Sadly it’s much less stringent than this. It’s just one item and it can be from any section of the application as chosen by UC
There have been instances of AO’s calling guidance counselors to get feedback if a student appears to be exaggerating. This might occur when a student is being considered for a spot at a highly selective school.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. AOs usually know fake when they see it, barring some notable exceptions.
I’m so glad you posted, since D24 has started working on her common app. When talking about this topic I think she, too, was attempting to make her descriptions sound more formal/business-speak (which is how I would characterize what you were doing, more so than exaggerating).
I suggested that she go back through and make sure to use action verbs indicating leadership where applicable and to make sure the descriptions were clear so that anyone could understand them.
It is sometimes hard to figure out what is striving toward the best version of the true you vs. what is attempting to tell someone what they want to hear and losing yourself in the process.
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And kids don’t always have a good meter for what sounds “impressive”.
You worked with the administration of your HS and the superintendent to abolish an outdated rule which was enforced occasionally but drove the teachers and students crazy? Terrific. You do NOT need to have “conceived, initiated and led a major policy initiative to revamp classroom pedagogy leading to an enhanced learning environment and fewer punitive episodes from the administration”. Really you don’t.
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I landed a very competitive research position in college and the professor told me later it was mostly because he could understand what the heck I did for each entry on my resume vs all the fancy jargon.
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As an employer, my radar goes up when I see a description long on subjective adjectives vs factual accomplishments. The assumption is the applicant is short on the latter.
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