College Admissions Scandal

The recent college admissions scandal hit close to home for me. My son Brandon graduated from Georgetown University, one of the schools implicated in the scandals, and currently coaches there.

It reminded me of Brandon’s own process in getting into Georgetown, and how deeply he cares for the student-athletes he works with.

From kindergarten through junior high Brandon did fine in school. Nothing special and no issue. He was a good, smart, athletic kid who cared much more about sports than school. While we always repeated the mantra of the importance of college, there was no big push for any particular school -- other than the unrealistic thought, on Brandon’s side, that he might go to Duke simply because he loved Duke basketball.

At the beginning of Brandon’s freshman year, he chose running cross country over soccer. His team won a state championship and he began to develop into the record-breaking runner he would become.

The thought of earning a college scholarship -- and being able to get into the college of his choice -- began to take shape, which impacted the importance of grades and selection of classes for Brandon. 

He realized he had been placed in a lower level science class and advocated to be moved to another class. Knowing this, his time and focus on school increased.

His grades improved to honor roll level but nothing close to being a top-level student.

After playing basketball his freshman year, he decided to focus on running year-round and he continued to improve.

He avoided parties where drinking was involved, went to bed early and started thinking about schools he could attend. Duke was still on his list.

As an enthusiastic and caring Dad, I also started reaching out to schools to “market” my kid to the coaches of the schools Brandon was interested in -- and some that he wasn’t. They included William & Mary, Villanova, Stanford, Oregon, Brown, Boston College, Georgetown, Providence, Duke and others.

During a wonderfully successful Junior year, where Bran led his school to state championships in cross country and outdoor track while also setting state records in the indoor 800-meters and outdoor 1600, the idea of actually attending one of these schools became a reality.

Part of Brandon’s strength and weakness was his ability to focus and not care what others thought. When his high school college advisor asked to meet with him, he kept telling her where he was going to go school and she kept telling him he didn’t have the grades or SAT scores to get in. He refused to meet with her.

In the spring of Brandon’s junior year we went on a family trip and visited Georgetown, William & Mary, Duke and Villanova.

Brandon immediately bonded with Georgetown coach Pat Henner and by the end of the trip, Brandon had made up his mind that he was going to go to Georgetown.

We had his transcripts sent and I continued to contact other coaches. Once the July 1  deadline passed where coaches could contact Brandon, the calls started coming in. Brandon wasn’t interested in talking to any coach other than Pat Henner.

On one memorable night the UCONN coach called right around 9 p.m. Brandon was in bed. He was irritated when I told him the coach was on the phone and said, “Why is he calling so late?” I snapped back and told him to just get on the phone.

In a less-than-polite exchange on the phone, Brandon told the coach he was going to attend Georgetown and hung up the phone.

When I asked what the coach had talked about Brandon said, “He wants a miler and says he has scholarship money for me.”

“Then you need to talk to him,” I insisted.

“I’m going to Georgetown.” was Brandon’s response and he quickly went back to bed.

The next day I called coach Henner and explained that Brandon was turning down scholarships, saying that he was going to Georgetown and I needed to understand the actual process and money available to Brandon.

Pat explained that he had taken Brandon’s transcripts to the admissions office and he was supporting Brandon’s application. He assured me that he was using one of his spots to get Brandon accepted, but that Brandon had to improve his SAT score by 50 points to meet the GU minimum.

He also explained that Brandon was not receiving a scholarship and could earn one over time. The burden of payment would be on his mom and I, and financial aid.

That night Brandon and I had a long heart-to-heart. I was pushing hard to get him to talk to other schools and looking into getting his college paid for with a scholarship.

It wasn’t an easy discussion for a father and son to have. Finally, Brandon said “Dad, you always told me I could go to any school I got accepted to.”

I’m a passionate, honest and deeply caring dad. When those words sprung from Brandon, I simply had no choice. He was right.

We hired a tutor and Brandon studied to take the SAT again. This time he increased his score by 75 points and met the standard for Georgetown.

From that point forward, whenever anyone asked about school we said Brandon was going to Georgetown University.

Of course, friends and others reacted very positively that he would be going to such a prestigious school.

That spring we waited for the official acceptance letter as Brandon’s friends started reporting where they were going to school.

Late in the spring, coach Henner called. I handed the phone to Brandon and watched as the blood drained from my 17-year-old son’s face . When he got off the phone he said “There is a problem with my application. The college counselor wrote in her letter of recommendation that she didn’t think I could handle the academics at Georgetown.” Yes, this was the counselor that Brandon had refused to meet with.

As my heart sunk and the anger rose, I listened while Brandon explained that he would have to write a letter to GU explaining why he felt he could handle the academic load. It would go to a committee that would say yes or no.

Because of Brandon’s focus and determination get go to GU, he had not applied to any other school.  Panic and disappointment in myself as a parent also ensued.  “How could a kid who did everything right get screwed like this?” I thought.

Brandon wrote his letter and his mom heavily edited it. We sent it in and waited.

Finally, coach Henner called. Brandon was not in …yet. He would have to attend Georgetown for five weeks in the summer and take two classes. If he passed with at least a “C” he would be accepted.

Of course, we would have to absorb the additional $5,000 in cost.

I’ve never seen Brandon look so lonely and overwhelmed as we drove him to GU, bought his books and moved him into an off-campus apartment.

The only funny moment was when we bought his books: I realized that we had just purchased more books, for only five weeks of classes, than Brandon had probably ever read in his life.

He called home every night and we would talk for a long time. With no other freshman taking classes he was alone, lonely and bored.

At the end of five weeks he came home and shortly after, we found out that he had passed his classes and was officially accepted at Georgetown.

My wife’s mother passed away early that spring and we used her life insurance inheritance to pay that first-year bill. In following years we took out and co-signed loans.

Brandon’s leadership skills were evident to coach Henner early and when Brandon became a senior, he was named captain and earned a scholarship.

After graduation he became a graduate assistant coach at GU and then left for two years to coach at Syracuse.

He returned to GU in 2013 and has become the head coach of men’s cross-country team, and also coaches indoor and outdoor track. His student-athletes have had some amazing accomplishments over that time with nearly 60 All-America designations. He’s had six athletes break four minutes in the mile, and has also led the Hoyas to four straight Big East cross-country championships.

His biggest accomplishment has been to be there for all his athletes of various backgrounds. He knows how hard it is to get into to GU and how tough it can be to adjust once you are there. His own process and experience helps him be a better coach and person.

I think you will find this with most of the coaches at GU.