Anonymous wrote:Generally the first step is they call the school counselor to see what they know.

Universities aren't calling thousands of school counselors to verify activities.

I interviewed a kid whose story didn't really hold together. It was nothing egregious but he talked about overcoming really, really difficult circumstances and it didn't really hold together. Given the personal nature of what he was saying, I wasn't in a position to ask a lot of questions, so I just kind of went along with it. This was pre-covid during an in person interview and some of my response was based on his body language, keeping in mind that this was a kid and not an adult, discussing something very personal, so I tried really hard to give him the benefit of the doubt and be sensitive, but it was hard.

In my report I noted this. I said that I had some questions about the story and if it was true, I'm sure that it would have been discussed in essay(s) and by recommenders from his fairly small parochial school where a recommender likely knew him well.

Regardless of the story, he didn't strike me as a particularly strong candidate, so it might not have been an issue. He was not accepted and I don't know whether this was relevant. I googled him a year later and he ended up at a school that was fine but quite a bit below my alma mater, though who knows if finances, proximity to home, and/or the chance to play his sport (which he was doing at that Division 3 school) factored in and he could have gone somewhere more competitive.

Anonymous wrote:Interviews, some ask in Common App for links to verify, some AOs do online checks/confer with counselors…Seasoned AOs can see through apps that seem off

This.

Some high school kids and their parents think they’re brilliant hatching a story about raising hundreds of thousands for girls education in Afghanistan. They fake a reference letter to “prove” the story is true, so they think they’re golden.

Meanwhile AOs have already seen a version of the story on at least twenty applications this cycle alone, and can sniff the fakes from miles away.

Kids with “impressive” activities on paper, get rejected from mid schools all the time

How would Tom Cruise have proven the success of his entrepreneurial venture in Risky Business?

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Anonymous wrote:Yale is checking by calling college counselors. UCLA is asking for random applicants to upload pdfs of W2 or paystubs to verify jobs. They are doing a lot more verifying this year

How can school counselor know your volunteer out of school?

They would know if they met with the student. If it's a big public school, bring it up in the counselor meeting and in the parent brag sheet. DC is at a public and did just this - he knew what the teachers would focus on in the LOR, so for any extra things that were important, he made sure to let the counselor know. He was accepted SCEA - of course, we don't know what exactly helped his application, but do your best with every part. Good luck!

Same here, everything can be found by a quick google search. I don't know if AOs spend time googling each kid. I think some applications are just compelling, and they're familiar with the big awards, and some things just make sense in the big picture.

I also don't know why kids would lie. That seems like such a pessimistic view of this whole process. Also, anything off would probably immediately raise red flags.

Kids lie or exaggerate all the time on their college apps, but I think it’s morally wrong and frankly quite dumb. They are not successful because they can’t compete with the kids having genuine, verifiable accomplishments.

I get that kids can lie (I have three), but how do you know that kids are lying/exaggerating all the time on their college apps?

Some things are obvious, like founding a company making millions in revenue but no company website, no public records or ownership. Or being a fire fighter volunteer when age requirements are 18+. If you have kids, you know it’s really easy to find inconsistencies when they lie, it’s not that different for college apps.

If major impact is claimed, but no way to verify, it’s a red flag.

If minor impact, like club president, then it doesn’t matter anyways.

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Anonymous wrote:Volunteering without impact will not have any weight in your application. Don’t worry about it.

He definitely has impact.

Then unless he's Batman, there will be another adult outside of this who could attest to this, and he could also document the impact. Should the activity get questioned, there would be evidence of it.

Well yes, obviously there are adults who know he does this. But there's no place on the app, as far as i can tell, to put a reference.

Many schools accept additional non-teacher recommendations. If the activity is that meaningful, that's likely a good idea beyond verification.

If the activity that that meaningful, get an article in the local newspaper.

Many places no longer have meaningful local newspapers. It's not like the Washington Post is going to write about a high school student's community service project, no matter how impactful.

The town newspaper will. Ours is very open to submissions from the community. Also, the school will do a press release and then all the local newspapers pick it up.

What "town newspaper"? You realize you're on a webpage for the DC area?

Patch…Patch McLean, Vienna, etc

Interviews, some ask in Common App for links to verify, some AOs do online checks/confer with counselors…Seasoned AOs can see through apps that seem off

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Anonymous wrote:Volunteering without impact will not have any weight in your application. Don’t worry about it.

He definitely has impact.

Then unless he's Batman, there will be another adult outside of this who could attest to this, and he could also document the impact. Should the activity get questioned, there would be evidence of it.

Well yes, obviously there are adults who know he does this. But there's no place on the app, as far as i can tell, to put a reference.

Many schools accept additional non-teacher recommendations. If the activity is that meaningful, that's likely a good idea beyond verification.

If the activity that that meaningful, get an article in the local newspaper.

Many places no longer have meaningful local newspapers. It's not like the Washington Post is going to write about a high school student's community service project, no matter how impactful.

The town newspaper will. Ours is very open to submissions from the community. Also, the school will do a press release and then all the local newspapers pick it up.

What "town newspaper"? You realize you're on a webpage for the DC area?

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Anonymous wrote:Volunteering without impact will not have any weight in your application. Don’t worry about it.

He definitely has impact.

Then unless he's Batman, there will be another adult outside of this who could attest to this, and he could also document the impact. Should the activity get questioned, there would be evidence of it.

Well yes, obviously there are adults who know he does this. But there's no place on the app, as far as i can tell, to put a reference.

Many schools accept additional non-teacher recommendations. If the activity is that meaningful, that's likely a good idea beyond verification.

If the activity that that meaningful, get an article in the local newspaper.

Many places no longer have meaningful local newspapers. It's not like the Washington Post is going to write about a high school student's community service project, no matter how impactful.

Can you say what the activity is? If it’s an impactful extracurricular there must be a note somewhere to check. Most sports list players stats. If it’s a fundraiser there must have been a website, if they funded a nonprofit there are tax returns.

Can’t think of anything that’s impossible to document.

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Anonymous wrote:Yale is checking by calling college counselors. UCLA is asking for random applicants to upload pdfs of W2 or paystubs to verify jobs. They are doing a lot more verifying this year

How can school counselor know your volunteer out of school?

They would know if they met with the student. If it's a big public school, bring it up in the counselor meeting and in the parent brag sheet. DC is at a public and did just this - he knew what the teachers would focus on in the LOR, so for any extra things that were important, he made sure to let the counselor know. He was accepted SCEA - of course, we don't know what exactly helped his application, but do your best with every part. Good luck!

Same here, everything can be found by a quick google search. I don't know if AOs spend time googling each kid. I think some applications are just compelling, and they're familiar with the big awards, and some things just make sense in the big picture.

I also don't know why kids would lie. That seems like such a pessimistic view of this whole process. Also, anything off would probably immediately raise red flags.

Kids lie or exaggerate all the time on their college apps, but I think it’s morally wrong and frankly quite dumb. They are not successful because they can’t compete with the kids having genuine, verifiable accomplishments.

I get that kids can lie (I have three), but how do you know that kids are lying/exaggerating all the time on their college apps?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale is checking by calling college counselors. UCLA is asking for random applicants to upload pdfs of W2 or paystubs to verify jobs. They are doing a lot more verifying this year

How can school counselor know your volunteer out of school?

They would know if they met with the student. If it's a big public school, bring it up in the counselor meeting and in the parent brag sheet. DC is at a public and did just this - he knew what the teachers would focus on in the LOR, so for any extra things that were important, he made sure to let the counselor know. He was accepted SCEA - of course, we don't know what exactly helped his application, but do your best with every part. Good luck!

Same here, everything can be found by a quick google search. I don't know if AOs spend time googling each kid. I think some applications are just compelling, and they're familiar with the big awards, and some things just make sense in the big picture.

I also don't know why kids would lie. That seems like such a pessimistic view of this whole process. Also, anything off would probably immediately raise red flags.

Kids lie or exaggerate all the time on their college apps, but I think it’s morally wrong and frankly quite dumb. They are not successful because they can’t compete with the kids having genuine, verifiable accomplishments.

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Anonymous wrote:Volunteering without impact will not have any weight in your application. Don’t worry about it.

He definitely has impact.

Then unless he's Batman, there will be another adult outside of this who could attest to this, and he could also document the impact. Should the activity get questioned, there would be evidence of it.

Well yes, obviously there are adults who know he does this. But there's no place on the app, as far as i can tell, to put a reference.

Many schools accept additional non-teacher recommendations. If the activity is that meaningful, that's likely a good idea beyond verification.

If the activity that that meaningful, get an article in the local newspaper.

Many places no longer have meaningful local newspapers. It's not like the Washington Post is going to write about a high school student's community service project, no matter how impactful.

The town newspaper will. Ours is very open to submissions from the community. Also, the school will do a press release and then all the local newspapers pick it up.

You can submit to the Patch…Patch McLean, Vienna, etc. Schools also like to include achievements in their e-newsletters

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Anonymous wrote:Volunteering without impact will not have any weight in your application. Don’t worry about it.

He definitely has impact.

Then unless he's Batman, there will be another adult outside of this who could attest to this, and he could also document the impact. Should the activity get questioned, there would be evidence of it.

Well yes, obviously there are adults who know he does this. But there's no place on the app, as far as i can tell, to put a reference.

Many schools accept additional non-teacher recommendations. If the activity is that meaningful, that's likely a good idea beyond verification.

If the activity that that meaningful, get an article in the local newspaper.

Many places no longer have meaningful local newspapers. It's not like the Washington Post is going to write about a high school student's community service project, no matter how impactful.

Interviews are also a way to get deeper on a student’s passions/interests and ECs. Colleges want to see the person behind what’s written on paper…likely to ascertain authenticity and to get to know the applicant on a more personal level. My DD spent over an hour with her interviewer on her ECs, what drove her to do x…lots of probing questions by the interviewer.