Hello!
On my common app, I listed a few national (prestigious) awards I got for my writing. Most of them have my name online, but a few don’t - but I have online certificates for those. So… what should I do about those? Should I just leave it?
How do colleges verify? For starters, one would assume that your GC and/or teacher would have mentioned in their rec; that’s part of the reason why they generally ask for a “brag sheet.” Additionally, google is everyone’s friend; the more prestigious, the more that it can be found online. Alternatively, the AO can simply call/email your GC to verify.
If in the unlikely event that a college asks for verification, you have the documentation to back it up.
It can be tricky sometimes. S won a gold medal this year in Science Olympiad. He has the medal but if you look him up online it doesn’t specifically mention him by name. Only his school and category show that a gold medal was won.
@moscott Understood, but that medal is a big deal, so I would be shocked if none of the recs mentioned it.
I don’t mean to imply that AO’s will spend all day googling awards; I doubt that they do on a regular basis just from a time standpoint. But an eyebrow will be raised if an applicant claims a prestigious award, and nobody else mentions it. Then, assuming the applicant is still in contention, I would not be surprised if the AO digs further.
@skieurope Thanks! Also, one more thing - if I’m president of a club with another person, can I still list my position as President? On the official records, the 2 of us are called Presidents (and, well, my name is mentioned first)
If you’re not called Co-Presidents by the school or sponsoring organization, then it’s fine. However, this is something that a college will not verify in all likelihood.