<p>Recently, I was faced with a moral dilemma. I applied to FSU already, using a no-frills resume that gave brief overviews of my most important activites (i.e., national-level awards) and listed my less important ones (NHS). </p>
<p>A close friend of mine is also applying to FSU but has not yet finished her application. She asked me to look over her resume (presumably to check its adherence to the standard resume format). I first noticed that she claimed to participate in a varsity team that I am on- the season does not start until February, and she has never been on the team in any way. She also claimed to be on a different sports team that is going on right now, but that is a traditionally male sport and has never had females on the team. The more I looked, the more inaccuracies I saw on her resume. I was shocked to see that she had outright fabricated three clubs, claiming membership and even officer positions! </p>
<p>Oddly, she attributed her low GPA and SAT scores to "family/economic issues"- these issues apparently did not prevent her from being a member of 7-10 clubs each year.</p>
<p>Not wishing to be confrontational, I told her that her resume was fine. The next day, I casually asked some known members of the (real) aforementioned organizations about involvement of any senior girls and/or who holds officer positions. As I expected, none of the members claimed my friend as ever being in the club or holding an officer position. When I asked my friend if she had lied on her resume, she said that she had not. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice? Is this information going to be checked by FSU? I don't want her to ruin her chances of acceptance to FSU or any other Florida university by lying on her resume. Thank you for reading!</p>
<p>It sounds as if your friend needs to be called into accountability concerning the resume. I would be honest and let her know that you are aware of the inaccuracies on the resume and make her aware that she will be taking a huge risk by gambling with her future by having a dishonest resume.</p>
<p>One never knows when someone in a college admissions department may have ties to the same high school from which you all will be graduating and could easily learn of an untruth.</p>
<p>If your friend has a poor gpa and a low SAT score, her extracurriculars will not make up for that anyway. The admissions departments at all the colleges and universities will gets loads of apps with great grades and SAT scores from students who managed to work hard in spite of their circumstances. Plus, if her grades and SAT scores are below par and she has an overabundance of activities that can be seen as a student who has confused priorities.</p>
<p>The competition for the freshman slots at FSU will be fierce and students who have paid the price in working diligently in high school have the best shot at reaping the benefit of admission. Character does matter in life; you do reap what you sow (sooner or later).</p>
<p>I don't think you should go to the guidance counselor! Since you didn't want to be "confrontational" with your "close" friend when she asked your opinion, why would you want to go behind her back and spin it up with adults? That could get her in big trouble.</p>
<p>You already asked your friend if she had lied on the resume, and she said no. Is she in the habit of lying to you or something? Anyway, you lied yourself when told your friend the resume was fine when you didn't really think so. </p>
<p>Let your friend worry about her chances on her own. You just worry about yours...</p>
<p>I also 100% agree with Skibird: you should be HONEST with your friend. She probably lied b/c she's insecure about her credentials. You could tell her that you don’t think being in ECs will make a diff (show her the post "How to get admitted to FSU"), and that you don’t think it’s worth the lie. If she lies and gets in, she will always wonder if she would have gotten in on her own merit. She could also get in trouble if she gets found out. Is it worth it to her?</p>
<p>The reason that I "lied" and said it was fine initially was because, although her resume looked a little sketchy, I had no proof of her lies until I casually asked friends the next day, "Oh, who are the officers of Key Club? Are there any senior girls on the Robotics Team? Anyone I know participate in Mu Alpha Theta?" The clubs that I knew were fabricated or BS clubs included an honor society that people had discussed making a year ago, a skate/scooter club, and a club that has been discussed this year but not yet formed. </p>
<p>I told her that FSU does not value extracurriculars, and she just laughed. You are probably right irisgirl, she has a 1200something SAT and a 2.9 GPA, so she is probably just trying to beef up the resume to overcompensate. She sent me another student's resume, mocking it for its lack of extracurricular activites. Maybe I will try one more time to tell her that lying can have serious consequences (blacklisting?), and then just leave it alone. </p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your thoughtful advice!</p>
<p>You are to be applauded for seeing the importance in honesty and having the desire to do the "right" thing. Hopefully, your friend will see your sincere concern for her. She is truly blessed to have a friend who really cares about her future. (Most high school friendships tend to be more superficial and don't last beyond high school.) But even if she doesn't "get it" after you confront her - you should have a clear conscience.</p>