<p>WHen applying to grad school, do students need to prove that they actually had research experience instead of making something up?</p>
<p>I know that typically, students will ask the prof they worked for to write an LOR and that could be proof, but what about those who don't?</p>
<p>This is not general, but a lot of the people I've talked to seem to be somewhat dishonest with their applications. I don't want to go into details, but I feel this is unfair for people who are truthful?</p>
<p>Someone on this board once wrote: “If you can get away with it, it’s not worth lying about.” </p>
<p>I can claim to have all sorts of research experience on my CV, but without any external “evidence”, that could actually reflect poorly on me. What conclusion would you draw if I told you that I had worked on some project for a year without any tangible results (publications, awards, letters of recommendations, etc)? Probably that I wasn’t very productive during that time.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that many fields conduct interviews during the admissions process. If you can’t elaborate on the details of a project you’ve worked on, you are not going to leave a good impression…</p>
<p>Agree with b@r!um. If you were significantly involved in research, then why wouldn’t your ask your advisor for a recommendation? </p>
<p>If it was only a small project and you feel like the recommendation wouldn’t help you much then the mentioning the research won’t be as important anyway.</p>