Ask A Genius 661: Trump and His SAT
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2022/01/01
[Recording Start]
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Could you elaborate on the situation regarding Trump and his SAT scores, as it actually happened?
Rick Rosner: Trump was enrolled at Fordham University at the time and aspired to graduate from a more prestigious institution. According to a book by Trump’s niece, his sister was assisting him at Fordham, essentially writing his papers. Similar to this, he had others complete various assignments for him. However, as she was a woman and couldn’t take the SAT for him, Trump sought out a male proxy. He found a skilled test-taker, referred to as Joe Epstein in the book – although I’m uncertain about the last name, as it seems too coincidental. Nonetheless, this individual took the SAT on Trump’s behalf, enabling his admission to the University of Pennsylvania around 1964, when Trump was about 18 or 19 years old.
Back in my early days, around 1980, when I first started working in bars, 17 of America’s 50 states didn’t even include photos on their driver’s licenses. They were merely paper slips. So, considering that this was about 15 years prior, security measures for something like the SAT would have been even more relaxed, raising the question of how many others might have exploited such laxity. Although I have no specific figures, I’d like to believe there was more integrity back then. Furthermore, college admissions were not as fiercely competitive as they are now. For instance, when I applied to Harvard in 1977, about 20% of applicants were admitted, a stark contrast to the current rate of under 5%. So, during Trump’s era, the pressure to misrepresent oneself for college admission was arguably less intense, given the less frantic nature of the whole process. Based on this, I would estimate that fewer than 1% might have cheated on the SAT in that manner back then. But, of course, this is purely speculative. I don’t have concrete information to substantiate these thoughts. I could elaborate based on my personal experiences, but that’s about the extent of what I can offer on this topic.
Jacobsen: Thank you, that’s quite insightful.
[Recording End]
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