<p>I applied to one of the schools ED and now I found out that they contacted the local library to verify that I volunteered there. They also called my counselor to find out about clubs, and honor societies I was in (although I doubt counselor keeps track of any of that). Do large colleges often do that? This one was from one of California's state schools.On the common app I put only APPROXIMATE hours and I doubt anyone will ever be able to verify it all. It's kind of intimidating. Do they Ivy schools often make "private phone calls"?</p>
<p>Polsci,</p>
<p>Are you making this up? I am at the pt that I believe you are trying to pull everyones chain!
I ask b/c this is another ethical question I think the count is at 3. If you are not pulling peoples chain, and this is for real, have your folks helped in this process?
FYI When my brother applied to Princeton in 82, they came to the house to interview him. When DS was approached by Harvard and UPenn, it was a personal phone call to our home. Of COURSE THEY MAKE PRIVATE PHONE CALLS AND CHECKS! They have a standard to uphold and do not want to lose it!</p>
<p>polsci,</p>
<p>because, as bulletandpima pointed out, this is your THIRD thread dealing with ethical issues and your THIRD thread worrying about whether colleges might check for dishonesty, i have a layman’s suspicion that you somehow decided to overrepresent, falsify, or ‘tweak’ parts of your application in less-than-honest ways. my advice to you: DON’T. you may get away with it now and then but eventually it WILL BITE YOU IN THE A**. in this country we tolerate a lot of things - but dishonesty is NOT one of them. </p>
<p>if you follow rules, present yourself honestly, and abide by basic ethical standards you won’t have anything to worry about. even if colleges DO phone up different organizations in an ‘intimidating’ manner you won’t have anything to worry about.</p>
<p>(if i am jumping to the completely wrong conclusion about you (which often does happen on the internet) and you are asking these questions for a different reason, then i apologize profusely. in that case, just take this post as a set of general life principles i guess.)</p>
<p>I have have a legitimate question (not saying yours isn’t)
The topic is related to this…</p>
<p>I have been volunteering at a hospital for 3 years (since my Freshman year) and logged 500+ hours.
The hospital was newly renovated and my section was moved to another city so I stopped volunteering… Am I supposed to leave their new contact information or something?</p>
<p>EDIT: I realized that my question only applies if the college checks… suggestions?</p>
<p>I am sorry, but please dont waste our time by providing “answers” that do not contribute anything towards giving me information on the QUESTION I POSED. If you dont have an answer, please move to another post and save those lectures for someone else. </p>
<p>Yes, I am planning to LIE about hours and years involved in certain activities. I am planning on exaggerating things. I am planning on being DISHONEST. I have nothing to lose. If you knew my situation you would understand everything perfectly. But you don’t. If colleges found out that you lied, you would probably be worse off, but in my case, I do not believe that it is even possible for things to get worse than they are. I know people who got into Princeton with lies, and a girl who ,although in not so chic school, still managed getting in by completely lying on everything in application essay. Things like that happen. I am not going to sit here and watch others get in knowing that often little “enhancements” can help. Stop worrying about me. Answer the question if you can, if not, move on with your lives.</p>
<p>I thought you were being sarcastic at first when I read “Yes, I am planning to LIE… I have nothing to lose”, but then I realized that you were serious.</p>
<p>Chilling. </p>
<p>Even if I knew your ‘situation’ I would not ‘understand everything perfectly’. You act like you are somehow entitled to Columbia or entrance into a top school. So maybe your life hasn’t exactly been roses. Does that mean you automatically deserve to go to Columbia? Excuse me, but there are plenty of other schools out there you could probably get accepted to without cheating and lying. And besides, if your circumstances really are so dire, why not try explaining them to Columbia truthfully?</p>
<p>You said you wanted an answer to your question. Yes, they DO check, and have every right to do so, and I honestly hope you get caught. Your selfish and immature attitude downright disgusts me.</p>
<p>Trying. To contain. Anger.</p>
<p>I dont know why anyone would be surprised by the fact that there are actually some people who indeed “exaggerate” things and hours on their applications and resumes. I am certainly not the only one who does this. Or how does the common app even expect me to know exact hours . I agree that I am being selfish. </p>
<p>Also, BEEF,whether I am “entitled” to going to a certain school is not up to you to decide - I know you got ED but please dont let it make you think of yourself that greatly.</p>
<p>they do random checks. If it is obvious that you exaggerated, they will look into it.</p>
<p>they do random checks. If it is obvious that you “exaggerated” they could check personally.</p>
<p>polsci, you don’t seem to understand.
This has nothing to do with what I think of myself. I don’t see how the fact I got admitted in ED has anything to do with the fact that dishonesty is inexcusable, plain and simple.</p>
<p>The bottom line is: if you want to go to Columbia, WORK for it like an honest man.
Just because others are being dishonest doesn’t mean you should. Stop trying to justify it.</p>
<p>You are acting like you have the right to be dishonest because of your life circumstances - well let me tell you, that’s bull*****. If your life circumstances really are that bad, then EXPLAIN THEM TRUTHFULLY to Columbia. They will appreciate it.</p>
<p>I am explaining it in my Essay. Thank you for your advice. </p>
<p>In regards to what you said about working to get to Columbia, I have to tell you that I worked very hard just like thousands of other applicants who might not get in. And when every little detail can be helpful, I am not going to let it go because of someones overstated definition of honesty. if I dont remember the exact number of hours that I worked, I am likely to make a beautiful roundup. If I participated in a meaningful activity but the name does not sound meaningful, I am going to make it appear meaningful. You can’t make me do something else.</p>
<p>I really wonder how much of the stuff that you have on your application is completely fraudulent.</p>
<p>Anyways, the college you attend has a lot less to do with your future success than your personal ability. That is to say, even if you happen to gain admission to Columbia through dubious "exaggeration"s, there is still the unpleasant reality that you would probably be at a university at which you do not fit in. Prestige and rank are really not as important (not to say that these factors are totally irrelevant) as a synergistic fit between the college and student.</p>
<p>All eloquence aside, I think that you are quite a self-entitled little twit with a highly [obvious] egocentric worldview. Ironically, people who think like you (although they are probably more intelligent) are probably going to end up costing you a spot at your college of choice despite your embellishments, lies, and all of the other ******** you seem to be trying to pull.</p>
<p>Hmm… I did not know that this forum was a place for personal attacks. I dont know what you represented by those ******* and to be honest, do not want to know either. Even if you tell me, I am not likely to understand since I am not usually around people who communicate in that manner.</p>
<p>Anyways, I never made any connections between being accepted to Columbia and my “future success.” There are many wonderful and hard working, intelligent people in many other colleges that I will feel priviledged to work with. Columbia is not the end and it would never become a source of Arrogance for me just like I see it become for Many on this forum.</p>
<p>In regards to “prestige and rank” that you mentioned, I do not have anything to say, since I dont even understand what does that have to do with what this thread is about. This is not a free association session with your psychologist ( which I assume you need) therefore I dont think you can bring up some completely Random topics and make them fit in here. Please stay focused or topic or go post somewhere else.</p>
<p>Thank you that you took your time and posted on my thread CrookedI. I value your attempt to be helpful.</p>
<p>Trying to explain to you why lying is unethical is probably a waste of time.</p>
<p>So let’s talk about consequences. I posted on the last thread the types of consequences you can expect if your lies are discovered. If you get expelled from Columbia because your lies are found out at some point down the road, it will be very hard to get admitted anywhere else.</p>
<p>If you tell the truth, there’s at least some chance that you’ll get admitted to Columbia anyway. Then, you have nothing to worry about. Even if you don’t get into Columbia, you can probably get into a university which is more than adequate by telling the truth. That’s a much better outcome than attending a bottom-of-the-barrel university or no university at all because you were expelled for lying.</p>
<p>I apologize. </p>
<p>Take3’s post is more effective than mine. Obviously, you’re still at a preconventional stage of morality.</p>
<p>Well, I am not going to lie to them flat out and I am not going to say I did things I did not do. I just want to make what I already have more appealing. I dont know what makes everyone so mad. Thousands of people do that. I know many who did even worse things, got in, graduated,and just feel great. I am sure there are some who were not that lucky, but I want to hope I am.</p>
<p>What seems to escape your notice is that thousands of people do a multitude of wrong things all the time. There are thousands of rapists, murderers, thieves, arsonists, robbers… this still doesn’t justify their actions. More importantly, the immoral/wrong actions of others do not justify your immoral/wrong actions.</p>
<p>hm…describe one of the things you want to beautify. i’m curious. you have nothing to lose so lay it on the table.</p>
<p>well, on the common app. when it asks about hours, I pretty much rounded everything up. in one place instead of 7 I put 10. and instead of 3 I put 10. </p>
<p>I also put that I am a president of the debate team, although I was the president ONLY in the 9th grade. I had to move from that school and I lost the title. Application has years for the activities but it does not have space for years you carried that specific title. So I took advantage of that. If they will ask me, I’ll tell them that it was in the 9th grade and I did not have enough space to say that I was the president ONLY in the 9th grade.</p>