Anonymous wrote:So I am one of the PPs in this thread. I was helping someone with his college apps. He had won a prize in a few science fairs. Sounded impressive to me. I asked him all kinds of questions about how he had done this — and no matter what I asked (I suspected a lie), he always told me he had done it on his own. No mentor, no nothing. Twenty hrs/wk.

Ten days before EA deadlines, for reasons I don’t know, his counselor reviewed his common app. Maybe they knew which kid would lie and are trying to protect the school? She told him he could not list it as his EC as it was done in a school course! Did he tell me then? No.

I finally heard from him yesterday with a very practiced version of what happened and how his counselor said it wouldn’t affect anything. No way she was going to tell him the truth — he probably messed up the counselor LOR! I doubt he will get in anywhere now. Maybe Northeastern as he is full pay.

I have been telling this kid from the start that he needed to be honest because I could tell he was trying to stretch the truth here and there. And yet, he straight up lied to my face anboyt the one impressive thing on his app, and got into trouble.

Why are these kids (and parents) so desperate to get into HYPSM? I don’t understand how they will risk everything to have a shot at getting in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, why is college so expensive in the first place? I couldn't care less if Jimmy’s mom—who happens to be a lab scientist—wrote his paper and paid $100,000 a year just for a name-brand degree. At this rate of job offshoring, by the time Jimmy graduates, both he and his mom might be out of a job.

OP here. The kid I started the thread about ia Indian. I can see this - this kid who cheated his way into Ivy then become CEOs and CTOs and outsources the science jobs to India.

Full circle.

lol Indians who attend high school and college in the US are very unlikely to outsource jobs to India.

Lol. They do it all day long.
Sundar Pichai went to Stanford by the way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is easier to just convince yourself that all HS research is fraudulent just because your child is not interested in research and cannot conceive of students who might actually be interested and willing to put in the effort.

The idea that the system is all a fraud is an easier narrative for people to accept than that their own child is not interested or capable for that kind of work.

Sure there is some fraud and the fact that it is getting exposed is a good sign.

Yes. there are legit ones but do this before dismissing it; the Science Fair is not a book report - it's a demonstration of the scientific process with emphasis on original work. Grey areas are being part of a professional research team.

Now do this experiment - I'm not going to out the areas HS students by name.

1. Go to this site: https://www.fcps.edu/2025-science-fair-category-awards
2. Take a title and plug it into here: https://scholar.google.com/

And see the papers that show up. They take the data, the findings, the methodology, ask an expert (Mom or Dad), and make it into a science fair project. The kid who got caught did the exact same thing as most of the other winners did. They are not prodigies that advanced science or found a cure for cancer.

If you want to make it into a book report then change the rules and we can play that game. We'll change the Science Fair to Science Understanding.

Thank you for the detailed response. Looking at these projects I do see your point and agree that some are likely to fall under cheating.

My son did a school project (a year long one at TJ) along with a couple of classmates that in my own biased eyes seemed pretty impressive. He would have absolutely rejected any involvement from my part and would have rubbed his hands off of any project that had parental involvement. They did not submit to any competitions but I can see how if a student was determined to pursue this path they could have a competitive project.

I hope AO's are wise enough to see through these kinds of shenanigans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is easier to just convince yourself that all HS research is fraudulent just because your child is not interested in research and cannot conceive of students who might actually be interested and willing to put in the effort.

The idea that the system is all a fraud is an easier narrative for people to accept than that their own child is not interested or capable for that kind of work.

Sure there is some fraud and the fact that it is getting exposed is a good sign.

Yes. there are legit ones but do this before dismissing it; the Science Fair is not a book report - it's a demonstration of the scientific process with emphasis on original work. Grey areas are being part of a professional research team.

Now do this experiment - I'm not going to out the areas HS students by name.

1. Go to this site: https://www.fcps.edu/2025-science-fair-category-awards
2. Take a title and plug it into here: https://scholar.google.com/

And see the papers that show up. They take the data, the findings, the methodology, ask an expert (Mom or Dad), and make it into a science fair project. The kid who got caught did the exact same thing as most of the other winners did. They are not prodigies that advanced science or found a cure for cancer.

If you want to make it into a book report then change the rules and we can play that game. We'll change the Science Fair to Science Understanding.