Have you every wished that you could have an older, smarter student take a standardized test in your place? Six students at Great Neck North High School in Long Island did just that.
Sam Eshaghoff, an Emory University sophomore who spent his freshman year at the University of Michigan, was paid to take the SAT test for at least six high school students. Eshaghoff has been charged with scheming, defraud, criminal impersonation and falsifying business records, according to the Nassau County district attorney’s office, but will plead not guilty.
Six high school students have also been arrested for misdemeanor charges regarding the event. These students were identified by their teachers because of the discrepancies between their grade points and their scores on the standardized SAT test.
According to Kathleen M. Rice, the Nassau County district attorney, this scheme has been going on since last year. The students registered to take the SAT at a high school other than their own. Then Eshaghoff went to the schools in place of the students, presenting a piece of identification with his own picture and a false name. The students paid Eshaghoff between $1500 and $2500 per exam taken.
“Colleges look for the best and brightest students, yet these six defendants tried to cheat the system and may have kept honest and qualified students from getting into their dream school,” Rice said in an interview with the NY Post. She also notes that the DA is looking into allegations that Eshaghoff took the exam for students at other high schools as well, as cheating can have serious criminal consequences.