I’m a dual US-UK citizen applying from the United kingdom and I was wondering how applicants can actually prove their extracurriculars such as volunteer hours, research/academic awards, leadership awards and whether they actually were involved in or founded certain clubs? Do universities in the US just take your word for it and not actually check? Does it have to be a major achievement for colleges to bother checking?
I’m mostly referring to the top 30 us universities since that’s where I’m applying.
It is the honor system. However, I believe that colleges do have the right to verify (ex. with your school, your supervisor) and if you lie it would be very bad news for your application.
@happy1 Honor system? Also if they verify with your school on certain activities does that mean you should leave certificates, awards and evidence for such activities with your school or supervisor? How does this work for internationals or students abroad? Would colleges actually bother verifying such activities through your school? What if your home schooled? Plus if they don’t check then how could the college tell whether or not your lying?
They don’t try to verify your extracurricular activities, and there’s no way for them to reasonably do it for all the applicants they receive. The only possible reason that they would bother doing so would be if something on an application seems really dubious.
Honor system means that they trust applicants to tell the truth. But as noted, the colleges have the right to check if they want to. No need to leave documents/proof at school, but you should hold on to the papers in the unlikely event something is questioned.
@happy1 So basically you can lie and get away with it as long as they don’t question your lie? I can make up my whole extracurriculars and the colleges would assume that I’m telling the truth? What percentage of applicant do you think would do that and get admitted since it’s basically a crime that you could get away with in your application.
@bodangles I do plan to be honest but what about other applicants who are dishonest and may get an advantage over others if they make up their extracurriculars? Shouldn’t every applicant be concerned that the college may request proof for their extracurriculars and may go through their school or supervisor?
Then it’ll catch up with them sooner or later. You know what can happen to people as soon as the school finds out they’ve misrepresented themselves? At various points of the process… They could be rejected. They could lose their acceptance. They could be expelled from the university. They could lose their financial aid. They could have their degree taken away after they’ve already earned it.
Selective colleges are hard to get into, period. Worrying about whether someone else has an advantage or not is pointlessly stressful. Someone else always has an advantage over you, and whether you get rejected or accepted has nothing to do with that person.
@bodangles Your assuming those that fabricate extracurriculars are going to continue lying and get caught? What are the various points of the admission process were such applicants might get rejected? Also how does one lose his or her degree with faulty extracurriculars in their application or even get expelled?
…No. When you submit an application, you sign a thing saying that everything contained within is true and accurate. If you commit fraud in order to gain acceptance to a university, everything you do thereafter is based on that fraud and can be considered invalid if/when you’re caught.
@bodangles What surprises me is that such students actually could have gotten away with it and did end up getting into elite universities. This is shocking really. I guess honesty is the best policy when it comes to college admission
A few years ago Stanford announced that they would randomly spot check applications. Don’t know if they’re still going it or if other schools have followed suit. I do know that AO’s will sometimes pick up the phone and call GCs for verification or clarification of things on an app.
@bodangles What if, for example, (in my case) I attended a religious course but the school is so unorganized that when admissions calls to confirm (which leads to another question…) they lose my file and costs me my chance and possibly places me on a blacklist?
How will these institutions even get the contact information of a business I participated in if no where on CommonApp does it ask to write it? My conjecture is that they only call for things that CAN be confirmed and seems suspicious, something like 2 people applying who claimed to be the class president who were both in the same class or someone who claimed to be captain of 4 different varsity teams all in a single year.
ali – I understand your fear that others are lying – and certainly it can happen. Even monstrous examples of fabrication have been uncovered and embarrassing to the schools.
But also trust this: given the extremely competitive nature of admissions to the top schools, those generally getting acceptances aren’t the ones who are saying they’re the president of the Spanish club when they weren’t.
Those lies matter ZERO. And the big ones (national level competition winners) are easily verified and usually attested to in other supporting rec letters.
The kids from my area that are admitted to my alma mater, Yale? Universally, you talk to their classmates and it’s “Oh yeah, no surprise at all. If anyone should have gotten in, it’s him or it’s her”
Basically, don’t even worry about that foolish person who thinks adding a line about “volunteering at a hospital” is going to mean anything. The very fact that they need to embellish already says the rest of their CV isn’t stellar – that’s my experience. The kids I see offered admissions? They are CLEARLY stellar kids.
