Recently, I have noticed a lot of things online about people straight up lying in their applications to elite universities. I am a student who wants to get into MIT, and I have a true passion for programming and electrical engineering, however, I am wondering if people actually significantly lie on their applications. I’ve been working towards admission since 6th grade and I still have 2 years to go, and I’ve had this passion beginning from when I was 6 years old.
Yes, I know, the purpose of the question was to know if people actually do so as some claim online. I do not intend to lie, nor do I think it is ok, however, I want to know what I’m going up against.
Are you talking about Varsity Blue kind of lie where rich parents paid to have fake profiles and test takers kind of lie? I would imagine nobody applying to MIT will do THAT because as soon as class starts you’ll get found out quickly. As they say, there are better places to party than Cambridge MA.
Or are you talking about “embellishment” like College Basketball players with their height? A guard my be 5’10 but gets listed as 6’2. It’s obvious when you stand next to them, but nobody really cares. Applicants to MIT do not embellish national awards because that’s tracked, closely by people who are really into those things.
But starting a small company with 20 employees? Sure you could have hired all your family and relatives and still make this a true statement.
Small stuff and false believes, like claiming to be the smartest kid in class. No way to prove this. Winning some local competition, captain of your football team (every 12th graders in some school are appointed captains), walking little old lady / man across the street everyday, saving kittens from trees in your spare time? You may very well believe that to be true. Can someone applying to MIT make that claim? Sure, but we’ll never know.
I do believe people lie back in the days when it is more difficult to verify information. Present day and at a place like MIT? No, I don’t think people will risk lying because they will get found out. Embellishment? And story spinning, that’s an art and I don’t rule out people doing that.
MIT is full of students who did not need to lie on their college applications. They still find the school to be very challenging. As one example, if you found the math part of the regular SAT test and the math subject test to be too easy (as in “there was not even one question that was challenging”), then upper year math classes at MIT will still be very challenging and a lot of work.
Also, university admissions staff are professionals. They have been doing this for years. High school students who are applying to universities are amateurs. They have never done this before. I would be confident that in the large majority of cases the admissions staff know what they are looking at. If something seems “off”, they can call or email a high school guidance counselor and get more information.
I would not worry about it. Be honest. Do the best that you can. Make sure that you apply to safeties. Keep your budget in mind. Look for schools that are a good fit for you. If you do these things, then you will do fine regardless of whether you go to MIT or somewhere else.
Don’t worry about what other people are putting in their applications. Focus on following your own passions and be 100% truthful when you apply. If you don’t get in, it won’t be because other students were lying.
Any award that “matters” to MIT admissions is easily verifiable, and supplimental submissions require an associated recommendation that would corroborate what you’ve submitted. No one is BS’ing their way into MIT. Petey and the admissions staff are too smart for that.
The thing about applications is that they must tell a story and the story must be consistent. Lying on part of the application will probably stick out like a sore thumb. As others have said, the admissions staff are no dummies. They’ll see right thru most lies. And then you have a ZERO chance of getting in. I don’t know, but there might be some mechanism where it would get reported to other schools, then you’re really out of luck.
My daughter had a classmate that cheated on a lot of her tests in high school. My daughter was torn about reporting it, she didn’t. Her classmate got into a very good college and then flunked out. She was actually a pretty good student but just got in over her head. A lesser college and she would probably have done well.
Closing thread. Everything has been said that needs to be said. Be honest. Craft your best application based on your interests and experiences. Apply to a balanced list of schools where you think you’ll be happy and successful… this means being realistic when looking for “fit”. And don’t take the advice you are getting from other high schoolers seriously.
Best of luck! I hope you will return with a Chance/Match thread as the posters here will be happy to help you form a balanced application list.