The College Admissions Scandal is a 2019 Made-for-TV Movie, directed by Adam Salky and written by Stephen Tolkin, inspired by the 2019 admissions scandal and its mastermind, Rick Singer (Michael Shanks), who provided a "side door" for wealthy parents to get their children admitted to elite colleges. The focus is on two Los Angeles mothers, as Singer guides Bethany Slade (Mia Kirshner) and her daughter Emma (Sarah Dugdale), plus Caroline DeVere (Penelope Ann Miller) and her son Danny (Sam Duke), through the college admissions process, with a few little extra (and illegal) tricks up his sleeve to help them out.
The movie also stars Robert Moloney and Kendra Westwood.
It aired on Lifetime on October 12, 2019.
Tropes for the film:
- 20 Minutes into the Past: Released in 2019, a few months after the scandal broke, as the crimes started taking place in 2011.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Michael Shanks is ten years younger and more conventionally handsome than the real Rick Singer, who with his wiry build looks quite a bit like John Carradine.
- Alliterative Name: Danny DeVere.
- Alpha Bitch: Bethany Slade is a middle-aged woman, but otherwise fits the trope perfectly, treating most people like dirt and viewing herself as above the law.
- Artistic License – History: During one argument with his parents, Danny rattles off the names of a bunch of famous singers who never went to college. Two of them, though, actually did briefly attend college before dropping out—Bob Dylan (University of Minnesota) and Bruce Springsteen (Ocean County College).
- Blame Game: After the arrest, Caroline tries to pull a "you're a lawyer, you could've stopped me!" gambit on her husband Jackson, forgetting that he did express some unease about the situation to her that she just brushed off.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Bethany's younger daughter Taylor is very mouthy toward her after the arrest.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Emma, a pleasant, wide-eyed teen girl, is initially skeptical of her mother's enthusiasm for Singer, and still has some semblance of a conscience, but Bethany convinces her to go along, and she happily does things like take the SAT with a test coordinator giving her the answers (and fly from LA to Houston to do so, because Singer's SoCal test facility is booked up), and fabricate an interest in soccer.
- Dated History: The movie was released before the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused some delays in the court cases of the people involved (Singer didn't get his sentence—3.5 years in prison and a $10 million fine—until early 2023).
- Glamorous Single Mother: Bethany is divorced, but runs a financial services firm and proudly identifies herself as a member of the "1%".
- Helicopter Parents: Danny (an aspiring musician) and Emma (into social justice issues) really aren't all that concerned about getting into elite schools at first, but their mothers have become convinced that it's a make-or-break situation for their children. Caroline even fears that Danny will end up homeless if he doesn't get into Stanford! Even her husband Jackson, who's skeptical of Singer, reluctantly supports the plan after one of his law partners has a child accepted to Princeton. Meanwhile, Bethany basically bullies Emma into doing what she wants.Emma: (explaining to her boyfriend and his parents why she went along with the plan) You know my mom, she runs my life. I didn't have a choice.
- Historical Domain Character: Rick Singer, the man at the center of the scandal, though the movie doesn't delve much into his interesting backstory.explanation
- It's All About Me: Bethany and Caroline are clearly more concerned about their own social standing than the best fit for the education of their children. Illustrated by the scene where Bethany has a You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! response when a counselor recommends the perfectly respectable George Washington University for Emma, and amazingly tries to twist herself into a victim over this, accusing the counselor of trying to ruin her life as payback for her being so rich. Later she tries to get a judge to postpone a court hearing because she has meetings with her financial clients scheduled.
- Ivy League for Everyone: Justified Trope, since the point of the story is that the parents are hell-bent on getting their kids into elite universities, enlisting Rick to get Emma into Yale and Danny into Stanford.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Dark-haired Bethany (Dark) has no scruples whatsoever and gladly cheats to help Emma. Blonde-haired Caroline (Light) has more of a conscience and and has to really stretch herself to rationalize what she's doing. It extends to after the arrests, with Caroline deciding to plead guilty, while Bethany just acts like nothing even happened.
- Loophole Abuse: The heart of Rick Singer's scheme. Among other things, he gets psychologists to diagnose his clients' kids with mental issues, which gets them special accommodations for the SAT test, and (via bribery) gets coaches of lower-profile college sports to recruit them for sports they don't actually play, since elite colleges often lower admissions standards for recruited athletes. Most importantly in the eyes of the FBI is his "foundation for underprivileged youth", which is a vehicle to give his clients a tax writeoff, then provides him with money for under-the-table bribes.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Ultimately Emma goes along with the plan because her boyfriend has been accepted to Yale and she wants to be with him, with Bethany talking her out of her backup plan of attending another Connecticut school, Trinity College in Hartford (which is about a 45 minute drive from Yale in New Haven).
- Luxurious Liquor: The very conspicuous yellow-labeled bottles of Moët et Chandon champagne are visible in a couple of scenes.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: It's pretty easy to associate Bethany Slade with Lori Loughlin, and Caroline DeVere with Felicity Huffman (though rather than actresses, Bethany is a financial planner and Caroline is an interior designer), to the point that you suspect that they were Loughlin and Huffman in the original draft of the screenplay, but Lifetime's legal department forced the filmmakers to change them into a Fictional Counterpart. Mia Kirshner flat-out told interviewers that Bethany was based on Loughlin. It's also easy to view Emma as a stand-in for Loughlin's daughter Olivia Jade, and Jackson DeVere for Huffman's husband William H. Macy.
- Only Sane Man: Caroline's husband Jackson DeVere (who happens to be a lawyer) is the only one among the main characters who never really jumps on board with the scheming.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: One of Bethany's justifications for cheating on Emma's behalf is that non-white students with similar academic credentials to Emma can get into Ivy League schools by taking advantage of resources for minorities, so she's simply doing the same thing from a more privileged position. There's also the fact that the school counselor she crosses swords with happens to be Black.
- Rich Bitch: Bethany Slade is about a step away from a Soap Opera villain, lording her money over everyone, talking down to people she regards as inferior (to the point of correcting their grammar), and even wearing Cool Shades to her arraignment.
- Ripped from the Headlines: One of Lifetime's quicker turnarounds for this, since the scandal first hit the news in March of 2019 and the movie debuted in October. Stephen Tolkin, the network's go-to writer for these kinds of movies, obviously wasted little time getting a script together.
- Senior Year Struggles: Danny and Emma have been convinced by their mothers that they must get into top rank colleges, and spend their year getting shepherded by Singer through the application process.
- Smug Snake:
- Bethany, who has no problem twisting any given situation to benefit her, even if it requires her to play the role of the victim, because she thinks she's untouchable.
- A bit more subdued, but Rick Singer never exhibits anything less than full confidence in dealing with his clients, always insisting that he has dozens of workarounds ready for any potential problems.
- The Social Darwinist: Bethany justifies her participation in the scheme by deliberately invoking Darwin, arguing to Emma that parents should do everything they can to help their kids; it's just that since they're rich, they have more resources at their disposal, and shouldn't be ashamed that they're "the fittest" in this situation. Caroline also makes a similar argument to her husband Jackson.
- Villain Protagonist: The movie focuses on Rick Singer and his clients Bethany and Caroline, who are all shameless white collar criminals.
- Where Are They Now: The end credits reveal the ongoing investigation and the sentences that are being passed onto the guilty parties.
