<p>When you report that you have performed this many hours of community service, or you are in this or that club, or you won this or that award, how do college admissisons validate these claims? Don’t you think some unqualified students have gotten into college due to untrue information?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that misrepresentation of your application is grounds to resind the admission even after you have been admitted or your degree (if you have graduated).</p>
<p>In short, some admissions officers check and sometimes the information just falls into their lap. </p>
<p>I am posting the comments, from Adofficer (post # 91 on the deferred from tufts thread) , in response to your question…</p>
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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3602063&highlight=lied#post3602063[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3602063&highlight=lied#post3602063</a></p>
<p>Some of the UCs send letters asking you to verify the stuff you put down. If it’s a big lie, then colleges will likely figure it out. If it’s a small lie, then it probably won’t have any effect on your admission anyway. No one cares if you just attended environmental club meetings. Some lie about that kind of stuff. Is it ever worth it? No.</p>
<p>What sort of worries me is kind of two things</p>
<p>1) I had put key club down as my activity for one year, and while I did volunteer, I had class during the meetings so I never went. I always just used to turn in my hours to my club officers and quite honestly, never was too sure if they actually turned it in (they’re friends of mine so… they could very easily totally ignore my stuff)</p>
<p>2) I had put section leader down as my chair position for orchestra, and while that’s true, I’ve been on and off section leader for 6 years. Mostly in a youth orchestra, I’m the section leader, while at school, I’m co-section leader. It’s kind of a small difference, but hearing about these big rejects makes me kinda worried.</p>
<p>I probably shouldn’t be as they’re pretty small stuff, and I could just call one of my key club officers to verify that I did do hours, but still, the hassle…</p>
<p>I have a feeling kids are getting rejected because they flat out lied about their EC’s, not the examples you have given Cvjn.</p>
<p>So you’re in Key Club and reported so many hours on your application. If a school checked they would probably check to see that you were in Key Club and if you listed an officer position. It’s like the kid who reports “20 hours per week” for Joe Schmo’s volunteer organization when in reality they worked 20 anywhere from 10 hours/wk to 30 hours another week–that kid won’t get rejected.</p>
<p>If a kid says “I volunteered 20 hours/wk for Joe Schmo’s” and the school checks and Joe Schmo has no idea who the kid is (i.e. he never volunteered there a minute), then the school would seriously question the E.C.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. </p>
<p>Hmm… I do know some kids who have just flat out lied and gotten away with it.</p>
<p>Sigh… I wish I reported them especially since they were such bold lies…</p>
<p>Do colleges ever ask to see evidence of your achievements/extracurriculars (such as a photoocopy of a certificate).</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Rarely, I am quite confident there are people in ivies in top 25 schools simply because they have spent ample amounts of time fabricating their resume and lying about their ECs, and avoiding all the ways an adcom could find out.</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t factor ECs into admissions decisions. The ones that do use ECs for admission decisions are ones like HPYS where one needs extraordinary ECs in order to stand out.</p>
<p>Those colleges aren’t impressed by the # of hours one puts into ECs or launedry lists of ECs, but are impressed by accomplishments – awards, for instance, as well as recommendations documenting the impact you’ve had.</p>
<p>Since probably most students applying to such colleges are members of things like National Honor Society, such colleges won’t be impressed by such membership. Now, if you’re a national officer of NHS, that could be impressive. However, that’s also the kind of EC that’s hard to fake because it’s so easy to verify its veracity.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re claiming to have done a particular EC in a major way, it’s reasonable that you would incorporate mention of that EC in one of your essays. My older son did Model UN, and wrote about his sophomore year MUN trip to Harvard where he met his seven best friends. My younger son plays an unusual musical instrument, so he talked about practicing for hours during the summer, playing a part in one of the school productions, and how his music teacher is one of the people he admires most.</p>
<p>If you wanna claim you did five hours a week instead of three, I don’t think anyone’s gonna figure it out. If you wanna say you did 20 hours a week instead of five, I think they’ll see right through it. If you wanna claim you did a varsity sport and came in 5th in the state championship – and it’s totally bogus – I think it’ll show up as a lie eventually.</p>
<p>I think a total fabrication or a huge exaggeration is a tremendous risk.</p>
<p>Besides, suppose you lie like hell on your app, and you’re accepted. Are you really going to feel comfortable at that school, thinking that everyone else around you is really as accomplished as you only pretended to be?</p>
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Do you think they would give a ****? It’s all a game. Either you’re first or you’re last</p>