<p>Do you have to submit some kind of proofs that you really did the ECs you're writing about in your application?
How does all this work? Because if they don't require any proofs, you can tell about pretty much anything you want to.</p>
<p>Technically, you can say anything. One college student fabricated every part of his application (test scores, ECs, letters of rec, and transcript) and got into Harvard. But generally, your counselor LoR will validate whatever you submit.</p>
<p>My rule of thumb is that if it’s worth falsifying it’s easy to verify. In other words, no one at the colleges to which you apply will know if you really are vice president of the French club or have done 20 hours of volunteering at the library. On the other hand those EC’s aren’t going to give your application much, if any, bump. The ones that are, like being captain of a team, editor of the newspaper, or recipient of a major CS award, are easy to verify with a quick google check, and they would also be something an admissions officer would expect your GC to mention. All in all, it’s really not worth it to fake your EC’s. You’re putting your application at risk for very little reward.</p>
<p>College’s look at your recommendation letters to see what your teachers say about your extracurricular involvement. If you claim to be the President of clubs or activities, they expect your teachers to at least note your extensive dedication to those EC’s, as well as your scholastic potential.In addition, your guidance counselor is asked to rate your EC involvement in the Secondary School Report (SSR). See page 2: <a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/documents/UG_Admissions_SecondarySchoolReport.pdf”>http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/documents/UG_Admissions_SecondarySchoolReport.pdf</a></p>
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<p>Bottom line: While you don’t need to submit documentation to back up your EC’s, don’t expect to be accepted to the college of your choice being caught in a lie. It’s always best to tell the truth! </p>
<p>How are teachers expected to know all of our ECs? And how are guidance counselors to know of our ECs outside of school besides by being told by us in brag sheets (which will obviously include the same info as they are student completed and therefore useless in verifying anything)?</p>
<p>I just feel like some discrepancies could arise if a student is involved in out of school activities and the student is in a large (3,000+ kids) public high school where the GCs don’t have much time per student.</p>
<p>They don’t usually check, but if something stands out that doesn’t make sense, they will and if it’s a lie, out you go, out of consideration. For most colleges, it doesn’t mean much what ECs you have unless it’s at a level where it’s useful for the college. Like if you are looking to play on a NCAA team. And,yes, those sort of claims are checked out, and easy enough to do. So if your ECs are something that are truly making you a stand out in the applicant pool, they are things that are easy enough to verify. Otherwise, they don’t really make much difference at all except if you get caught exaggerating or lying, in which case, you are often out of consideration.</p>
<p>Want to add that lies often have short legs. The world of selective college admissions is often quite small and filled with coincidences. Usually the admissions officer who handles your app will also be looking at those apps of those from your area as well as from your school/class. So if you put down Pres of Student Council or 1st chair at some orchestra, and someone else does the same thing, it can get caught very easily. Not saying people don’t get away with it, but they also get caught. </p>
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This is what I think, too. If it’s worth lying about, the risk of lying is too great.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your responses guys. What if I am an international student? Will it be more or less likely that they will verify my ECs? What do you think?</p>
<p>They probably don’t verify much. But if you lie about something that matters, that’s the one thing they’ll choose to verify. That’s how fate works. Don’t risk it.</p>
<p>Plus, do you really want to be looking over your shoulder for your whole college career and beyond, fearing that somebody will one day discover that you were only the co-president of the Math Club, and not the sole president?</p>
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<p>i chuckled</p>
<p>The colleges that most care about ECs, only care about big time ECs and they also understand how schools work overseas. If it’s truly not a thing to have ECs in a culture, in a country, and you come up with this great list, that may raise the eyebrows more than not having much or anything. You aren’t the first one applying to these colleges, you know. The Admissions staff has looked at a lot of apps and know what fits the mold and what doesn’t and what doesn’t pass the sniff test. Not that something doesn’t occasionally get by them, or maybe more than occasionally, but bear in mind they have more experience with the apps than a kid applying for the first time. </p>
<p>Not to hi-jack the thread but…</p>
<p>how specific should i be in my EC’s? Should I say “marketing intern at start-up” or “marketing intern at newwebsite.com”???</p>
<p>Being specific may help to add authenticity, but at some point there is no reason to do so. I’m not sure how to approach this matter lol.</p>
<p>You should be truthful, but don’t forget that you are marketing yourself. So, as an example, give the URL of the website if it would make you look good if they looked at it.</p>
<p>DON’T LIE. That is all</p>
<p>There’s no need to worry if you’re telling the truth!</p>
<p>Something no one has mentioned is that if you are accepted at a college and do matriculate, your application becomes part of your permanent record. If there are falsehoods in that application, your admission, attendance at the school, or even your degree can be revoked at any time, even after your graduate. It can and does happen, especially if you do something to embarrass the school and they decide to go over your record with a fine-toothed comb, just looking for something to get rid of you. Or you get someone mad and they decide to rat you out, as they know you lied to get into your school - maybe you bragged about it or you took “their spot”.</p>
<p>Bottom line - just because you get away with it initially, don’t think you’ll get away with it forever.</p>
<p>Is it just me, or every time this topic comes up do you think “OP would have no purpose asking this question unless he is weighing the risk of fabricating ECs?” </p>
<p>Our school has the students fill out a sheet listing all the ECs, which the guidance counselor includes in the record that is sent to colleges. She would call out any lies there, and if what you put in your application doesn’t match the official record, that would be a problem.</p>
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<p>Bingo!</p>
<p>FWIW, there is an industry in creating fake applications for international students because it can be so difficult to trace the lies. And because they are full pay, many schools look the other way.</p>
<p>This is just one article you get among dozens from reputable news sources if you do a search like “fake college applications from china” on Google.</p>
<p><a href=“Sneaking Into Class From China - The New York Times”>Sneaking Into Class From China - The New York Times;