<p>Now that excellent performance in ECs have quite strong influence in determining a person's acceptance, many universities still don't require their applicants to submit some proof of their awards and achievements. Why do they not check it, while they are strict about accuracy of GPA, SAT score, and other materials considered in admission? This is a serious flaw which can give cheaters unfair advantage, so their excessively lenient attitude toward validity of students' achievements should be rectified soon.</p>
<p>I’m sure they check anything worth checking.</p>
<p>As I see it, the flaw is in your reasoning. </p>
<p>Colleges expect your teachers to acknowledge your outstanding leadership qualities in their recommendation letters, but to also specifically describe your involvement in school related EC’s. If a student lists accolades that are never mentioned by a recommendation writer, that usually raises a red flag, which results in a call from a college Admissions Officer to a GC asking about a student’s EC activities. Or, at the very least, an Admissions Officer will do a quick google search of an applicant for the awards listed on an application.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Liars and cheaters are easily caught, so it’s best to tell the truth!</p>
<p>I don’t know that I’d consider them excessively lenient. The internet makes it pretty easy to check up on kids these days and more admissions officers admit to looking up kids every year. It would still be pretty risky to lie about a major achievement. </p>
<p>Google my daughter and the first search page is basically the meat of her resume. She’s not even a national academic award winner or major athlete. Most of the really big accomplishments that the top schools value are likely pretty easy to check with a web search.</p>
<p>I do understand what you are saying and I don’t disagree exactly but I can see how much requiring proof for every activity would bog down the system.</p>
<p>For most people, EC’s are likely the least important part of the application, which is likely the reason that they are not verified, although for final round candidates they could be.</p>
<p>For about 80% of US colleges, not a single EC is evaluated in their acceptance procedures</p>