<p>I was talking to a friend last night about her DD's acceptance into college and all of the financial aid she received. The school she was accepted to is religiously based. One of the scholarships the girl received was for members of this particular religion. She is not of this religion, never has been. In other words she lied on the application. I found this ironic that this lie in particular would be on her religious affiliation. Her comment was that it was just a little lie. I think it is in the amount of a $1000 lie. She said if they ask she will say she was born this religion but is not currently practicing and isn't a member of the church right now. I just find this a hard one to swallow and unethical. What do you all think?</p>
<p>I think this friend has to read this article:</p>
<p>[Ex-Harvard</a> senior charged with fabricating life history, stealing grant money - Local News Updates - MetroDesk - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/by_globe_staff_60.html]Ex-Harvard”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/by_globe_staff_60.html)</p>
<p>Not the same scale, but just like one can never be “a little bit pregnant”, one can never be “a little bit thief” - you either are a thief or you are not.</p>
<p>This is a bit like cheating on an ethics exam.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about things that don’t concern you</p>
<p>It amazes me when people are almost gleeful when their dishonesty benefits them.</p>
<p>Things like this really disturb me. Even though I don’t know this person, ultimately these kinds of things do concern us all. As the pressure to get into the “best” school gets worse and worse, you will hear more about these kinds of things and companies, sponsors, organizations will start pulling scholarship support as a result. The only way to stop this is to call people on it either directly or anonymously. If this person cheats on scholarships there is a good chance that this person will cheat on tests, etc. as well. Maybe this person is the reason your child didn’t get a spot in the degree program they wanted because he/she cheated to get in.</p>
<p>I think that the parents are very poor role models regarding ethics for their daughter.</p>
<p>This isn’t just lying, it’s stealing. And it’s stealing from som other student who could use the money.</p>
<p>It is not any different than saying you are a race/nationality that you are not. </p>
<p>I know that it SEEMS to be the high road to make the following statement:
</p>
<p>but it is because people turn a blind eye, and don’t stand up to or condemn bad/illegal behavior that so many feel it is OK to “lie just a little” and cheat others out of an honest opportunity. I do know that you need to mind your own business in certian circumstances, but not in all circumstances.</p>
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<p>Lmao, what a dumb thing to say. If everyone followed that principle, than the world would be SO much different; for example, the civil rights movement would not have succeeded without the efforts of white people, even though the segregation laws and acts did not affect them.</p>
<p>I am not saying I condole this behavior, but let face it, to say you belong to the religion is not on the same scale as to fabricate the entire acadamic history. Many, if not all adults fabricate their work experiences on their resume. They go to a cram course to learn some thing so they can claim they have done that in a job interview. So should we condemn those as well? or should we tolerate that? I think it is a gray area for everyone.</p>
<p>“Many, if not all adults fabricate their work experience on their resume. They go to a cram course to learn some thing so they can claim they have done that in a job interview.”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t dream of doing this. And yes, we should condemn it, and no, it is not a grey area at all.</p>
<p>saying that you have a skill you actually went to a class for, and saying that you are a religion you have never practiced are 2 totally different things. And no, not many/all adults fabricate work experience. In fact, being caught fabricating work experience would cause immediate termination in most companies if ever found out. So don’t try it.
And it is not OK. Nothing grey about it. </p>
<p>** cross posted with redpoint</p>
<p>I do not see this as a gray area. When you say something about yourself that is not true, you are lying. This seems pretty black and white to me. Also, what other adults do does not justify lying on a college application, and I would not condone an adult lying either.</p>
<p>Cross posted with redpoint, and vlines.</p>
<p>I think it is pretty bad to lie about your religon to a religous based college.<br>
Especially for only $1000??? Bad message to send to the kids… </p>
<p>and in reguards to this statement:</p>
<p>"Many, if not all adults fabricate their work experiences on their resume. "</p>
<p>No not all adults fabricate their work experience…</p>
<p>It is a sad world if many people no longer believe in standing up for truth.</p>
<p>The excuse that, “Everyone does it,” is very seldom true and never justifies the action.</p>
<p>No, not everybody is going to be at the party, not everybody cheats on income taxes, not everybody drinks before it is legal to do so, and not everybody fabricates work experiences on resumes.</p>
<p>I’ve never fabricated a single word on my resume, and while it might make artloversplus feel better about the “gray areas” on his/her own resume to think so, I don’t believe “most or all” engage in this kind of dishonesty. Perhaps artloversplus can provide his/her name so we can all be certain never to hire him/her or, heaven forbid, vote for him/her. </p>
<p>I think OP should tell the friend that she should be ashamed of herself and terminate the friendship. No one needs a thief for a friend.</p>
<p>It’s wrong, plain and simple. The fact that someone would feel comfortable enough to tell another person about this kind of a lie is a sad commentary.</p>
<p>Of course it is wrong, as well as the umpteen posts here on CC on how to get instate tuition, hide assests or check the box that you are Native American ( my great grandfather was 1/8th) etc.</p>
<p>I am a bit surprised that no verification was needed. But I agree there is no gray here and it would bug me.</p>