so one of my friends is INSISTING that since colleges cant really fact check about personal stories that he is thus going to write a sappy story about how he volunteered in the middle east and how he saw many poor people and etc. can he do that ?
He can try, but admissions officers can see right through insincerity…especially clichéd, privileged insincerity.
karma, that is all
Most likely, his downfall will be in the details. What organization did he “volunteer” for? What exactly did he do? In what ways was he really, truly affected? I agree with @bodangles – volunteering in a third-world country isn’t particularly outstanding anyway, and it usually just shows that mom and dad are willing to fork over enough cash and connections to make it happen for a college application. An actual heartfelt story that isn’t trying to impress adcoms is much more likely to make him competitive at top schools.
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