<p>I have a friend who's going to be applying to really top colleges, and he was bragging that he was going to lie about being leaders of some clubs and exaggerating how many clubs he was in. He's won awards in those areas, so it wouldn't look too suspicious.</p>
<p>But do colleges always verify everything or do they just trust you if it looks believable? do you think he'll get away with it?</p>
<p>i don’t know if he will get away with it, but one day his bad actions and lies will catch up to him. In the real world when you look for a job such behavior will not be tolerated.</p>
<p>If your friends already bragging about it, he’ll do something stupid like post about it on Facebook after he gets accepted, and will get his offer of admission revoked.</p>
<p>But assuming he doesn’t say anything to anyone and no one tells, what do you think will happen?</p>
<p>Do colleges check your Facebooks? Can’t you just put it on private?</p>
<p>Well your “friend” will one day pay for his lies in some way, cause karmas a *****.</p>
<p>yeah he’s a dick. I couldn’t talk him out of it. I hope he gets caught, but I don’t think he will. It’s so unfair.</p>
<p>“and he was bragging that he was going to lie about being leaders of some clubs and exaggerating how many clubs he was in”</p>
<p>The top colleges look for impact, not how many clubs one was in. Being head of a club isn’t going to impress them. What impresses them is the projects one has organized; the differences one has made in others’ lives, and things like that.</p>
<p>Many of the top colleges interview, and it’s hard to lie about things like this in interviews. Also, the interviews tend to be people who really are leaders and volunteers, so they know how to spot lies.</p>
<p>Someone who really hasn’t organized any projects wouldn’t know how to answer questions like: “What was the most challenging situation that you faced as president of …Club? How did you resolve it?”</p>
<p>I am an alum of a top college, and I have caught applicants in lies. This included an applicant who lied about being an active member of a regional community organization that my own son happened to be president of and was previously vice president of, and that I volunteered with. I spotted that organization on her resume, and asked her about her involvement. As she was leaving the interview, I casually asked if she ever had met my son . I didn’t mention that my son was president of the organization that she claimed to belong to. She said she had never met him. When I asked my son about her participation, he said he had never heard of her.</p>
<p>No, she didn’t get into my alma mater.</p>
<p>Have you ever heard of Aleksay Vaynar? People like your friend apparently make it through all the time.</p>
<p>Haha “your friend” huh? Look, there is no way for colleges to confirm, they simply do not have enough resources. The only thing colleges can confirm is your grades because they are solid. Even in the UC’s which are known to audit, you will rarely be checked.</p>
<p>But i guarantee you “making” up things out of nothing is going to get you caught. I can see people getting away with exaggerations, but lying no. During those 4 years, you will have established a character and it is not that hard to find out lying on an application. Now imagine the interview…</p>
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Haha that’s what I thought too, but then she posted that “he’s a dick” so I guess not.</p>
<p>Yeah, and anyway making up things would be just stupid, at most exaggerate a little but wow</p>
<p>haha I swear it’s really my friend, not me.</p>
<p>Why is this “person” “your” “friend” if you think “he’s” a “dick”? And if “he” thinks he’s going to get into “top colleges” even if “admissions” committees fall for “his” lies, he’s “probably” wasting “his” “time”. Even kids who “legitimately” have these “activities” on their “resumes” often get “rejected”, because there simply isn’t enough “room” for every great kid with stellar “ECs” in all of those “colleges”.</p>
<p>He’s my friend cuz he’s not a dick to me, and he’s pretty hot 
and what is with all the quotes?</p>
<p>If you’re applying to those same schools and you think your friend’s actions might hurt your chances of getting in, by all means make the situation right by contacting the admissions offices.</p>
<p>The “excessive” use of “quotes” is getting a bit “annoying.”</p>
<p>Anyway, if this is true, I hope that this person gets caught. That’s just stupid.</p>
<p>Depending on how believable his lies are, he may or may not get caught. The world IS a small place. I mean if he applies to Harvard saying he is the president of the debate club, there’s a small chance that the alum (who probably lives in the same city) who interviews him, or his regional admissions officer, knows the parents of the actual president or the teacher in charge of the club or something. If he is making up clubs, he will probably get caught because high schools tend to be open about what clubs they offer. My high school has a full list on their website.</p>
<p>Does your school have a college counseling office that students work closely with? Does he have a college conselor who will review his application? How does he/she feel about this?</p>
<p>If he applies without lying it is much safer. If he gets into Harvard, for example, having lied, and they find out he is a liar, they will rescind (?) his acceptance, even if they would have taken him with his REAL EC resume. If you look at the common app preview for 2010-2011, at the bottom it says that providing inaccurate information would result in them taking away his acceptance, credit, and even degree. It is also a direct violation of most schools’ honor code to lie like that. </p>
<p>The fact that he is a liar means he does not deserve to take the spot of an honest and hardworking person at a top institution. The fact that he is so open about lying means he’ an idiot. If he’s telling everyone about it, you can contact the admissions offices anonymously and he will never know. I recommend you try to talk him out of it first, but he IS competition to you and many other honest students.</p>
<p>He may just be caught up in the college craze and under a lot of stress, but he probably doesn’t realize how much trouble lying will put him in.</p>
<p>Just look at the Adam Wheeler incident. </p>
<p>Adcoms rarely verify these activities. It’s pretty easy to lie. I know someone who actually did exactly what you describe: exaggerate and fabricate involvement and leadership positions. The club sponsor even let her write her own rec, on which he simply signed off. She was accepted to Stanford and many other top universities. The most annoying part was how she easily bragged about it to people; it really ****ed me off.</p>
<p>People appeal to karma, but I think that’s quite idealistic and foolish. We’d like to think people like that will pay for it, but it’s not like the girl in my school was stupid. Most applicants to top schools can handle the workload, whether they lied about their EC’s or not, so I don’t think she’ll flunk out or anything. The world really isn’t fair.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it too much…your friend is just going to shoot himself in the foot.
Lying about small things won’t make much of a difference to the schools that consider extra-curriculars with any degree of seriousness…they look for major impact, not a laundry list.</p>
<p>A student who has made an impact in extra curriculars will have the impact reflected elsewhere in his application…if the guidance counselor and teacher recommendations don’t mention the appllicant’s activities, it would make an admissions committee suspicious, because it’s not exactly the first time they’ve seen applications like this…and so they can do easy things like google to see the public record of an applicant’s accomplishments, etc. They also are quite prone to just calling the guidance counselor to ask about certain items on an application/resume.</p>
<p>It’s the kiss of death for an applicant when the information on the application does not go along with other information. All the selective schools that put any consideration at all into extracurriculars have more than enough applicants who are the real deal to fill their classes several times over.</p>
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<p>I’d say Northstarmom’s post was most helpful to answer your question, so look to her response.</p>
<p>Unless this guy’s an astoundingly convincing liar, he would indeed have a tough time conveying real enthusiasm and “creating” lies about how he impacted others’ lives during an interview. But, on the other hand, if he isn’t interviewed, it’s possible he’ll get away with it. But if the guidance counselor’s remarks on his/her form doesn’t match up with what the student wrote, questions will be raised.</p>
<p>Many, many, many students who apply to top schools exaggerate. They exaggerate the number of hours per week and the true level of involvement. But the vast majority of those kids really did have a substantial level of involvement, if not an outstanding level. So it depends. Is he exaggerating or fabricating? Because the former will be easier to get away with, but the latter will leave less likelihood of him not getting found out. :)</p>
<p>Also… if this guy’s a dick, why would you be friends with him lol? I mean, I’ve got plenty of friends who cheat on tests and stuff. But if a friend of mine starting being a dick to me, I’d quit being friends with him lol. Just sayin :P</p>
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<p>Agreed. Genuinely remarkable accomplishments will permeate an applicant’s entire application.</p>
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<p>Also true. Anything that’s big enough to impact the decision is big enough to get him caught somewhere down the line.</p>