July 7, 2006

Bribery Attempts, the Unbearable Pushiness of Parents, and Other Admissions Tales

By ALVIN P. SANOFF

While visiting colleges in the Northeast last year, Andrew N. Lazar had the kind of campus tour that gives admissions deans nightmares. As the tour began one morning, a car pulled up and four young men dressed in black jumped out, grabbed the student guide, and tossed her into the trunk. A fifth young man emerged from the vehicle and announced that he was the new tour guide.

"All of us were jolted awake wondering what just happened," says Mr. Lazar, who recently graduated from

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