By Jane Han
NEW YORK ― In a country where plagiarism and academic fraud are common, the recent cancellations of high-stake Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) in Korea will probably be forgotten sooner rather than later. But not by decision-makers at U.S. schools.
Several school officials say the latest string of cheating allegations in Korea may prompt admissions officers to think twice about candidates from Korea, even if their scores and credentials appear outstanding compared to other international students.
``This is a serious problem,’’ said an admissions associate at one private university in Boston, who asked not to be named, citing school policy on speaking to the media about admissions guidelines.
``Cheating of any kind is taken very, very seriously by schools in the U.S. so it’s just appalling to see young and ambitious college-bound students get involved in such misconduct,’’ she said, adding it is an important job of the admissions office to follow news related to college entrance exams.
The College Board, which administers the SATs, cancelled the scheduled May 4 session of the most-widely used standardized test for U.S. college entrance due to allegations of widespread cheating among Korean students.
It’s the first time the SAT has been cancelled in an entire country.
Just a few weeks later, the College Board announced that the SAT subject test in Biology would also be cancelled in June over concerns of test leakage. It did not rule out the possibility of further cancellations.
``If we confirm that additional test materials intended for use in the Republic of Korea in June 2013 have been compromised, we will have no choice but to cancel the administration or to cancel the scores associated with that administration,’’ the College Board said in a statement.
Academic experts say these cancellations aren’t just considered a one-time incident for American institutions that value honesty and integrity.
``It’s now an image issue,’’ says Charles Moon, a college consultant at Kent Academy in New York. ``Of course admissions officials know better not to generalize an entire country, but when you have one event like this follow another, it’s only natural for people to raise a red flag.’’
In 2007, some 900 students who took the January SAT in Korea had their scores cancelled because of suspicions some students had previous access to the questions. A few other shady incidents have followed since then, but not as large scale as the latest cancellation.
He said some school officials are already aware that Korean students sometimes puff up certain credentials, such as volunteer and school activities, on application materials.
``Admissions people don’t just believe everything written on the application. They get paid to do a thorough job in checking what’s true and what’s false,’’ said Moon, who specializes in advising high school juniors and seniors studying at preparatory schools on the east coast.
Another admissions counselor at a private preparatory in Connecticut, who asked for anonymity, said, ``It is so disappointing and disturbing to see adults encourage cheating in Korea. Korean students are already bright and smart. Why do they need to cheat their way into good schools’’
She said although it’s sad to admit, admissions officials do draw a general image of groups of students depending on where they’re from.
``There is a tendency that becomes obvious after evaluating students for so long,’’ she said, adding that Korean students have an ambitious and high-achieving image. ``Hopefully, this won’t be taken over by a negative replacement.’’