Making up things in common app activities and awards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ odd bc many (most) HS counselors won’t have knowledge of most of the stuff listed: jobs, awards, activities, etc.

exactly. They take kids at their work.

And who’s to say if my kid embellished something from two hours to four hours a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an alum interviewer. At times, I have reported suspected lies. One kid told me he had a business creating websites. I expressed interest and asked for an example. I didn't say "I'm trying to verify your claim." I just acted as if I thought looking at a couple would help and I might link to some examples in my report. He told me he could only remember the name of one "off the top of his head." A simple google search showed it was for his uncle's business. The kid had copyrighted the site. I searched and couldn't find any other websites he'd copyrighted or listing his name. So in my report I just said I'd been unable to find any other sites and if this business was considered a plus by admissions, I thought he should be asked for some substantiation--a tax return for the more than $10,000 a year his business was allegedly generating, a list of other websites, etc. He didn't get in. He did get into an equally selective college. This business was his most important EC and I think it was totally phony.

I have also plugged honest kids--the kid who said she was one of 10 kids in their large class selected for an academic bowl when 2 other kids I'd interviewed claimed to be the only one selected.

Most colleges have an AO who reads all the apps from any given high school. Over time,they get to know more about a school than you might suspect. So,if a kid claims to be the president of a club,it's entirely possible that a teacher or counselor will write a rec for the real president,e.g., "as faculty advisor to the Key Club, I've worked closely with X who has served as the president for the past 2 years."

I know some lies aren't caught. I think, however,that more are detected than you might think.

I interview for Harvard and don't ever see the application.

[Anonymous]

I know someone who did this. Heading to West Virginia in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cool thing about Iowa and Iowa State is that not only do they not waste their time verifying application claims that don't really matter, but they publish a GPA/SAT/ACT matrix that you can use to calculate with 100% certainty whether you'll get in. It's all based on numbers, as it should be.

Exactly! Maybe a Chapel Hill or Georgia Tech check, but most certainly not Rutgers (ranked 40) or lower. They don't have time for this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They definitely check. Maybe not during initial review but at some point they do. My daughter listed an award she won with not a whole lot of detail and during her interview, she was asked a question that would not have been asked if the interviewer didn’t investigate. They asked some other probing questions on her ECs but they seemed natural to ask since my DD wasn’t lying or embellishing. Maybe not all schools but Duke does.

I’ve taught HS and sponsored 1-2 clubs every year for 25 years. No one has ever contacted me to check and verify involvement or leadership.

[Anonymous]

I interview for Princeton. Twice caught highly qualified applicants in what I believe were falsehoods — explained in detail why in my report. One asserted something about their EC that was off (I happened to know something about the recognition described); the other asserted something about their enthusiasm for the school that did not add up. My spouse interviews for another highly selective school and came home one day grey, for he suspected the candidate had made up an entire financial and family situation. In all three cases we carefully explained our reasoning in our reports. The candidates were not admitted. Perhaps they would not have been admitted regardless, but the suspicion they generated didn’t help their cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They definitely check. Maybe not during initial review but at some point they do. My daughter listed an award she won with not a whole lot of detail and during her interview, she was asked a question that would not have been asked if the interviewer didn’t investigate. They asked some other probing questions on her ECs but they seemed natural to ask since my DD wasn’t lying or embellishing. Maybe not all schools but Duke does.

I’ve taught HS and sponsored 1-2 clubs every year for 25 years. No one has ever contacted me to check and verify involvement or leadership.

This. If it’s caught it must be so huge and blatant. Not I’m president of the enviro club….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who did this. Heading to West Virginia in the fall.

Unless your checks are fake…I don’t think WV cares if you make up your entire application.

[Anonymous]

If you want get someone kicked out of college , make a video of them innocently saying something or doing something that could be maliciously misinterpreted as un-PC, and then go on a campaign to "fight racism" or similar.


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/us/mimi-groves-jimmy-galligan-racial-slurs.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cool thing about Iowa and Iowa State is that not only do they not waste their time verifying application claims that don't really matter, but they publish a GPA/SAT/ACT matrix that you can use to calculate with 100% certainty whether you'll get in. It's all based on numbers, as it should be.

That's fine for low-end schools offering basic credentials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I interview for Princeton. Twice caught highly qualified applicants in what I believe were falsehoods — explained in detail why in my report. One asserted something about their EC that was off (I happened to know something about the recognition described); the other asserted something about their enthusiasm for the school that did not add up. My spouse interviews for another highly selective school and came home one day grey, for he suspected the candidate had made up an entire financial and family situation. In all three cases we carefully explained our reasoning in our reports. The candidates were not admitted. Perhaps they would not have been admitted regardless, but the suspicion they generated didn’t help their cause.

Well, you suck if you had no absolute proof. You reported someone bc his enthusiasm for the school didn’t add up? This goes for the idiot interviewer who thought an applicant should have been forced to disclose his tax return.

[Anonymous]

^^ same for your husband who made these reports based on suspicions…

[Anonymous]

It's a crime with no punishment. Kids send 15 juiced up applications out and .. if one of them is flagged, so what? These schools don't report to other schools. These kids have no expectation of getting into all 15 schools. If not Princeton, Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I interview for Princeton. Twice caught highly qualified applicants in what I believe were falsehoods — explained in detail why in my report. One asserted something about their EC that was off (I happened to know something about the recognition described); the other asserted something about their enthusiasm for the school that did not add up. My spouse interviews for another highly selective school and came home one day grey, for he suspected the candidate had made up an entire financial and family situation. In all three cases we carefully explained our reasoning in our reports. The candidates were not admitted. Perhaps they would not have been admitted regardless, but the suspicion they generated didn’t help their cause.

Well, you suck if you had no absolute proof. You reported someone bc his enthusiasm for the school didn’t add up? This goes for the idiot interviewer who thought an applicant should have been forced to disclose his tax return.

+1! And thanks, I am glad I am not the only person who thought those posters were…. (Forbidden word)

[Anonymous]

Yet another thread where people assume admissions officers are idiots who don’t know what they are doing.

They can spot a fugazi just like a good art appraiser, or jeweler, or anyone who looks at something all day every day.

They are not idiots. They know what they are doing. You don’t have to worry about this, let alone be outraged. It’s silly, like you are all children.