Admissions Fraud:How common is it?

<p>As an example, here is what the Harvard application booklet says about the topic:</p>

<p>"MISREPRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS
Occasionally a candidate for admission will make inaccurate statements or submit false
material in connection with his or her application. In most cases, these misrepresentations are discovered during the admission process and the application is rejected. If a misrepresentation is discovered after a candidate is admitted, the offer of admission normally will be withdrawn. If a misrepresentation is discovered after a student has registered, the offer of admission normally will be revoked and the student will be required to leave the College. If the discovery occurs after a degree has been awarded, the degree normally will be rescinded."</p>

<p>So are the little lies and hyperbole really worth the risk of getting kicked out or even having your degree revoked?</p>

<p>right, I mentioned the Harvard policy before.</p>

<p>also, I read an article that said that no college likes a "serial joiner", that is, too many EC's. To them it means you just joined a lot of things for no particular reason and had little impact on them.</p>

<p>I do a lot of ec so I dont need to lie, but if I did I would not think about it twice.</p>

<p>Or you could write your own reccomendations and say that you did them, that way you can just say that the teacher made a mistake.</p>

<p>Character is who you are when no one is watching.</p>

<p>Jaman, you are considering Dartmouth which has a honor code which they take very seriously, don;t condsider breaking the code in the application process.</p>

<p>Jaman, frankly I'm appalled at your lack of ethics. Do you feel that your own accomplishments are not strong enough, so you have to lie? Or is it that you feel that everyone else is padding their resume's, so you have to do it too (thereby contributing to the overall lack of ethics) ?</p>

<p>Something tells me that if you do get into Dartmouth, and if you become successful in business, you'll end up making a lot of money, go to a lot of "see and be seen ****tail parties" and end up having a date with Elliott Spitzer.</p>

<p>oh, that's interesting. I just noticed that this program censored my reference to blank parties. But I'm sure you all know what word I meant, and it was totally inoffensive. Gee, that's the first time in my life I've had to be censored. I lost my temper once in the office, and said "hell". Everyone thought it was so funny they put a big sign up on the outside of my office wall congratulating me.</p>

<p>I don't lack complete ethics. There are three things I take very seriously
1) Family</p>

<p>2) Friends</p>

<p>3) Compassion</p>

<p>If you are like me you will make sure that you keep these things out of your life.</p>

<p>Yeah, on the University of South Carolina thread I put "GO GAME*<strong><em>S!" and it got censored. LOL. Their maskot is named "</em></strong>*y," so it's all good.</p>

<p>Jaman, did I misread your post? Did you mean to say you want to keep family, friends and compassion out of your life?</p>

<p>I believe that Jaman is now officially in the mode of just trying to rile us older people up! No more nibbles here...</p>

<p>Robyrm, I think you're right. Either he's not serious, or he's just younger than most of the people on this board. I'm taking your advice.</p>

<p>On a scale from 1 to 10 agree with me and then state how much you are worth. I will bet that 1 is Mother Teresa (died broke) and 10 is Ken Lay, George Bush pretty much all the great people this world has produced.</p>

<p>yeah someone wrote that they found a ****roach in their salad and it was xed out. for i while they convinced me there was something very obscene about the word, and then i was like 'no way!' theyre non discriminatory censors!</p>

<p>in regards to ECS..should you just forget about the clubs that you didn't take a huge role in? i've got clubs where i'm president of and been in for 4 years..and clubs like girls league..where i just joined for the heck of it freshman year..and pretty much forgot about it since...should i bother to list girls league and other clubs that i havent been so..ardent or determined for anymore?</p>

<p>okay, Jaman, I'll take one last chance you might be serious. What does your first sentence mean? Then you'll have to help us out with the second sentence. They're a little confusing.</p>

<p>The original topic interests me. I learned that -
In 1995, Harvard University rescinded an offer to Gina Grant after it learned that she had bludgeoned her mother to death with a candlestick -- a fact that she had left off her application.
Not sure, but I believe her "crime" against Harvard was either answering "no" to the application question, "Have you ever been on probation," or telling them that she was an orphan because her mother had died of cancer.</p>

<p>The type of lying that is necessary to make a difference to a college where it would make a difference is the kind that is the easiest to catch. The world of academia and selective schools is a lot smaller than people think it is. I have seen some amazing coincidences.</p>

<p>Just last week, my son was auditioning at a school wearing his letter jacket from highschool. Someone recognized the school, and mentioned another applicant from there. Sure, my son said, he knows the guy, but not well. "He plays football", the kid said. "I don't think so," my son said with his eyes widening. "You must know him--he's captain," the kid insisted. My son pointed to his captain pin on his letter. "I really don't think so, " he said. "I'm captain." The exchange was overheard by someone in the department who immediately noted the situation. Son is a little upset that he spilled the beans, but was really caught unaware in the conversation that lasted less than 30 seconds. Now he isn't sure if he should look up the guy and tell him, or what. Where else is this kid applying with bogus ECs? But you can see how lies can have very short legs.</p>

<p>Jamimom, that's terrible. But I think that instead of proving this type of lying is easy to catch, it really tends to prove the opposite. Look at the number of actions that had to align for the truth to come out: your son wore his letter jacket, he happened to be the captain, so he was also wearing the pin; he chatted with someone else who happened to know the other applicant; and - even more importantly - he happened to be overheard. If any one of those things hadn't happened - and of course, the part about being overheard by someone who could make a difference - and the kid's lying would not have come out.</p>

<p>I have been mystified about why other schools don't do what our school does - all EC's, including positions held, go right on the transcript, along with the grades. The student and the parent get a copy in order to review it, but the school sends it directly to the prospective colleges. So no lying, period. (Except regarding any non-school activities.)</p>

<p>Anyone watch the 20/20 episode on college cheating? (I did not...but I read a summary on line through the 20/20 website). Unfortunately, lying on applications seems to be just a small part of the total picture. College cheating in general appears much more common than I ever wanted to know! </p>

<p>I cannot so innocently say "it's the other guy", if I look away and ignore it either (on TV, at school, the workplace...etc). What are we as a society doing -- and how can we work to stop it?</p>