What Operation Varsity Blues tells us about the value of identity

Issue 5: On the Varsity Blues investigation and the value of social identities; how to get better at decisions; why social trust has decayed, but also how polarization is often overstated

It’s the time of year when millions of students anxiously await admissions decisions for everything from pre-school to PhD programs. We are waiting ourselves, as our oldest kids are about to get admitted to middle school.

The stress is real as many students—and their parents—go to great lengths to get into what they regard as the most prestigious schools. In many cases, students study for endless hours while drafting and redrafting the perfect admission essay, having already spent years building a resume packed with impressive extracurriculars. In extreme cases, they bend the rules or even break the law to get into the right school.

A new show on Netflix explores the Varsity Blues scandal in which thirty-three parents were accused of paying more than $25 million to William Rick Singer to create a “side door” into elite universities. He used the money to inflate entrance exam scores and bribe college officials to help wealthy kids gain access to top colleges, including Stanford, USC, Ya…