@lookingforward: Contrary to what you think, it actually helps them in admissions. Are you telling me authoring a published paper which became very famous in journals (it was bought) doesn’t help? Same for claiming to be the topper of a national exam. You may be living in the US, so you don’t know about it. But that exam is a big deal. People work hard for it and it’s a feat of amazing hard work and talent to top that. It isn’t like being the smartest kid on your block. ** IT IS a big deal because when I asked the adcoms in their info sessions, they mentioned that the exam’s performance matters (it’s taken by almost all people interested in STEM fwiw). I hope it clears now.
What, according to you, helps them get admission? Saying they play squash in the evenings?
I am unearthing more info by contacting the sources, and it seems like some even didn’t write their essays. And surprisingly, they all knew about each others’ fraud. Let’s see what makes an app: Essays (not written by the candidate and exaggerated) + transcript (bloated and fabricated) + achievements (fake) + ECs (faked). What remains, lookingforward?
And as far as me accessing the docs is concerned, I out of honest curiosity, opened the folder named ‘apps’, and then I saw all our apps and I opened them. I really really doubt I’d be punished for it. It’s like you stumbling upon few paged out of someone’s diary and reading it out of curiosity. Plus, I don’t need to tell the universities all this. I will just tip them about their lies anonymously.
I am sorry if this is not the case, but it seems like you/someone related cheated on your app and you want to defend it.