How do college admissions know if you are telling the truth?

Someone could just make a whole bunch of fake extra-curriculars, and sure they could check up on it and ask their teachers, but what if it was something like started an online community for gamers and have over 400 members or something. they can’t check that. its kind of unfair because people can make stuff up and college admissions may never know - or do they? oO

The kind of ECs that make adcoms sit up and take notice are the kind that get huge press and a mention from the student’s guidance counselor. The kind that are difficult for them to confirm probably aren’t things that will give the student an edge.

If a certain EC is what tips you into the accept pile at elite schools, they will verify it either through the GC or the media.

Agreed. And google is your (and the AO’s) friend.

Additionally, if an applicant claims an amazing EC that is not referenced in a rec, you should assume the AO will dig deeper.

If they really cared, they could email the student and ask for the link.

If an EC is extreme enough to make or break someone’s acceptance, it’s almost certainly verifiable. If someone is accepted with an EC that is truly unverifiable (even by calling the high school, emailing the student, etc.), they would have been accepted anyway.

Should I include links in my college app?

And I don’t think they all get press. Like I know teenagers who did stuff like this and never got press but the Slack channel is active and they work on it heaps. And I know a kid who has a digital agency and has like 20 remote freelance employees but he doesn’t get press

There’s really no point in worrying about imaginary competitors and their imaginary lies. If they lie, they’ll get caught now or later. The consequences can be huge for falsifying an application. Be honest on yours and the results are what they are.

Also is there any way I can put a link of my website on the common app? This will have links to all my projects to show validity.

Sometimes ad coms call the GC to talk about an applicant before admitting them. They may mention ECs or awards.

I’m sure when you work in admissions for awhile you get pretty good at “sniffing” the phony stuff.

It’s just best to be honest and not worry about what other people are doing.

Agree with @SouthFloridaMom9 Just be honest and then you will be able to sleep well at night during the process. Some people certainly get away with adding an EC but it simply isn’t worth it.

I don’t know the best way, but if it’s something you’re proud of and you really WANT them to check up on it, include a link. Or, you can just put a comment in like “Links/references happily provided upon request”. Or put up an online resume and provide a single link to that, which can provide additional detail/links.

Can’t colleges nullify the degree retroactively if they find that you were admitted under false pretenses? I recall Harvard doing that and then sueing for fraud to recover any financial aid actually used.

I would think that this should scare anybody from lying.