Oh, man, he's right. I live very near to Saratoga. Median house price there has got to be more than $1m.
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Obviously a far cry from my little town in Alabama.
As I said, I admit it's possible this is common practice in that area, for teens to have that kind of cash and the willingness to use it for such an unethical purpose. It would be an interesting experiment to see if they do follow up if he offers to do it, but I don't suggest he do that. The best bet is to turn and walk away, or take the high road that was suggested.
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I really would not put it past a kid to pay someone to take the SAT for him. If Jon's school/neighborhood are as he says they are, they're a lot like the high school I went to, where many kids most definitely had access to enormous amounts of money, both in the form of credit cards and direct cash deposits to their personal accounts on a routine basis.
As one of the poorer among my classmates (and I'm by no means poor--my family was, at the time, lower-middle/middle class by Hawaii standards), I had friends who would routinely insist I make ludicrous bets with them ("I bet you I can't give you a ride home in under 30 minutes") and lose on purpose. I'm talking about $100, $200, $500, so they didn't have to financially dumb down their fun to include me, and I could participate without taking an outright handout (even if it fooled no one).
If they hadn't been as bright as they were, I could see a couple of them offering to pay a four figure sum to someone to take an important test for them.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by ElJay: As long as we're being unethical, you could take the money and bomb the test.
My thoughts exactly. The only problem is that obviously spoiled rich kids with loose morals who probably believe they can get away with anything might go to some rather extreme lengths for retaliation.
If you don't think they'll do worse than beat you up (with a low probability of permanent injuries), personally, I would do it and take my chances. I wouldn't even consider it unethical on my part. I might even do it if they refused to pay me up front. For me it would be about teaching them a lesson more than getting the money.
Posts: 1569 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
The SAT is set up to predict performance in college (more specifically, the first year of college), which, as far as I remember, it does better than any other single measure employed in the college admissions process.
Man, Squick! I was all ready to answer this as someone with real-life experience in college admissions, and you had to go and steal my thunder. Thanks bunches.
And you did it more succinctly than I would have, to boot! *shakes fist*
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I believe Jon's story for one simple reason -- I've heard of people paying considerably more. I am also aware of people getting caught every year for trying this sort of nonsense. Proctors most certainly DO check each and every person's ID.
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for the people doubting him about whether people could get together the money...it all depends on where you live. I knew plenty of people who could have gotten together 10,000 on their own in high school without their parents paying attention.
Their parents might have an idea that something was up, but not really looked into it because they didn't want to know.
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Well, I'm sure anyone who got caught would have a hard time getting into college. And I think they might be able to indict you for fraud, but I'm not sure.
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Well, my scores weren't that impressive for myself, 2100, but I could easily get higher if I wanted. I didn't really try on my own, if I had really buckled down I probably could have shelled out 2300 at least. The issue for is that I knew how well I had to do to go where I wanted, and knew I could do it without trying so I didn't bother trying. That may seem a bit arrogant but that is why the people want me to take the test for them, because they also think I could have gotten 2300 if I had studied, prepared... actually slept before the test (there was a party, what can I say).
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I've a buddy who has taken it for three different people. I imagine it's fairly common, if you go looking. Then again, I know people who have gotten the Bar early for 20,000 dollars. If you are willing to commit tens of thousands of dollars for an enterprise, especially if you don't value education as much as you are looking as college as means to get a high-powered job, what's a few grand to game the system?
quote:95070, Saratoga, California. Median house price is something like a 1 million. Across the street a house just sold for something like 16 million.
I know enough kids who went to Saratoga, Lynbrook, and Monte Vista to not have any trouble believing you.
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Oh, in case you guys who aren't used to the new system are wondering I just looked up the translation on wikipedia: 2100=1420, 2300=1550
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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If I could have gotten that high on the SAT, I think I might have been willing to make a year's salary tax-free while in HS.
Good thing for me none of the kids in my school had that much to spend. I might have been tempted down the wrong path.
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Good thing my fear of getting caught/ethics (that was only useful until the 10k mark) protect me.
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Oh man, I wish I lived in your neighborhood. Back in the day, (four years ago), I got a 1570. Sadly no one offered me any money to take the test for them. I think I would have laughed my butt off though if someone offered. I never thought people would do that. It's pretty pathetic.
These people do not deserve to rent your brain at any price. They're not worth you, no matter how much money daddy has. If they didn't have daddy, they'd be broke. The end.
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It's pretty interesting to me, after having gone to college, graduated, and held many jobs, that a high school student can make $2-3,000 an hour before college, and can reasonably expect a tiny fraction of that after 4 or more years of study.
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quote:95070, Saratoga, California. Median house price is something like a 1 million. Across the street a house just sold for something like 16 million.
No wonder you were getting five digit figures for SAT testing. It happens here, too -- I live in the richest zip code in my time zone.Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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"I've a buddy who has taken it for three different people."
Same.
It's really simple how they get in, they just got a camera, printed out a picture of themselves, and glued it over the other person's school ID.
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Yeah, state-issued photo ID or two forms of student or other photo ID were required when I took it, and they checked signatures. They also did not accept unlaminated school IDs.
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I took the SAT twice, once I didn't have to provide an ID, but the person administering my room had been a parent of a friend since I was in second grade, I'd been to his house, he knew where mine was and knew my parents. The other time I was at a different school, and we were required to show our school id, but I'm pretty sure one from my school that was there was fake.
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quote:Originally posted by JonHecht: They require a drivers license or california state ID here... at least my proctor did.
I didn't have either one of those until my first year in college. I got in with my Social Security Card, which is hardly a valid ID.
I have to admit, back then if someone offered me $10K to take it, I probably would have, especially considering back then they were much more lax about proper ID (I'm talking 1989 here). Of course, I would have spent the $10K in three days and wound up dead in a ditch somewhere, but they would be some seriously entertaining three days.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by JonHecht: I have been offered by 4 separate people four separate amounts to take the SAT for them, 4,000, 5,000, 8,000 and 10,000 dollars. These are serious offers. I turned them all down. There are two problems this shows me a) people are trying to cheat in these and b) people who live me are way too bloody rich, and despite the ethical issues if I wasn't paranoid about getting caught I probably would have accepted the 10,000 dollar one... that's just so much money.
This problem seems rampant, what do you guys think?
I was offered $50 when I was in high school. I think it was because I was willing to cheat on tests for classmates (finish the test first, go to the front of the room to ask the teacher a question, come back to find a blank test on my desk, lather, rinse, repeat). But if you get caught, you're screwed. Don't do it.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: And here I thought this was a thread about how the SAT fraudulantly pretends to be an indication of inteligence and knowledge.
Yeah, barely pulled a 3.0 in high school, but managed a 1200 on the SAT. Not quite sure how that happened. My wife had a 3.7 and got a 1000.
3.247 GPA. 1440 SAT. My little brother got something in the 1000s and had a much higher GPA. It's the stupidest test ever.
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I wonder if proctors in areas that are more prone to cheating are stricter on ID. I know I took my SATs in a very, very rich area with kids widely known for cheating (it was the rich school district next to us, not mine. In an unrelated statistic, the community with the highest rate of anorexia and bullemia in the nation, at least when my dad was in med school.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I know for a fact, when I took the SAT's... there was one person in the room taking the test for another person... He had a fake ID (which the other person paid for) and he made $500 for it...
The sad thing is the fact that this individual got a solid 200 points higher on the test he took for another person, than the one he took for himself...
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Thanks bunches.
