Hi!
I know someone who reported fake EC’s on the commonApp (really good ones) and he got into an interview from Harvard and MIT, in India not more than 5 people get an interview from these two and also a likely from a very good school.
I found this guys CV online and cross checked it with his school teachers and friends, and it turns out that half of ECs were fake.
The ECs he faked were very acknowledged ones and could easily be searched on the Internet.
How can I report this to colleges?
Stay out if it. Focus on your own self.
Let the schools do their job vetting their applicants, I’m sure they’re good at it.
I can’t believe you wasted your time on this witch hunt. Sooner or later, cheaters out themselves.
If you, as a HS student from India, easily found them on the internet, you should assume that admissions officers can find them equally as easily. Stay out of it and concentrate on your own applications.
Agree with all the replies above.
Also, Harvard and MIT do alumni interviews all over the world. Being offered an interview is not a selective process.
I don’t agree with the theme of the advice so far. One of the most powerful ways to keep the admission system honest is by whistle blowing by anyone who has relevant information.
^ I would agree with the above. I think the proper thing to do would be to discuss it with/report it to your GC.
If the police were interviewing a shooting suspect, and you had video evidence of the shooting, would you simply walk away and let them figure it out or show it to police and have them investigate it?
Big name schools such as Harvard and MIT sometimes run checks on applicants, especially the ones admitted. I’d send an email (if you are applying, use a different email) to the admissions offices with your evidence and explanation. It could be that the GC is involved, after all, they require a recommendation. Send the email (or call) and then visit the GC to report him.
By the way, how did you find his CV on the internet? Did you confront him yet?
Note: I agree with the other posters… speak up. Keeping quiet could introduce the possibility that a liar is admitted in place of an honest, hardworking and deserving applicant.
Please report it.
Let it be. It isnt your business.
Often colleges verify ECs, especially if they are note-worthy. My oldest kid had an EC like that and a few colleges called to verify. Folks the colleges called later told D.
I think you’ve got to assume that the people in admissions are at least as smart as you. They know that kids sometimes lie on their applications, and I’m confident that they’re internet saavy.
And in addition, I can’t imagine that anyone’s Extra Curricular Activities-- certainly not those that can’t be verified-- would be the deciding factor at Harvard and MIT.
Let’s face it: this kid had something that you didn’t.
“Reporting it” simply looks like sour grapes.
I think there’s a huge difference between a health and safety issue, and this issue.
More and more of these cheaters are eventually floating to the surface (the director of admissions at MIT was one), and then getting flushed down the toilet. I believe that most systems set up to catch cheaters eventually do so without any self-appointed tattletales. This may be naive of me, but wow, hunting around trying to catch cheaters just seems like such a poor way to spend your time.
Unless you’re Castle. And even he mostly goes after murderers…and he gets to hang out with Beckett…
^I love Castle!
But I would tell the GC, and leave it at that. You will look dumb and annoy the GC if you are wrong or it inconsequential, though.
@Jelloshozz There are a few things I’m still unsure of:
*How did you actually find out that he reported fake EC’s?
*How do you know he didn’t participate in the EC’s that he mentioned?
Regardless of whether you report it, I am sure MIT and Harvard do some sort of factual-check. Even if he isn’t caught, karma may bite him in the future, since they can force you to withdraw or even rescind your degree if you are caught falsifying an application.
That’s not even remotely close to being the same thing. Suggesting that a student report this to colleges just further opens the door to one student trying to sabotage another’s application.
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/ratting-out-your-kids-competition/?_r=0
As I said earlier, AO’s are not idiots; they live and breathe this process and they can generally sniff out an overly embellished application.
Right, perhaps mine wasn’t the best analogy…especially with easy-to-check items.
@MITer94
The ECs he faked were school level ECs and an Olympiad medal. I checked with his school teachers about those ECs and it turns out that he hadn’t participated in those ECs.
@skieurope
IMO, the adcoms don’t have the time to check everyone of the 50k applicants.
That’s what I think.
@MotherOfDragons
I certainly did not waste a lot of time in looking around in this matter. One of my friends pointed it out and I just asked around, and it turned out that he was right.
Then they certainly won’t have time to check on anonymous claims of dishonesty. 
If the student claims an Olympiad medal and neither the teacher not the GC mentioned such an important achievement in the rec, a red flag will be raised and will be quickly verified either by google or a call to the school. If the student claims to be president of the school’s chess club, it’s not even meaningful enough to sway admissions anyway.
Honestly, this is none of your business. And his teachers shouldn’t even be talking to you about what he did or did not do IMO. Let it go.
@Jelloshozz I take back what I said earlier. Achievements such as major Olympiad medals can easily be fact-checked. Also, similar scandals have happened in the past, and usually have turned out very bad for the offender. Let them sort it out.