Mark Zimny is one smug fuck. Feel free to draw your own conclusions, but I don’t know what else to think of a man who promises rich parents in Asia that he can get their child into prominent overseas universities. And then when one family sues to get its $2.2 million back because he failed to deliver, Zimny replies:

“Gerald is the only one who has ever sued,” said Zimny, who started his business in 1999. “Every other client is happy with the result.”

That’s from South China Morning Post. Again, he took 2.2 million dollars from a family on the assumption that their sons would be admitted into Harvard. Its true that no family should ever be duped into paying that much, but what kind of person would bill that amount and remain so brazenly un-humbled by failure? A smug fuck, that’s what. In addition, Zimny cites the example of one of his other “pretty well-known” clients who is happy with the services of his company, which is called IvyAdmit (Ivy-fucking-Admit!):

He said the remaining Hong Kong client was “not concerned” about the lawsuit filed by Chow, who is the executive director of listed conglomerate Chow Sang Sang Holdings.

So in short: Zimny has taken awful publicity — a huge lawsuit that, however unlikely to succeed, reveals him as a charlatan — and employed the South China Morning Post to spin it into great publicity. SCMP was only too happy to oblige:

Describing himself as a middle-man who introduced parents to schools and “facilitated donations”, Zimny said he focused his business on Hong Kong, South Korea and, increasingly, the mainland. He had six to seven tutors at a time. “The demand [in Asia] is huge, but what we do is far more specialised,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of business [after the lawsuit came to light], but we think the business is still intact.”

You hear that, rich parents in Hong Kong, South Korea and mainland China? IvyAdmit remains open for business.

(H/T Alicia)

Maybe one can put a price on a child’s education? If you’re Gerald and Lily Chow of Hong Kong, that price happens to be $2.2 million. That’s how much the pair reportedly spent over four years on a Cambridge, Mass.-based education consultancy that basically guaranteed their two sons would get accepted to Harvard.

The investment flopped. Apparently Harvard — the school of Bo Guagua — has standards, because both of the Chow boys got rejected.

And now the Chows are suing, specifically Mark Zimny of IvyAdmit. Via Boston Globe:

The Chows say Zimny approached them at his graduation ceremony, claiming he was a professor at Harvard University, and that he could use his connections to help the sons get into New England boarding schools and Ivy League colleges.

The lawsuit says that Zimny made a number of false claims, including that he was a professor at Harvard.

“Zimny was never a Harvard professor; he had briefly been a visiting assistant professor and a lecturer, but any faculty relationship with Harvard had ended by June 30, 2005, two years before he met the Chows, the suit says.

…The Chows are from China, where college admission is simple and based largely on an exam score rather than a Byzantine process involving essays, extracurriculars, and intangibles. “A lot of them don’t understand how the American college system works,” said Elizabeth Stone, a consultant who has been approached by many Chinese hopefuls. “I think the mentality is, ‘you can buy your way in.’ ”

In Zimny’s lawyers’ failed motion for dismissal, they claim the Chows and Zimny made a “nebulous” agreement, i.e. Zimny never wrote in any contract that Harvard was a guarantee. Boston Globe again:

It goes on to argue that legal blame should lie with the Chows because “common law counts do not serve as an insurance policy for poor judgment, avarice, or any other of many human failings.” In other words: caveat emptor.

Ouch. Talk about rubbing it in. Not only were you duped into spending $2.2 million on education consulting, but now you learn that your decision to pay IvyAdmit, specifically, was in poor judgment.

Zimny must have figured that they aren’t getting any more cash cow clients after this incident, so why not throw the company under the bus to win this lawsuit?

By the way, a bit of advice for Chinese parents out there: stop looking for shortcuts to educate your kid.

(H/T Alicia)

Bo Guagua graduated yesterday from Harvard Kennedy School. Adam Samberg gave a speech, and with that, another lot of wide-eyed, partied-out co-eds officially enter the workforce, ready to displace the infirm and ineffectual. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: the kids these days will spell the end of us all. They’re just carrying on an age-old ritual of societal molting, but I suspect this generation will be more merciless than the rest.

By the way, did you know Bo Guagua also graduated from Oxford? I dunno, seems important.

By Gregory K. Shapiro

Last month, Bo Guagua brought some rather unwelcome attention to Harvard, managing in one fell swoop to both draw further ridicule to himself and to affirm every popular stereotype of Harvard students as arrogant, out-of-touch elitists. Perhaps unintentionally, he’s also drawn attention to an ongoing practice by Harvard of welcoming top leaders and their children — from China and other countries — to study. I refer you to today’s article in Slate titled “The East Is Crimson” — and I eagerly await, if I may say so, for Slate’s followups, “The East Is Columbia Blue” and “Oh Yeah, It’s Also Orange And Black.”

Harvard’s practice of accepting the leaders of tomorrow has been going on for at least over a decade, and was readily visible during my time as an undergraduate in the mid-2000s. I counted among my classmates the grandson of a former Chinese head of state and the son of the head of the Iraq’s Kurdish resistance movement during the Saddam years. (They kept low profiles.) I have no doubt that children of other foreign leaders were on campus but simply never entered my social circle. Certainly each of these students gained acceptance to Harvard on their own merits, and it’s not hard to see why Harvard would perceive these exceptional individuals as valuable additions to the school’s academic community. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that they also bring a very different set of expectations to campus with them. From their first day of class, they already possess the professional and personal relationships needed to ensure lofty careers once they exit the school. Certainly the Harvard degree is valuable for them, if only for the brand name, but they don’t have nearly as much to gain from it as your typical whitebread suburban student.

The princelings I knew at Harvard were incredibly smart and capable, but academics was often a decidedly secondary priority for them. Those that I knew were also busy pursuing side projects, or stayed involved with affairs back home, or were off racking up guanxi whenever the opportunity allowed. Sure, they went to class, sometimes; but usually just enough to make sure that the Harvard stamp of approval would be there waiting for them at the end of four years.

As embarrassing as Bo Guagua’s existence has become for everyone, I can’t imagine Harvard will suddenly start to resist the allure of opening its gates to the children of foreign leaders. However, even if Xi Jinping’s daughter — currently an undergraduate at Harvard — and the next crop of Chinese princelings manage to earn their Harvard pedigree with fewer drunk photos, Harvard still shouldn’t expect them to always integrate seamlessly into the community. Most of them have enough common sense and personal drive to spend their time in more productive ways than Bo Guagua does. But even if they show up to class, or stay out of the New York Times, they’ll certainly also be pursuing agendas of their own.

Our contributor is a Harvard alumnus currently working in Beijing.

I don’t normally read the Harvard Crimson, but I’m going to guess that newspaper just got its finest scoop of the year. Bo Guagua corresponded with staff writers Hana N. Rouse and Justin C. Worland (what’s with the middle initials? Must… suppress… prejudice), and wrote:

Recently, there has been increasing attention from the press on my private life. As a result of these speculations, I feel responsible to the public to provide an account of the facts. I am deeply concerned about the events surrounding my family, but I have no comments to make regarding the ongoing investigation. It is impossible to address all of the rumours and allegations about myself, but I will state the facts regarding some of the most pertinent claims.

British spelling on rumors is interesting if only for the fact that you know the Crimson didn’t edit any part of this letter. Style guide? Fuck it. It’s BO GUAGUA!

The rest of it reads like a resume. Excerpts:

My examination records have been solid throughout my schooling years. In the British public examination of GCSEs, which I completed at the age of 16, I achieved 11 ‘A Stars,’ whereas the necessary requirement is no more than 9 and ‘A’ grades are considered good marks. I also earned straight A’s for both AS level and A-level Examinations at the ages of 17 and 18, respectively.

And:

At the University of Oxford, I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics. I was a ‘tripartite’, being enrolled in all three subjects, rather than dropping one in the second year, as is the norm. Upon graduating, I earned a 2:1 degree (Second Class, First Honours) overall and achieved a First in Philosophy.

And:

During my time at Oxford, it is true that I participated in ‘Bops,’ a type of common Oxford social event, many of which are themed. These events are a regular feature of social life at Oxford and most students take part in these college-wide activities.

He also loves Oxford, apparently, as he is more than happy to tell his Harvard readers.

Like many other university students, I also devoted time and energy to extra-curricular activities. For example, I debated in the Oxford Union and served as president of the Politics, Philosophy and Economics Society. These extra-curricular activities enabled me to broaden my perspective, serve the student community, and experience all that Oxford has to offer. I am proud to have been the first mainland Chinese student to be elected to the Standing Committee of the Oxford Union, and I truly value the close friendships I formed with my fellow students.

Finally:

I have never driven a Ferrari.

But as commenter “senior” wonders:

Did he drive a Porsche?

So… Bo Guagua, ladies and gentlemen: