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[quote=Anonymous]I used to do alum interviews. I get a list of the candidates' ECs and I usually ask about them. In a few cases, it became obvious that they were stretching or outright lying.

One kid claimed he had a successful web design business, which was making tens of thousands a year. I googled. I found ONE website with a big logo saying "website design by X." I googled the business---owned by Y. googled Y--he was the candidate's uncle.

So, in my report, I said I had my doubts about this business and if it were a big factor in the decision, the college might follow up and ask for tax returns or some other proof it generated the funds he was claiming. He was rejected, but I saw he got into another top school. I've no idea if my doubts played a role or not.

One high school makes every senior a captain of a sports team. So, if there are 5 senior swimmers , all 5 are "captain" of the swim team. I asked one kid about any leadership role and he gushed on an on about how he had really turned the swim team around. I asked if his co-captains had played any role, and he turned white as a sheet.

I gave extra credit to the kids who were honest, e.g., co-captain of the swim team; or one of 10 students representing the high school in the local Ocean bowl--yeah, it's a thing. One girl had one EC, which sounded rather minor, but when I asked about it she lit up like a Christmas tree and starting talking about it. It became clear she was spending WAY more time on this than you'd suspect and she'd brought along a couple of the "before" and "after"--it involved a school publication--and she showed me all the design changes she made and all the hoops she'd had to get through to get them made, which included fundraising to get the money for new software, etc. I wrote it up and recommended she be admitted. Again, it's not my recommendation that matters; it's the detailed info I gave that I think showed that this EC was important to her and she'd planned what she saw as needed changes over the course of a couple of years. She was admitted. Again, I don't know if what I wrote mattered or not. I like to think it does.

So, while I don't think anyone actually checks each and every application's  claimed ECs, I think there are steps along the way when someone might note something and check it out.

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