<p>"She said that for transfer admission, the college does not request the transcript again from the school after it is sent, but the college does request the transcript from the university at which the student is currently enrolled." For transfers, colleges require BOTH official copies of a students HS final transcript and a college transcript.</p>
<p>"...he mistakenly emailed me a copy of the original, while applying for a summer internship at my machining workshop."</p>
<p>"The only thing that was different was that the school mails its envelopes with an automated postal system called neopost, which prints an orange coded stamp over the envelope. He informs me that the stamp he used was a regular one. He thinks (and I agree) that this is the only way that they would spot his dishonesty."</p>
<p>"Barring their suspicion over the regular stamp instead of the automated one, there would be no reason for them to suspect anything. His falsified grades are consistent with his SAT score, so it isn't like he represented a 4.5 with a low SAT score."</p>
<p>"Is there anyone in here with any legal advice? Can he be charged with forgery for this? In previous cases, have colleges pressed charges?"</p>
<p>"I do not want to involve the principle at this time, because she is known to be extremely vindictive and harsh."</p>
<p>"Also, does anyone have any thoughts on the postage dilemma? Since he didn't use the automated post, his transcript probably looked slightly different from the few others the school received. Do you think someone would pick that up or would it slip under the radar? How vigilant are admissions officers?"</p>
<p>"What I'm really trying to get at is if he is going to be caught by the university, I want to notify the appropriate parties before that happens. Also, I am wondering if the universities will press charges against him in court or just reject his application?"</p>
<p>Owners of "machining workshops" are unlikely to care much about the high school transcripts of job applicants. Falsified grades consistent with SAT scores, neopost rather than a stamp, a "harsh" principal -- the OP sounds to me like a kid who sent fake transcripts out with and is now worried he'll be caught and wondering whether he committed a prosecutable crime.</p>
<p>"You are not in a position to fix this."
I agree with mominva.
He probably can enroll in a community college and then transfer to a 4 year college in a few years. It would be FAR better for him to withdraw his applications to the colleges he sent the fraudlent transcript to, and not risk expulsion at a later date, which WILL have a very negative effect on any attempt to transfer or apply for any graduate school programs in the future. He needs to face the consequences of his actions, and the sooner he does, the less damage he will do to his future.</p>
<p>dntw8up,
I had the same thought.</p>
<p>I have to admit I did too.</p>
<p>Wow, this is a sticky situation indeed. </p>
<p>Given the fact that he went through so much trouble to make the forgery (making his own embossing mark!?!?) I really would have a hard time believing that this is the only time he's attempted to use fraudulent behavior, academic or otherwise, for personal gain.</p>
<p>Now that you've uncovered this information I think you do have an obligation to ensure that it's brought to the attention of the appropriate interested authorities (e.g. the high school and in turn the college). I doubt any school where he's used this fraud will file legal charges but they will almost certainly revoke any admissions... a bit rough yes but there's simply no excuse for this sort of behavior.</p>
<p>Look at it this way... what if you did nothing and he goes to X university and graduates with a top degree then goes onto a high level position somewhere when it's then discovered that he only originally got into college X on fraudulent grounds. Then he loses his job and his degree is revoked. </p>
<p>He made a huge mistake here and he needs to take responsibility for it. The longer this drags out the worse it will be in the end.</p>
<p>dntwp,
Agree with your assessment. And parents don't generally use the number 0 as an "o" in their new screen names.</p>
<p>There are so many ways that he could get caught in the short- or long-term that it's not worth the masquerade, and he will likely be treated more leniently and less publicly if he confesses the lie sooner rather than waiting to be turned in or caught.</p>
<p>dntw8up,</p>
<p>First of all, your condescending remark about "owners of machining workshops" was uncalled for. My little "machining workshop" has contracts with a number of large railroads in the south Asian region. I did care about his transcript because he would not be doing manual labor. Rather, I wanted him to help out with our Auto-CAD team. </p>
<p>Second, I think that you would do the same in my position, which is evaluate your options carefully rather than taking uninformed action that could jepordize this kid's future. </p>
<p>Admittedly, he made a mistake, but not one that should ruin his life. We all made mistakes as kids.</p>
<p>I find it rather offensive that you decided to jump to the conclusion that I am misrepresenting myself. If you'd like, I can send you some information about my "machining shop", which is a division of a highly respected civil engineering corporation with offices in Bangalore and Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>id imagine i could send u similar information and im only 17</p>
<p>I thought the OP might be the kid's parent.</p>
<p>A similar situation occured at my son's HS a few years back. 2 Srs- both very bright, computer savvy kids who had been accepted at Ivy league colleges, had participated in a scheme to produce fraudelent drivers licenses, [which is a criminal offense] so classmates could buy booze. They came to their senses, confessed to their actions, were expelled from the school, but were allowed by the universities they had been accepted at to matriculate after they served a year of community service. Some Senior parents felt they should not have been expelled, some felt they got what they deserved and needed to serve as an example to others.
I totally agree with the following-
"He made a huge mistake here and he needs to take responsibility for it. The longer this drags out the worse it will be in the end." That is the bottom line here.
By fessing up now, he has the chance to maintain some credibility with his HS and the colleges. If he is found out, then the consequences will be much harsher, and longer lasting.</p>
<p>There are just too many tell-tale possibilities for an adcom not to notice something much more obvious than a stamp: teacher or counselor recs that aren't consistent with hs grades; inconsistency of the transcript routinely mailed with mid-year or year-end reports; class rank that doen't make sense; gpa on the secondary school report that doesn't match the one on the altered transcript, just to name a few. I'd say that the chances of getting caught are high.</p>
<p>If I were OP, I would not take on the burden of reporting this kid to either the high school or any universities. This is a serious accusation, and it should not be made without any concrete evidence to support it. It does not sound like you have the alleged fraudulent transcript in your possession nor do you have any direct evidence that he did in fact send it anywhere.</p>
<p>At most, I'd tell his father, but even that tack would take some serious consideration. His father is your friend, but you can bet he won't be your friend after you tell him this. He will most likely take his son's side, and his son will likely deny the whole thing since we already know he is a liar. In which case nothing will be gained, and you will have lost a friendship.</p>
<p>I would advise the boy to tell his father. Other than this, I would do nothing if I were OP. The boy is likely to get caught and punished somewhere along the way, and it sounds like he deserves it. No use messing up your own life over him - he doesn't sound worth it.</p>
<p>The OP sounds suspiciously like another frequent poster on this forum- a certain Asian father very concerned with his daughter's college process??????I suspect another identity here.</p>
<p>Assuming that the OP is who he says he is....I'd give the kid 2 days to tell his parents and his school, making it clear that you will inform the parents on the third day if he hasn't, and that you will inform the school on the fourth day if he and his parents haven't done so by then. That gives the kid and his parents the opportunity to do the right thing. Be prepared to lose a friend, even if you take a position of sympathy.</p>
<p>To everyone who has voiced their opinion in this forum and has given me helpful advice, I offer my thanks.</p>
<p>To everyone else, I have no way to prove my identity or authenticity. Unfortunately, such territory is unavoidable with the internet. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>Firstly, someone needs to explain to this kid that this transgression could potentially cost him and his parents hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasted tuition and lost jobs when he gets either kicked out of school or maybe worse, he has his diploma rescinded after paying all the tuition and years of his life, and, he loses whatever job he has that was based on a fake diploma and loses future job prospects for the same reason.</p>
<p>The 'someone' should be his parents. I think you owe it to the parents (who may end up paying a lot of money in college tuition for naught) to inform them of whatever facts you have on this issue. Inform them of the consequences that could result and position the conversation in a way that you're looking out for their own best interest as well as that of the son.</p>
<p>The idea to not accept of of the colleges he might be accepted at and apply to different colleges with his real transcript and hopefully whole truth behind him (what else did he 'make-up' on his apps?) is a good one. And if he misses out on his 'dream school' due to this - too bad, it's his own fault.</p>
<p>i wouldn't do anything</p>
<p>
[quote]
The idea to not accept of of the colleges he might be accepted at and apply to different colleges with his real transcript and hopefully whole truth behind him (what else did he 'make-up' on his apps?) is a good one. And if he misses out on his 'dream school' due to this - too bad, it's his own fault.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There's no question that this kid can't go to any of the schools where he sent the fraudulent transcripts, but the high school and colleges also needs to know about all this too.</p>
<p>Think about it... if a third party (e.g. college admissions officer) is comparing transcripts from the same school (a common practice) they'll look at the fake (inflated) transcript and wonder why, in comparison, the real and honest student didn't do better. So not only has the student fraudulently promoted themselves but equally they may have downgraded their peers as a result.</p>
<p>Any college he applied to this year will either reject or rescind any application so the best option would be to take some courses at a local community college for a year or two, stay straight and don't commit more frauds, and then try to transfer somewhere else later on to finish a degree. </p>
<p>This kid has already totally screwed up so that's been done. Creating a fraudulent transcript is no small matter. If he owns up now it will be rough for a few years but he can get back on track. If he tries to keep it quiet (e.g. continuing to pass of the fraud that is his fake credentials) he'll get caught eventually but the consequences will be exponentially worse.</p>
<p>I agree with Bay.</p>