Is it safe to lie about extracurriculars?

<p>where do you people come from?</p>

<p>I am worried about all of you who say it is OK to cheat. I wonder if that means you did the same?</p>

<p>Of course it means they cheated. Anyone thinks cheating is normal and expected thinks that way because that's how they and their friends act.</p>

<p>all this stuff will catch up to these liars and cheaters</p>

<p>didn't the president of Harvard or something lose her job because they looked back at her resume and she had listed things that she hadn't actually achieved?</p>

<p>*Sigh"</p>

<p>That's why you make your revisions untracable.</p>

<p>Please read the second half of my last reply. That's all I'm gonna say.</p>

<p>I don't think kingofqueens was exactly supporting cheating at all costs or anything, but oh well, to express such an opinion on this website is akin to murder I guess. I'm one of the few that understands his perspective.</p>

<p>Of course, now I'm going to get accused of being a cheater "akin to murder" with no morals. </p>

<p>Getting back to the original topic, I think it has been sufficiently answered.</p>

<p>"Of course it means they cheated. Anyone thinks cheating is normal and expected thinks that way because that's how they and their friends act."</p>

<p>Yeah while "anyone" is a strong word, I agree. It's really kind of ridiculous, guys, to cheat like this. Do what you're passionate about, and get into college and work at what you want to do. You'll get somewhere, more places than you will by fabrications. It is very possible to succeed without ever doing EC's. Lying about 'em is quite silly, unless you're really too obsessed with prestigious schools to take anything but them...even then, lying about EC's is foolish, because no given program gets someone in...and the potential loss of your reputation at the other end is pretty serious.</p>

<p>I do like to play the devil's advocate in threads like these, especially when the OP gets railed for asking a simple question, moral or not. </p>

<p>But really, as long as you are smart enough to not get caught, I do not see any harm in adding a few activities to resume just to augment your chances a little. And I do mean A FEW, not some blatantly ridiculous stuff. Do you people honestly think saying "I was captain of the Chess club" on the application, even if you weren't the captain, is going to make you a cold-hearted criminal? Please, that train of thought is sadder than people who cheat. It is human nature, so just deal with it.</p>

<p>"didn't the president of Harvard or something lose her job because they looked back at her resume and she had listed things that she hadn't actually achieved?"</p>

<p>It was MIT's dean of admission Merilee Jones, who despite an outstanding career in admissions was fired about 2 years ago for lying on her resume decades ago when she had started working at MIT.</p>

<p>"Do you people honestly think saying "I was captain of the Chess club" on the application, even if you weren't the captain, is going to make you a cold-hearted criminal? Please, that train of thought is sadder than people who cheat. It is human nature, so just deal with it."</p>

<p>For many people, it's human nature to be honest.</p>

<p>And lying about things like being president of a chess club aren't going to boost you into college. The kind of impressive achievements that would boost you in are very easy for colleges to verify.</p>

<p>I believe that some students whom I have interviewed for my alma mater didn't get in because they lied during their interviews. I didn't tell them that I knew they were lying, but I did mention it in my report.</p>

<p>For instance, one student claimed to have spent a lot of time volunteering in a service organization that my son was president of and had been a top officer of for 3 years, and I also extensively volunteered with. When the student mentioned the organization, I suspected the student was lying since I had never met the student before. Later in the interview, I casually asked if the student new my son, who also was a high school student, and the student said, "no." Pretty hard not to know the president and former VP of the organization that one claims to be an extensive volunteer with.</p>

<p>The original poster and those that think it's okay to lie on an application--about half of those who have posted a reply--disgust me. As the proverb goes, "There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience."</p>

<p>If you did happen to lie on the app, it would probably come back to bite you in the you know what. If you have to lie to get into a school, you don't deserve to be there, and will probably flunk out. That whole "karma's a ***** thing."</p>

<p>^^^I agree. It so is</p>

<p>
[quote]
The original poster and those that think it's okay to lie on an application--about half of those who have posted a reply--disgust me. As the proverb goes, "There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience."

[/quote]

People like you who can't understand another perspective disgust me. I (or anyone else, I think) wasn't supporting or advocating cheating. That is the subject of another thread, by which inevitably 3/4 of the people immediately shot down the OP for "having no morals".</p>

<p>I was simply answering the question objectively. I'm done with discussing about cheating in this thread, as a bunch of strawman arguments and whatnot bs is all that's cluttering the thread.</p>

<p>To think I thought people thought lying on college apps would be better off not being thought..</p>

<p>Anyway, you best know the consequences before you do anything stupid.. then reconsider it..</p>

<p>I don't know how you can lie about it without feeling like crap for the rest of your life.... By lying, you've taken a spot away from someone else who actually worked hard for all four years of their high school career just so they can go to that "dream" college of theirs. All the while, you've sat around and done nothing... you just denied that student their chance when they deserve it a thousand times more than you.</p>

<p>And anyways, you're probably only capable of going to a community college with your scores. Even if you get accepted to somewhere else, you'll fail miserably because all you know to do is cheat.</p>

<p>"I don't know how you can lie about it without feeling like crap for the rest of your life.... By lying, you've taken a spot away from someone else who actually worked hard for all four years of their high school career just so they can go to that "dream" college of theirs. All the while, you've sat around and done nothing... you just denied that student their chance when they deserve it a thousand times more than you."</p>

<p>Heh OK to be fair, I'm dubious enough about the fairness of admissions processes that I can't say I'd feel BAD for other students as much as just believe what I did was not honestly worth it. </p>

<p>It probably is possible to stretch the truth and get away with it. I don't think, however, that it's super easy to get away with a really insane lie. Maybe I am too naive.</p>

<p>LOL by "what I did" -- I kind of mean hypothetically :) I def. had no EC's worth speaking of, and anyone to whom I would try to lie, even an admissions officer who doesn't know me, would have a good laugh at me if I tried fooling 'em...unless they're REALLY dumb.</p>

<p>I haven't read any of the posts on this thread, although I see the topic and that it has generated seven pages of responses which, I'll assume, constitute some sort of debate over the topic. I hope any student who lies on a college application does not go to college with either of my children, and I hope any parent who supports (or even condones) lying is not surprised when their children face a lifetime of "getting caught." (I can assure you that if your children are not taught to lie on a college application, they will lie on job applications, tax returns, affidavits, etc.) I also hope I know no adults who support or condone lying on college applications. No wonder our government, Wall Street and the rest of our economic infrastructure is in the tank...</p>