<p>"would state ‘I joined groups and sports when I wanted to participate in them, not to pad my admissions application. Hopefully, the college that wants me will appreciate that along with my candor.’ "</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a good idea to say that. Colleges expect that students join clubs out of interest. Saying that you joined out of interest, not to pad your resume, just looks suspicious.</p>
<p>I think in this particular case being honest and explaining your situation will get you a lot further (and is actually more memorable to an adcom) than adding on an extra year of -fill in the blank- </p>
<p>Lying is just not worth it.</p>
<p>"If you want to get into an Ivy League school, you will have to both stretch the truth and lie. Why? Because every other applicant will be doing the same thing. Of course there are always those who will say “No we don’t all do that,” but these people end up at Southwest Missouri State.</p>
<p>For instance, on my app I listed Cross Country Team as an EC. Officially I was on the team. But I got mono before the season started and didnt run a single race, didnt even show up for a single meet. How would that have looked on my app next to all those who made up countless activities awards and honors?"</p>
<p>There are lots of people who don’t lie to get into colleges, including Ivies. There really are students who have top academics and also are deeply involved in ECs. These are the same type of people whom one sees in the real world doing extremely well in their jobs while also being active members of nonprofit boards, being involved with their own children, and being involved in, for instance, local politics.</p>
<p>If you don’t know people like that, that’s your loss, but such people do exist.</p>
<p>As for what you said about being on cross-country team, technically, you were on the team, so that wasn’t a lie. However, it’s highly unlikely that any Ivy-quality school would favor a student just because the student was a member of a team unless the team was an Olympic team.</p>
<p>The students who get boosted in by sports are top athletes-- state record holders, etc. They aren’t students who simply filled up space on a roster. </p>
<p>Certainly some students who were just team members get into Ivies, but it’s not likely that their team membership was what got them in.</p>
<p>“And if you write a sincere and truthful essay, it will go on the reject pile with the 100,000 other sincere and truthful essays.”</p>
<p>Not true. And you have no evidence for such a ridiculous statement. There are plenty of people who have sincere, true essays who get in.</p>
<p>Don’t lie, not just because you have a conscience and will feel bad about it, but because of the long-term anxiety about whether even a seemingly trivial lie on an application will come back and bite you. </p>
<p>Your GC should be able to say that you rebounded wonderfully from the fully resolved health issues you dealt with gracefully soph year and that you were able to participate actively in XYZ activities starting in junior year. If one or two of those activities coincide with interests you’ve had for a very long time (for example, if you’d been in school plays throughout middle school but then had to stop in 9th and 10th grade, but started again when you were feeling better), you might want to just allude to the longer term involvement somewhere in your college ap, and to be sure your GC knows about it also.</p>
<p>Lie on your applications, and you’ll rob yourself of your sense of accomplishment for having achieved something by being admitted.</p>