I applied to a number of colleges and got into a number of prestigious ones. While filling up the hours/week week/year columns instead of filling in an average, for a few of the activities, I filled in about the highest number of hours I’d worked in any given week and then filled in the total number of weeks I’d worked on that particular activity. Feeling a bit guilty about this and was wondering if its unethical?
<p>Well I dont think so. If the numbers are more or less accurate, then i dont think u did any harm. </p>
<p>Besides if ur already admitted in some, that means the people out there didnt find any glitch!</p>
<p>Anyway dont brood over your past mistakes, just look forward and live your life, coz tomorrow may not be. :-)</p>
<p>It seems dishonest to me because you indicated that you worked that many hours each of the weeks that you put in your total. An average would have been more accurate.</p>
<p>My guess is that it feels dishonest to you, too, or else you wouldn't be asking that question. In addition, if you're bright enough to get into prestigious colleges, you're bright enough to know how to answer simple questions involving numbers.</p>
<p>Well..yeah... It did appear unethical to me and thats why I'm having my doubts about it.
But to a certain extent doesn't everyone exaggerate a bit on their apps. The adcons probably take it into account in many cases. Or is that just a rationalization.</p>
<p>No, everyone doesn't exaggerate on their apps. Believe it or not, not everyone cheats. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, top college adcoms don't care how many hours you spend on an EC. They care about what you accomplish on the EC.</p>
<p>Frankly, sometimes I think that they ask the "hours" question only to see how honest applicants are. Some applicants actually manage to say they spend so many hours on their ECs each week that the only way they could do that would be if they didn't sleep!</p>
<p>I think most ppl 'round up' a bit in reporting hrs for ec's.</p>
<p>its lying. Sorry.</p>
<p>You know the answer to your question. You feel badly about this, and this is good! Next time you apply for a job, fill out your tax forms, or apply to grad school, you'll remember this feeling and do the right thing.
Congratulations for having a conscience. Think of this as a learning experience.</p>
<p>who cares? you are in.</p>
<p>it didn't make or break your application so stop worrying. you were qualified and you got in.</p>
<p>college2332 - So the end justifies the means. Integrity means nothing as long as you succeed.
I agree that the poster shouldn't lose too many sleepless nights over this, but it's a very good sign that he feels guilty for doing what he knew was not honest. How do you know it didn't make his application? With two candidates being equal in other ways, committment to ECs can be a deciding factor.
"Getting in" is not as important as who you are when you get out.</p>
<p>if you got any morals, you would go to the school and tell them about this "mistake", but then again, this is college admin process. if i were you i'd explain it to the commit, i mean, they aren't going to reject you for just a minor mistake! they didn't accept you b/c you got 200hrs more. so i doubt this would affect you much. However, if you try to conceal it, it may turn in to something big. i just titled this in a drastic way so you would pay attention to my post but just be honest and read more diligently next time :)</p>
<h2>im all for integrity, but for some reason i think the OP got in because of their GPA/SAT scores/teacher recommendation/and essays. I doubt missing a few key club meetings made the difference. the student got accepted because they are capable of performing at a specific academic caliber. I'm not saying you shouldn't use it as a learning expierence, I just firmly believe there is no benefit to worrying about the past.</h2>
<p>"If you try to conceal it, it might turn into something big." -- that is bull. People are making this seem like its gonna be on the headlines of major newspapers. If you stretched some of your club hours, you can "make it up" by doing some community service. That way you will satisfy the amount of extracuricular hours you said you commited, ease your conscience, and be helping to make a difference in your neighborhood all at once.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, hydel, where did you get in?</p>
<p>Well..the reason why I assumed that many people exaggerate is because a fair number from my school turn 2nd and 3rd place awards into wins, national events into international ones and claim membership to many non-existent clubs at school. I avoided making any of those ethical blunders. I was therefore wondering how my mistake would compare in comparison to these and how important the hours are to the admission. Should this determine whether or not I go to this particular college.</p>
<p>Two wrongs don't make a right, but hours in clubs is very insignificant compared to the rest of your application. I'm not endorsing your behavior, I just think you shouldn't worry about it.</p>
<p>Of course, you should go to the college you got in. Stop worrying and just be careful in the future. I assure you no one really cares, except a few stay-at-home moms who have nothing better to do than type on messageboards during the commercial breaks of Ricki Lake.</p>
<p>Go To The College You Got In. and Stop Worrying.</p>
<p>But if you lie one place in order to make an impression, that is wrong</p>
<p>Here is a sample of what I think to the OP did:</p>
<p>Usual EC time per week 2 hours @30 weeks per year = approx 60+maybe 15 extra hours for special projects so _75 hours for year
One Week EC time was 6 hours so@30 weeks per year = 180 hours</p>
<p>Of course, I am guessing numbers, but do you see the difference?</p>
<p>What if you were a lawyer that billed by the hour, or a contractor...so well this one week I worked ten hours for you, so I will charge to ten hours for each week (even though I really only worked 4 hours the other weeks), same principal</p>
<p>I think it is good the OP feels guilty. It shows remorse and hopefully a lesson learned. Sure they got away with it this time, but that will not always be the case.</p>
<p>College2332- don't be rude to Moms, its shows very little class and shows your true colors.</p>
<p>Yes, it is.
But, hey, I'm just an axe murderer, so what do I know.
. . . still, yeah, it is.</p>
<p>Hydel, where did you get in!?!</p>
<p>"a fair number from my school turn 2nd and 3rd place awards into wins, national events into international ones and claim membership to many non-existent clubs at school. "</p>
<p>It's not ethical nor normal behavior nor does it justify your exaggerating on your application. When I have interviewed applicants to my alma mater, I have caught some in lies. I also have made sure that admissions knew that.</p>
<p>Maybe it's time that the colleges start asking for verification (letters from EC advisors, etc.) of all ECs . It seems a shame, but necessary.</p>