HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Harvard-Stanford admissions hoax becomes international scandal.

The Korean math prodigy at one of the nation’s top high schools had Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg on the phone, personally encouraging the teenager to attend Harvard University. She received letters from Harvard professors, encouraging her to bring her brilliant abilities to Cambridge next fall instead of accepting her admission to Stanford University on the opposite coast.

As she struggled to decide between five-figure scholarship promises from both schools, she got a novel offer: She could spend two years at each elite school as part of an arrangement just for her. The exciting dual-enrollment opportunity garnered starstruck coverage from Korean media outlets, which dubbed her the “Genius Girl.”

But none of it was true. . . .

The question now at a school is what caused the student to concoct an elaborate college admissions scheme. The answer seems obvious to students and teachers there: Overwhelming pressure to succeed from parents and unrealistic expectations from the teens themselves.

“We celebrate the accomplishment of students who get into all eight Ivies,” said Brandon Kosatka, TJ’s director of student services. “That’s the bar, and our kids are shooting for that. They don’t like to be the second best. If that’s the bar, then yes, that creates anxiety for them.”

The whole thing’s a cargo cult. She’s just taking it to the next level.