<p>I don't think everybody lies on their applications. If caught it's going to be serious trouble for the applicant. I don't think many people really want to take that risk.</p>
<p>If someone's lie hurts you in some way, you have every reason to tell someone in a position to correct these injustices.</p>
<p>If someone's lie does not hurt you... well, it's up to you. If you consider this person your friend, or even acquaintance, you have to weigh the anger she will feel with the satisfaction you will derive from honesty.</p>
<p>And no, very few people lie on their apps. I know I don't.</p>
<p>MANY PEOPLE LIE ON THEIR APPS!!
Everyone around me does.......and I cant believe I sent 8 applications without lying in any of them!! I have 2 more apps to send I will lie in them.
WHY?? Coz as far as I know, liers do steal the acceptance letters!!
But it really hurts when you are the one who worked 25 hrs a week in those ECs and community service when the lier was just goofin around and wrote 30 hours in his application!!!
So yes, lying is not good...but who cares as long as it pays off!!!</p>
<p>haha that person better watch out b/c i know someone who reported to be an officer in a club on their app. well, the college found out somehow, rejected her, and she got a really bad reputation...i forget what she ended up doing after she got outed...probabaly community college of some sort.</p>
<p>Tell me the full name of the girl and the college that she applied to with the lies. I will personally call the school and let them know of the situation.</p>
<p>I don't know why you would want to do it except for malignant reasons.</p>
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<p>Well I was completely honest and my friends--I believe--were as well...</p>
<p>It's rather stupid to lie on an application when some universities actually call your high school counselor to find out. Also, you can't lie about grades or scores when there are transcripts.</p>
<p>Liars are pathetic and don't deserve to attend those universities they apply to.</p>
<p>this girl came up to me the other day and said "are you the president of this club." i said yes. she said "whew, i hope you don't mind i said i was the vp on my college applications." she's not even in the club!!! and why pretend to ask for my permission? i'm not going to report her or anything, but i do kind of hope she gets caught. do colleges really call to check up on people? i'm mad b/c we applied to a couple of the same schools.</p>
<p>To the OP:
Those exagerations were really, really minor. Saying president instead of co-president is okay anyway, and the extra 50 hours could have actually happened without you being aware of it.</p>
<p>"this girl came up to me the other day and said "are you the president of this club." i said yes. she said "whew, i hope you don't mind i said i was the vp on my college applications." she's not even in the club!!! and why pretend to ask for my permission? "</p>
<p>She asked for your permission because she wanted approval to do wrong. I hope that you burst her bubble by explaining that no, you do not give her permission to lie on her applications, and I hope that you also told her that it's wrong to take credit for someone else's work.</p>
<p>If you didn't do those things, you tacitly gave her permission to lie. I do hope that instead of just venting here, you told her off. Your telling her off would have far more impact than an adult's telling her off because you are a peer.</p>
<p>no, i didn't tell her off. i just gave her a digusted look and walked off.</p>
<p>How, may I ask, is this AT ALL a morally ambiguous issue?</p>
<p>It's lying. And, since we know that colleges take only a certain number of people, it hurts others by artificially raising the bar. If many people do it, that does not make it right. If people think that lying is the only way to be successful on the college apps, then everyone begins to lie. You start and perpetuate a process wherein the real workers don't get their due distinction.</p>
<p>They are taking credit where none is due. Don't let them do this. The person who lies on his or her application is exactly the type of person a college is hoping to spot and avoid.</p>
<p>Your ethical duty is to report this person. If you feel the changes are so minor (co-president v. president), ask the club sponsor or his or her councelor if it is all right. If they do not give an answer, or aren't sure as well, contact the college. Explain the situation, explain that the infringement was fairly minor, and leave it in the college's hands to decide how to act.</p>
<p>If it's not an ambiguous change (i.e. a lie), contact the college. Give your name, but explain that you would not the person to be made aware that you are the one who informed the college. Give the college contacts at your school (faculty sponsor, principal, councelor) so that they can investigate. Again, the college will judge for itself. You aren't tanking their college chances; they are.</p>
<p>Do it. You owe it to the college, to the kid whose spot they're taking, to yourself, and, yes, to the cheater.</p>
<p>Good post tetragrammaton. It's sad to see some of the pathetic posts that have tried to turn the victims into criminals by valuing honesty (because of guilt by association).</p>
<p>I agree. Im a staunch supporter of honesty and reporting em is a good idea. Sometimes it annoys me so that I wish liars (especially those who make a living outta em) should be shot.</p>
<p>Any lie is still a lie. "Everyone around me does.......and I cant believe I sent 8 applications" i sent in 9 and i havent lied either... nor does anyone I know..</p>
<p>Alrite then.....I've sent all applications without lying in any one of them...I just listed my MINOR ECs in my last 2 apps to make the list look longer.........</p>
<p>BUT I HATE THESE 2 PEOPLE AROUND ME....
It goes like this....I am an international from a typical high school and these other 2 guys (say guy A and guy B) are from my school too. All of our GPA are PRETTY TIGHTLY close.....A has an Excellent SAT score whereas I have a good score and B has a little less than mine. Now come to our ECs......I have a longer list than B, and A has his list close to mine. Now here's the catch!!
We all have overlaps in the colleges that we're applying to and while the other two lied conspicuously.....I didn't .
Guy A sent a supplementary CD showing something that he didnt make and Guy B also sent another similar CD. Guy B also lied about his ECs and his work experience, coz he had none!!</p>
<p>So now, I have lost the advantage I had over A and B (my ECs and list of achievements). And I am pretty much sure colleges wont accept me coz they are better than me (and as far as i know, colleges only accept one person from one high school for international students).</p>
<p>So I feel I should tell the college about this.............should I...
Or just sit down and pray that God eventually punishes them?</p>
<p>P.S. this is not a post-hijack. My point is revelant to this discussion and I am only saying something I experienced.</p>
<p>What I find unfortunate is that - in addition to the real cheaters - many people "lie" on their applications on accident as it is so easy to exaggerate hours. I went through my income statements from work to make sure I put the right amount; if I hadn't done that I would've guessed I averaged more hours per week. I think everyone subtly exaggerates themselves to some extend, and I think it is really damaging to those that don't because it would just be assumed you did a bit of embellishing. :(</p>
<p>What is it right now? I've seen two other threads on this same issue ...</p>
<p>Lying is wrong and can operate to your detriment if it is discovered (and this has happened). It may seem expedient now, but imagine the liar in a few years even if (s)he gets away with it. That person will always wonder if they could have made it on their own merits, whether they are a fraud. I would hope at some point one's conscience will take over.</p>
<p>As far as the OP, I can see the argument for not reporting because the lies seem so minor. But, if it were me, I would go to the GC and explain the ethical dilemma. You need guidance as to what is the proper thing to do and the one embellishing the application needs guidance as well. I wouldn't feel bound to protect the liar, because I would feel I had been placed in an untenable position by that person.</p>
<p>What I don't understand is why the liar is telling people. Perhaps an unconscious desire to be caught (doesn't want that particular school but is being pressured to apply, for instance)? Or is trying to avoid feeling guilty by spreading the blame as it were by blabbing -- "everyone knows and no one has a problem with it?" </p>
<p>Another way to try to avoid justified guilt is to claim that "everyone" does it or it is necessary to do. No they don't and it isn't. My daughter last year was admitted to three highly selective schools and didn't claim work or community service because she didn't do them (didn't have time). Perhaps, among other things, they admired her honesty.</p>
<p>a president doesn't equal "the" president of the club b/c on the app u write "the" president not "a" president.</p>
<p>... Wow, the moral integrity of some people really sickens me. God, if it wasn't for my belief that karma will always come back to eat you, I'd punch each of these liars in the face myself.</p>
<p>I can't believe people lie about being VP in a club they haven't even been in. Extending hours from 4.5 to 5 hours a week might be ok, I guess, because there might be weeks when you have to spend more time than usual doing things for special events. Even writing "president" without mentions that there was another president sharing the workload might be passable, because after all, you were a president and did the work. But when it comes to flat out lying about how you did something you never did... that really disgusts me.</p>
<p>This just worsened my mood of the day.</p>