Hi, thanks for reading this. My friend and I are both applying to colleges and we have the same GPA and are applying to UCLA and UCB, and I only have a couple of things listed for my awards and honors, but my friend has never done ANY type of EC and she’s making up a bunch of awards, volunteering, jobs, etc. She even said she volunteered abroad in a 3rd world country! I would never lie on my application, but I was wondering if they’ll fact check/verify her because it would be very unfair if she got in by lying over people who did not, or even what would happen if they found out she was lying. I think the main problem is I would feel horrible if I got in not based on my merit. I know it’s probably none of my business but I should at least warn her against it.
Yes, the UC system verifies courses and grades for all matriculating students. The UCs also select applications at random for verification of other information provided. Here’s an article about the process:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/18/local/me-ucfraud18
Also, “volunteered abroad in a 3rd world country” is probably more likely seen as a marker of a high SES background than anything else, so it may not really be helpful when applying to UCs.
Yes - my son was one of the ones chosen at random a couple of years ago to verify an EC.
Yes. They check at random. And if they do and see that they’re lies, they won’t be getting into any UCs. Ever.
Yes they randomly select for application facts verification. It happens in Dec.
My son was selected and had to verify something that was written in his personal statement last year. It was idiotic because his essay was about censorship and having his science fair project rejected, of course they wanted proof that he was in the fair. They didn’t actually read the essay, just noticed the words science fair in the first few sentences. It took a lot of going back and forth and the auditors didn’t seem very bright.
So yes. They check and require proof. My son actually highlighted the parts of the essay where he stated he did not participate in the fair, and they did not accept it. They wanted proof that he did an actual project. He showed them the webpage where he had the original links to the survey (date stamped and with user comments that were quoted in the essay), not accepted. He finally sent screen shots of the online surveys that, luckily he did not delete. He never heard back, but was accepted to UCB and UCLA so I assume they finally decided all was well.
Hey guys, do UCs verify the activities you write in your essays? Or they will only verify the stuff you write on your activity page.
@jinlin414: Kindly start your own discussion if you have a question. It is considered rude to hijack another posters thread.