The “National Academy of Future Scientist and Technologists” That Dudley Mom Started A GoFundMe For Is Just A Gigantic Scam That Doesn’t Help Your Kid Get Into College

Want to advertise with Turtleboy? Email us at Turtleboysports@gmail.com for more information.

Earlier today we published this blog about a Dudley mother trying to raised $2,500 so her daughter can go to the “National Academy of Future Scientist and Technologists,” an allegedly prestigious conference that only the best and the brightest get invites to:

We also pointed out how pathetic it is to beg for money for something like this when you’re posting about your new tats:

We thought this was in Washington, but it’s actually in Boston. Ya got that? They need hotel and lodging for this conference in BOSTON!! Yup, that makes even more legit!!

Anyway, we did a quick little Google search to find out what this National Academy of Future Scientist and Technologists is all about. Turns out it’s a gigantic scam:

The official-looking Certificate of Selection for Award comes in a thick red envelope along with a three-page letter and supporting materials. It says the recipient, a high school student, “was selected for the National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists Award of Excellence for outstanding academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to serve humanity in the field of science and technology.” The accompanying letter says the recipient is invited to serve as a delegate at the “highly selective” Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders to be held this summer in Boston. It adds that participation in the event can “enrich your academic profile” and help make the student “a much stronger candidate for competitive college and graduate school admissions.”

Admission officers and college-guidance professionals say they’ve seen an explosion in summertime programs offering high-school students a competitive edge for getting into a top school. “They’re called pay-to-play programs,” said Michael Goran, director of the Los Angeles consulting firm IvySelect. “Some have legitimate value. Many are just resume padding.” The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists looks impressive. It boasts past speakers, or “mentors,” such as former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, inventor Dean Kamen of Segway fame and a couple of Nobel Prize winners.

First of all, they send you a certificate that says, “Award of Excellence.” Be more generic. You can’t. They’re not even trying to hide how bootleg they are.  

The cost to serve as a delegate at the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders and receive the academy’s Award of Excellence is $985, or $1,585 with hotel accommodation. Airfare to and from Boston is extra. Is the chance to hear presentations by famous smart people a good thing? Yes, undeniably. Is it worth nearly $1,600 for what’s basically a three-day summer camp? That’s for each parent to decide. But university and college admission officers won’t be particularly impressed.

“The presence of such an activity on a USC application is not going to have a significant impact on our admission committee’s deliberations,” said Tim Brunold, USC’s dean of admission.

Seth Allen, dean of admissions at Pomona College, said participation in extracurricular camps “plays no direct role in the college selection process.” Matthew Fissinger, director of undergraduate admission at Loyola Marymount University, said these events “have insignificant impact on application for admission.”

In other words, it doesn’t help you at all. They just make you feel important by investing in the quality of their letter to make your kid feel special, and then you get guilted into going there because you think they’re gonna get into Harvard as a result. 

David Ball received the "Award of Excellence" from The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists. pic.twitter.com/QhzwLhWi0P

— Cabell Midland HS (@CabellMidland) September 17, 2016

Lisa Rossi, the academy’s director of public affairs, also acknowledged that even though my son’s certificate said he was nominated by someone named Shree Bose, a Harvard senior and Google Global Science Fair winner who serves as the academy’s academic director, that wasn’t really the case. What probably happened, Rossi said, is that my son filled out a questionnaire as part of the enrollment process for a standardized test, and stated at that time that he had at least a 3.5 grade-point average and likes math and science. That questionnaire subsequently was made available to colleges nationwide, she said, and one of them, Washington Adventist University, is a “partner” of the academy and probably passed along my son’s name as a good prospect.

Oh look, colleges collaborating with a for profit institution to scheme people out of thousands of dollars. You get “nominated” by someone you don’t know from Harvard, who is in on the scheme, because you took a standardized test that your kid’s high school forced them to take. 

Bose, 21, said she saw nothing misleading about being identified as the one nominating high school students for the academy’s Award of Excellence, even though she has nothing to do with the selection process. “A nomination is like extending an invitation,” she told me. “It’s an invitation to come.”

Wait….what?? A nomination is the same as an invitation? Except they’re entirely different things. Invitations are things you’re invited to without doing anything. Nominations are for awards for particular accomplishments. But yea, same thing.

It’s not the only scam run by the Rossi family though…..

Meanwhile, this is what it looks like at the convention:

This is just Joel Osteen or Tony Robbins or Beach Body for B+ students with gullible parents and extra money to spend.

And Nicole isn’t the only Mom to start a GoFundMe after falling for this scam:

There’s probably a lot more. Honestly, I’m mad I didn’t come up with this scheme. We need to start the “Turtleboy Academy For Future Ratchets And Cheesehogs.” You pay us $2,000, and we bring out some of Turtleboy’s most infamous scam artists to teach you how to sell your food stamps on Facebook, guilt people into giving you cash, and play on white guilt to get those government non-profit grants.

So yea, by blogging about this we just did Mom a huge favor. They prey on dumb people by making them feel special. Then they take your money and ultimately your kid gets shit out of it. It doesn’t help them get into college at all, which defeats the purpose of going. You can thank us later.

We urge you to support the following local businesses. They provide terrific services for the community!