pyroknife

WHen applying to grad school, do students need to prove that they actually had research experience instead of making something up?

I know that typically, students will ask the prof they worked for to write an LOR and that could be proof, but what about those who don't?




This is not general, but a lot of the people I've talked to seem to be somewhat dishonest with their applications. I don't want to go into details, but I feel this is unfair for people who are truthful?

b@r!um

Someone on this board once wrote: "If you can get away with it, it's not worth lying about."

I can claim to have all sorts of research experience on my CV, but without any external "evidence", that could actually reflect poorly on me. What conclusion would you draw if I told you that I had worked on some project for a year without any tangible results (publications, awards, letters of recommendations, etc)? Probably that I wasn't very productive during that time.

Also keep in mind that many fields conduct interviews during the admissions process. If you can't elaborate on the details of a project you've worked on, you are not going to leave a good impression...

Thomas_

Agree with b@r!um. If you were significantly involved in research, then why wouldn't your ask your advisor for a recommendation?

If it was only a small project and you feel like the recommendation wouldn't help you much then the mentioning the research won't be as important anyway.