<p>I would like opinions on how a school should handle the situation if they become aware that a student ( or parents) has submitted incorrect information and exaggereted EC achievements on a scholarship application.</p>
<p>In most cases, I think the app should be rescinded. But, I'm not naive--I'm sure that there will be lots of people who "pad" their app some. D did not---(I reviewed, or in some cases, filled out the EC stuff and she edited it)....YES, she wrote her own essays!!!!!</p>
<p>Do you mean the college where the scholarship is being applied or a high school that being attended? It's a tricky situation. If we're talking about college, then are we assuming an offer of admission has already been tendered and the student is following up by applying for a scholarship? If so, the the scholarship committee is perfectl entitled to deny the app. However, if no dishonesty was done on the admissions app, I don't see that the acceptance would be in jeapordy -- unless there's an honor code that the student has already pledged to.</p>
<p>Scholarship app vs. admissions app. Two separate things. </p>
<p>For a HS, that's very tricky. I'd imagine if the likelihood of getting discovered is high, the HS could (and might likely) discreetly inform the college -- they don't want something hurting later students' apps from the school.</p>
<p>I think they should avoid a rush to judgement, firstly. A polite letter to the student asking for further explanation would be a good way to start. </p>
<p>Sometimes the little blocks and boxes on the application don't necessarily fit the circumstances, so the student has to guess the best way to simplify. Someone could make a case for "lying or exaggerating" if they interpreted the question or answer in a different way than the student intended.</p>
<p>Maybe it's a typo - something as simple as hitting the wrong number, for things like hours spent. D used online applications - my boys used paper. D had a lot less room for explaining things.</p>
<p>If you're talking about blatant lying - claiming activities that never happened, for example, I still think a letter is appropriate -- see how the student explains. If the college called a school counselor to check something, maybe he forgot to notice that the student didn't attend his school last year, for example, and has no knowledge of his/her achievements there. </p>
<p>On the other hand, admitting to the "crime" (or not being able to defend it) is a violation of most schools' honor codes, and should have a set protocol already.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of a conversation on these boards a year or so ago, when an AdRep complained about people claiming minority status for being Hispanic. He defined Hispanic by skin color and visual prejudice. My housekeeper is Puerto Rican - born there, to parents born there. Her grandparents were born in Spain. She is blond and blue-eyed, and claims Hispanic affiliation. She clearly defines it differently than the AdRep. Don't mean to re-open that discussion, but I think it would be wrong to assume her kids "lied" on their application for claiming this status.</p>
<p>cad -</p>
<p>I suspect this happens a lot on outside scholarship applications (and I am pretty sure that quite a few of my classmates lied rather spectacularly on their college applications -- our counselors don't review them unless we ask them to). It's really frustrating and I wish I knew what to do about it other than to go through life feeling queasy and cheated.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I found filling out those little blanks on the scholarship applications difficult and so confusing at times that I kept notes about why I put down what I put down so that I could understand my logic in the future. That makes me think that some of it is not lying, but just having trouble understanding how to apply the facts of one's life into tiny boxes designed for people who have very different lives than this particular applicant's. </p>
<p>Are you asking this question in the abstract, or was there an incident?</p>
<p>I think the school should question the applicant and if it's discovered that they cheated/lied (I count exaggeration as the same thing as a lie) on the app then they should be declined admission. If it's a truly honest mistake, it can be corrected and then considered in light of the changes.</p>
<p>This happens all the time. A kid I know asked her track coach if she could put down she was a "captain" the guy let every senior term themselves a "captain" for college aps. Other private schools have dozens of awards so the vast majority of graduates can lay claim to one. All these awards sound unique and important.. really the awards are there to pad the applications. I gotta believe the bottom line is with thousands of aps. all this stuff is taken at face value. I mean what college checks and verifies the stuff on these kids aps.? It would take thousands upon thousands of hours. Pad away! Nobody is checking......</p>
<p>I wouldn't recommend anyone following the advice to "pad away". It's fairly simple - don't pad, don't lie - just state the truth. </p>
<p>I've heard that some colleges will check up on a certain percentage of the apps just to make some attempt to keep people honest.</p>
<p>Well it might not be padding and exaggeration but many private schools set out a plan for freshman targeting what is needed to be admitted to certain elite schools. At one school with which I am very familiar leadership EC's are manufactured (students start clubs and becomes president), as are public service hours. Academic EC's are also planned. Kids are placed on model UN, debate, academic challenge, math teams, to show "passion." There are relationships with labs and universities where "research opportunities" are provided as needed. The school has a great track record for getting kids into top colleges that the kids on their own would have much less of a shot at. Is that cheating, padding, exaggerating?</p>
<p>^^^
idad, this is why I think leadership EC's and community service shouldn't be deciding factors in college admission. I don't think academic EC's help you unless you actually win competitions anyway.</p>
<p>Please heed the advice of ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad in post #8, and realize that there can be & have been spot-checks on application statements & resume statements.</p>
<p>Regarding post #9, though, "starting clubs and becoming president" is not necessarily a "manufacture." (It can be. ) If you can describe & document what you did, how active, influential, etc., the club was, it could be significant. My D co-founded 2 or 3 clubs at her school. They would better be described, though, as activities rather than just clubs or interest opportunities. They were actually co-curricular activities that were otherwise not available at the school (literary, performing arts, etc.) that grew out of common interests of several students.</p>
<p>I personally think dishonesty on a college app is every bit as bad as what Merilee Jones did and , if I were on the ad com, I'd deny a dishonest student admission. What idad describes makes me feel sick--I'm really glad my son's public hs didn't encourage this kind of thing. Yes, it is dishonest and misleading.</p>
<p>Post #10: Completely agree. Also, throw away the paid essays too.</p>
<p>I hope my statement on starting clubs etc. is not construed as a blanket criticism of such activities. I was referring to the manufacture, at the suggestion of a counselor, of a club because there is a need to show "leadership." This school has a team of teachers to read essays as well and each essay goes through a 12 round development process designed to match what the particular college likes to see. I asked the dean of students if this was really fair. The reply was, "All our sister schools do the same, the parents expect their kids to be admitted to their top college picks."</p>
<p>There was a post about this about a year back. One parent mentioned a situation wherein three students all wanted credit for starting thier own club. So each individual starts a particular club and the other two kids join. Then the next kid starts a club and the other two join. The third kid.. well you know the rest... Colleges think this is great as it shows passion and initiative. The "meetings" for these "clubs" take about ten minutes after school, one day a week. I really would be surprised if one in one-hundred aps. were checked for voracity. Maybe the Ivies check or some schools in the case of large awards... otherwise. Maybe there is an adcom type out there who can give us some percentages. I think resume/application padding is often done legitimately. Which is to say what is put down is not necessarily dishonest, as in the case above, but it is not morally right. These kids know what is going on and the message being sent is that it is okay to over represent your activities and/or contributions, or the effort that has been put in to either. The kid knows he/she is not what is being claimed and that will in turn create self doubt as the students thinks; "Hmmmm.. maybe I don't belong here. I really wasn't a captain, that club I started was bogus, and those awards were concoctions created to make me look good." No wonder so many freshman fall on thier faces socially and academically.</p>
<p>And then there are the kids' ECs that are actually the parents': starting foundations and so forth. What can be done? Ask counselors to review applications? But they are overwhelmed, plus there's the old switcheroonie (facilitated by on-line filing of applications).</p>
<p>I just realized that there is another thread on this, started by the OP, on Parents Cafe.</p>