<p>Having read some of the "What are my chances" threads, I can't help getting the feeling that many people lie on their applications. I don't like to incriminate any people, but I don't see how 500 + service hours, 3 varsity sports for 4 years, founding 3 clubs and being the president of all of them, maintaing a 5.0 gpa, etc.....is possible and so common in these applications. I am exagerating, but you get the point. I'm just wondering, do people often lie or exagerate their achievements? Although at this point, I've probably done about 75 or so service hours, I'm thinking about just writing that I have done 8 million.....the things I read on these threads just seems so bogus.</p>
<p>nope. a lot of people do have amazing stats. in fact, the stats you described isn't THAT amazing. i'm not even being sarcastic</p>
<p>it's cc</p>
<p>right.....then its not worth reading my college admission letters. top 3 % in my class = terrible nowadays....community college for me.</p>
<p>That'd only be true if this board consisted of a random distribution of all people intending to go to college. However, I'd say most of the members of this board, maybe 90% or more of them have "statistics" that are in the top 1-2%.</p>
<p>i have 400h+ volunteer work,but I do it 2h/week, and four years...so i think 500h+ is possible</p>
<p>I think you're quantifying the admissions process too much. There's really no purpose in counting the number of varsity sports or the number of clubs or the number of service hours that precisely and fretting over them.</p>
<p>I would contend that doing 100 hours of meaningful community service that you can meaningfully reflect on through your application is more beneficial than doing 500 hours of community service that mean nothing to you. The same applies for playing 1 varsity sport vs. playing 3 varsity sports, or founding 1 club vs. founding 3 clubs.</p>
<p>The top-tier colleges don't want busy-bodies. They're not looking for the person who can cram the most crap into their daily schedule for four years. </p>
<p>Also, if there really was a person who had "500 + service hours, 3 varsity sports for 4 years, founded 3 clubs and was the president of all of them, maintained a 5.0 gpa"...that person would be pretty amazing, provided the clubs were actually significant and not just padding (in which case they'd be worthless). I disagree with innocentstalker1; a person who can do that would be truly rare.</p>
<p>Most people who apply to college aren't hanging out on CC . Most college applicants have nothing to worry about when it comes to getting into college. That's because most colleges accept the majority of their applicants, and the colleges' average SAT I total scores are probably around 1500.</p>
<p>As long as a student has a college prep curriculum, a B average and scores around 1500, they'll get accepted to most colleges in the country. They don't need to have any ECs.</p>
<p>It's only places like Harvard, Amherst, Yale -- which attract an overabundance of students with super high stats, incredible ECs (that are not faked!), tons of APs, etc., -- that can afford to accept only students who are truly exceptional while also rejecting others that are exceptional. Consequently, it's applicants that plan to apply to places like Harvard that make most of the posts on CC.</p>
<p>I guess what I'm really wondering is....Is there any way to ensure the validity of one's extra curriculars on a college app? Or is basically the honor system?</p>
<p>Colleges tend to check when things don't add up.
Lies also can be exposed in interviews. I've interviewed students who told me lies about their ECs such as a student who said she was very active in a community organization that I volunteered with and my S was VP of. I knew that she was exaggerating about her experience there.
Some colleges also do random checks.</p>
<p>For an EC to be a tip factor, it has to be impressive. If the EC really is a lie, it probably will stand out big time, and will cause a rejection.
Things like # of volunteer hours, memberships in clubs aren't tip factors and aren't worth risking one's admission to lie about.</p>
<p>That's great....I consider community service to be my biggest passion and I put a lot of effort into it.....but its not a tip factor....Thanks for the info though Northstarmom, its been helpful</p>
<p>Clipper: That's not what I'm suggesting. What I'm saying is that hours of community service aren't likely to be a tip factor for the colleges that consider ECs in admissions. Results of community service could be a tip factor.</p>
<p>Results could mean starting a community service organization that is more than a sham designed for resume decoration; having a big impact on an individual person whom one has done something like tutored for years (the impact could be documented by a letter from the person, their parent, the organization where one volunteers); creating a successful fundraising project; taking a major leadership role in a community service project, etc.</p>
<p>The top colleges that use ECs as tip factors aren't going to be impressed by someone who did, for instance, 500 hours of random community service -- picking up trash, answering the phone, etc. -- without eventually doing something that involved leadership or major impact. Those colleges want to attract leaders and people with creativity, not people who just do a good job of doing what they're told.</p>
<p>No, I think you're misunderstanding what NSM said...the amount of hours doesn't matter. If you actually did 100 hours but you put down 110, that won't make much of a difference at all and is thus not worth the risk in case you get caught.</p>
<p>However, if your community service was meaningful and you can reflect upon it meaningfully (ie in an essay or short answer), it can be a strong asset to your application.</p>
<p>right. it's quality, not quantity.</p>
<p>gotcha....thanks a lot you guys. I hate being addicted to this site but I learned one very valuable thing on it today!</p>