With many of the nation's colleges and universities mailing the bulk of their acceptance letters to prospective students this month, two cases have surfaced which can realistically be described as an admissions officer's worst nightmare.
In one case, Harvard University rescinded an early admissions acceptance to an honors student who killed her mother at the age of 14. In another case, officials from Yale University recently expelled a transfer student who deceived the college by providing false academic records and recommendations.
The first case, which was first reported in The Boston Globe, has all the makings of a made-for-TV movie. The controversy involves an all-A honor student at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, a dead abusive alcoholic mother and an early admission to Harvard University.
The student, Gina Grant, 19, admitted in a South Carolina court that she killed her alcoholic mother by striking her 13 times with a lead crystal candle holder. After serving six months in juvenile detention, she later moved north to Massachusetts.
With the change in environment, Grant began making straight A's, tutoring underprivileged youths and faced the rigors of living alone. Featured in a Boston Globe Sunday Magazine as part of an expose on children who have persevered despite onerous obstacles, she revealed that her father died in 1987 and that her mother had died four years later.
After the publication, Harvard began receiving anonymous news clippings concerning Grant's shady past. Harvard reviewed its admissions decision and rescinded its offer citing "careful consideration of new information that was not discussed at the time of application," said Joe Winn, Harvard spokesman.
The Harvard Crimson later reported that Grant told a Harvard alumni interviewer that her mother had died in a car accident. Many Harvard students have protested the university's decision, saying the university did not think enough before they decided to rescind Grant's acceptance.
The New York Times reported on April 15 that Columbia offered Grant a spot in its incoming freshman class. At the College, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg would not comment on whether or not Grant applied to Dartmouth.
He said such information is always confidential.
Concerning the Harvard case, Furstenberg posed the question if students would want a person like Grant in their community when there are so many other qualified students to choose from. "Are we willing to take that chance?" he asked.
Furstenburg said he can not recall a case where the College had to rescind an student's admission under such uncanny circumstances, but said "the College still has that option."
Lon Grammer
Yale University recently expelled Davenport College senior Lon Grammer for allegedly falsifying his Yale transfer application and taking more than $60,000 in scholarship money under false pretenses.
Police say that Grammer, who transferred to Yale from Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., forged documents in his Yale admissions file.
According to police reports, Grammer's admissions file contains two different transcripts. The one he sent to Yale shows he had a 3.91 grade point average, while the one that Cuesta Community College sent to Yale indicated his grade point average was 2.077.
The report also says Grammer's admissions file contains several forged letters of recommendation and endorsements by nonexistent Cuesta Community College officials.
Grammer's attorney, John Williams, told the Yale Daily News that his client may sue Yale for readmission on the grounds that he was denied the chance to present his case before the Yale Executive Committee.
Yale officials say Grammer does not have grounds for a lawsuit since the university does not require Executive Committee meetings when admissions policies are concerned.
"The regulations that pertain to the admissions process itself do not fall under the undergraduate procedures," University Counsel Deputy Dorothy Robinson said.
Despite the many safeguards and security checks the College utilizes, a bizarre occurrence like this could happen, especially because the College cracked the 10,000 applicant-barrier this year, Furstenberg said.
"Be assured that Dartmouth has a very rigorous admissions process," Furstenberg said.
"If an application looks too good to be true, it probably is that is when we [admissions officers] look to see if all the pieces fit together," Furstenberg added.
But still, Furstenberg cautioned, "You can always get burned."
Occasionally after a student has been admitted, something may go awry like a decrease in the student's academic performance where their application must be reviewed, he said.
However, most students who are selected are usually allowed to matriculate at Dartmouth.
