<p>What's stopping people from cheating on the peer evaluation? Does Dartmouth have a way of knowing, such as contacting the person themselves? </p>
<p>I'm not applying to Dartmouth myself, but I'm writing a peer evaluation for my friend who is. The thought just popped in my mind while I was writing.</p>
<p>EDIT: When I mean cheating I mean writing the peer evaluation him/herself, or editing it to a heavy extent. For clarification, I'm not showing my eval to my friend, so I'm not trying to cheat at all.</p>
<p>That’s what I am thinking. How do they know if we are writing by ourselves using peer’s name? Of course, I am not going to have a stress on cheating but I am scared of some people doing that. Also, the document says to give the evaluation paper in a stamped envelope but why does it matter if my peer is going to tear it anyways to get the paper out of envelope.</p>
<p>I’m sure the idea is that you give your peer rec person a stamped envelope addressed to Dartmouth admissions in which to mail their recommendation after they have written it. Not that you mail it to your peer rec person. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>You give it to them in a stamped envelope so that they can mail it. The idea is that you’re paying for postage.</p>
<p>Also, while it is possible for someone to write their own peer rec 1) you are not as good at disguising your writing style as you think you are and 2) the person who would do that is not really the type of person who would be very happy at Dartmouth anyway. Dartmouth students on the whole are non-competitive with each other academically (while being way too competitive socially). While it is possible to do that and get in, I think someone who would would also come across as a bad fit for the school in other ways.</p>
<p>I agree that the idea of cheating on one’s peer eval seems very un-Dartmouthlike.</p>
<p>If you’ve done a good job on the app package, you’ve already roundly and soundly described yourself. If you tried to write your own eval, it would be tough to offer a new perspective (plus the style issues noted.) Knowing how to do this without detection generally doesn’t come easily to a hs kid- or many adults.</p>
<p>If you and a friend are both applying, could you write one for each other?</p>
<p>flyingeagle: sure, and many have done so.</p>
<p>I get the impression that they’d be able to tell from the writing style and, to a lesser extent, the subjects discussed, if you weren’t very good at disguising your writing. It’s harder than it sounds.</p>
<p>Me and my friend are both applying to dartmouth and we’re writing the peer eval for each other</p>
<p>For the record, the mailing by actual snail mail is optional.</p>
<p>Dartmouth allows for the letter to be typed and sent via email. I made a Word Document that contained all the information necessary for my friend. He wrote it then gave it back to me. I then emailed it back to them.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s so much the way that Dartmouth receives the letter that confirms the authenticity, but rather the writing style. Like others have mentioned, it is extremely difficult to mask one’s writing!</p>
<p>Link:
<a href=“http://dartmouthquestions.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-should-i-send-in-peer-evaluation.html[/url]”>http://dartmouthquestions.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-should-i-send-in-peer-evaluation.html</a></p>
<p>Keep in mind that the email that is listed on that website is now outdated, however.</p>