<p>Rule of thumb is that if you can lie about it, it isn’t helping you much. There are two attributes of an “impressive” EC:</p>
<p>1) Major awards - these are easily verified. Major awards are typically on a state level or higher, and the results are typically published somewhere.</p>
<p>2) Strong passion - this comes across through an essay, and if it is genuine enough, it would be very difficult to lie about.</p>
<p>Is there corruption? Of course. But it probably isn’t as bad as you think.</p>