Marilee Jones

{{Infobox person

| name = Marilee Jones

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| education = B.S. 1973, The College of Saint Rose

| occupation = Author; college admissions consultant

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| children = Nora

}}

Marilee Jones is an American author, college admissions consultant, and former college administrator. Jones is the co-author of Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond (2006).

In 2007, Jones resigned her position as director of admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology after it became known that she had fabricated her academic background. She later opened a consulting firm and worked in college counseling.

Career

Jones was hired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an admissions officer in 1979. She was later promoted to associate director of admissions. She then served as interim dean of admissions from May 1997 until January 1998, when she was appointed to the position of dean of admissions.{{cite news|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1997/jones-1217.html |title=Jones is new dean of admissions |publisher=MIT News Office |date=December 17, 1997 |access-date=2007-04-27}}

In 2006, Jones and pediatrician Kenneth R. Ginsburg published Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond, a guide to the college admissions process.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/education/08jones.html|title=Former Dean Resurfaces, Leaving Scandal Behind|first=Tamar|last=Lewin|date=December 7, 2009|via=NYTimes.com}} The book was profiled by The New York Times{{Cite news |last=Finder |first=Alan |date=2006-10-11 |title=Her Mission: Easing Stress of Getting In |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/education/her-mission-easing-stress-of-getting-in.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} and The Boston Globe.{{cite news

|first=Marcella|last=Bombardieri|title=What's your pleasure? MIT admissions dean looking for students who enjoy life|url=http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2004/03/11/whats_your_pleasure/|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=March 11, 2004|access-date=2007-04-26}}

Jones resigned from her position at MIT on April 23, 2007

{{cite news |first=Nick |last=Semenkovich |title=Admissions Dean Resigns After Lying on Résumé |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N21/jones.html |work=MIT Tech |date=April 27, 2007 |access-date=2007-04-27}} after it was revealed that she had falsely claimed that she held academic degrees from Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on her 1979 job application to MIT and had added a fabricated degree from Albany Medical College to her resume sometime thereafter.{{cite journal | last = Hoover | first = Eric | title = Truth and Admissions: Former MIT Dean Seeks to Reclaim Her Name | journal = The Chronicle of Higher Education | date = 2009-12-06 | url = http://chronicle.com/article/TruthAdmissions-Former/49366/ | access-date = 2009-12-08 }} Jones issued a statement on the MIT website admitting that she had falsified her academic background.{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/admissions-jones.html |title=Statement of Marilee Jones |website=web.mit.edu |date=April 26, 2007 |access-date=November 29, 2023}} The Times characterized Jones's earlier fame as "the guru of the movement to tame the college-admissions frenzy".{{cite news |first=Tamar|last=Lewin|title=Dean of Admissions at M.I.T. Resigns|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/education/26cnd-mit.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 26, 2007|access-date=2007-04-26}} The Boston Globe called her "the most celebrated and outspoken admissions dean in America".{{cite news | last1 = Bombardieri |first1=Marcella |last2=Tracy |first2=Jan | title = MIT dean quits over fabricated credentials | newspaper = The Boston Globe | date = 2007-04-27 | url = http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/27/mit_dean_quits_over_fabricated_credentials/

| access-date = 2007-04-28 }} After her resignation, Jones became the number two newsmaker of the day on Countdown with Keith Olbermann for "begging college applicants not to pad their resumes" while having done so herself.{{cite web | last = Olbermann | first = Keith

| title = COUNTDOWN with Keith Olbermann | publisher = NBC News | date = 2007-04-27 | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18400008 | access-date = 2009-12-10 }} On May 2, 2007, it was reported that she had actually earned a bachelor's degree in biology from The College of Saint Rose in 1973, though she did not list that degree when applying for her first job at MIT or when being considered for subsequent promotions.

{{cite news

| last = Bombardieri

| first = Marcella

| title = Ex-MIT dean never cited actual degree

| newspaper = The Boston Globe

| date = 2007-05-02

| url = http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/05/02/ex_mit_dean_never_cited_actual_degree/

| access-date = 2007-05-02 }}

After her departure from MIT, Jones created a consulting firm that provides college admissions advice to institutions and applicants. Since 2015, she has worked at the Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science and is currently the dean of college counseling.{{Cite web |title=About me {{!}} PRISMS |url=https://www.prismsus.org/about/marilee-jones |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=www.prismsus.org}}