<p>One wonders: How many people lie in their admission essays? I can't imagine 1 million kids truthfully answering such questions as: What moment transformed your life? What is the worst moment of your high school career? If you could help anyone, whom? where? why? etc. I think that as a 17 year old looking for a hook, I might be tempted to tell about how I rescued a Sherpa dude from certain death on the summit of K2. Or how I actually did invent the internet. Or how I single-handedly, as a 15 year old sophomore, saved an endangered ant species in the Amazon from extinction. Do you think they really care if you lie? Are they looking for creativity or the truth?</p>
<p>I have no idea how many kids lie, but definitely think "they really care" if kids do. There are plenty of ways to honestly show creativity, and I think any kid who lies and somehow manages to get in is hurting themselves. Good relationships are based on who people are, not who they pretend to be. (I also think admissions people are pretty savvy at detecting the truth.)</p>
<p>Thanks 2blue, but I am not so sure after reading a few posts here. Sometimes I think they are so sick of reading these essays, that they are either just looking for mistakes (not too many at ivy level) or obvious b.s. But a really creative essay, which is complete baloney, just might be the hook one needs to grab the attention of "a bleary eyed admit. off."</p>