<p>To whomever forged their transcript (whether it's the OP, his son, or his friend's son): if, after the student graduates from college, they happen to be going through their old files and realize a transcript is fake, their degree may/will be rescinded. This is what happens to students who plagiarize, and yes, they have been caught years later and had their degrees rescinded. DO NOT TAKE THAT RISK. It can ruin you that late in life. Come clean now, talk to the administration, and see what you can do.</p>
<p>so let me get this straight. he sent you a copy of his original transcript for a job...and by seeing it you somehow deduced that he had committed forgery without ever seeing the forged transcript that he had already sent out?</p>
<p>Oh my God, this has been by far the most interesting discussion I've stumbled onto. Especially when everyone begins to suspect that the person who started the thread is the perp. </p>
<p>I don't think any legal action will be taken, because universities only threaten to discard falsified documents and refuse admission, nothing worse. </p>
<p>But hey, if the boy is talented and resourceful enough to forge a watermark and transcript in near exacting detail, isn't he talented enough to be admitted into the college?</p>
<p>^No. He isn't truthful. Talent used in the wrong direction. By your argument, I can also say that serial killers are among some of the smartest people out there.</p>
<p>Serial killers are smart. I'm sure the notorious ones studied at top notch colleges before their homicidal tendencies emerged.</p>
<p>But you have a point. It slipped my mind that talent isn't the only requirement for admissions. There's the code of truth as well, which he clearly doesn't fulfill.</p>
<p>Just tell his father and let him deal with it. So simple! If he's truly your friend, you won't lose your friendship over this. Come on now, you're both men and are long time friends.</p>
<p>Okay, listen to me very carefully. The kid will be caught for his dishonesty because they will kick him out as soon as they notice that the kid can't keep up with his studies. This has happened to many applicants who have cheated in the past. It is very unlikely that a lazy student in HS will reflect the grades on his transcript unless he really did change. The kid will get caught. Academic dishonesty is not a good thing, but I don't believe you should intervene. You should be the last person to do that. The MAX you should do is notify the school counselor. If the counselor reported it, then the school would be safe. If you report it yourself, your going to have one angry friend and the school will be in a load of trouble. I highly doubt you are facing a moral dilemma. If anything, the student is probably facing a true moral problem. Also, why has this come to your attention so late? Has the student been accepted already? If No, then it would be more safe to have this revealed, if he has been accepted, there will be quite a lot of angry people, and sorry to say this... but you will be in the middle of it. Best of Luck.</p>
<p>Interesting though. How did you know that he forged a transcript if he sent you the original copy. Did he happen to show you his new copy as well?</p>
<p>OP, if you feel so morally obliged, just send an email to the adcoms of the schools to which he sent fake transcripts. They'll investigate and find out how much truth there is in this whole case. There's little use of intervening explicitly as that could jeopardize situations for both parties.</p>
<p>Another vote here for the OP being the forger--too many details in his "story" just don't compute. I would suggest you come clean now, because you will be caught at some point--and the longer it takes, the more you will have to lose at that point.</p>
<p>As others have said, it's probable that the colleges will notice when the final grade report comes in. I doubt they'll notice the automated postage- besides, some schools will give the students official and sealed documents to send (so you can send it to whatever institution using USPS First Class, FedEx Ground, whatever you want), so the automated postage is probably something they wouldn't pick up on.</p>
<p>I think it's probable that he gets spotted, and I'd let them know now. </p>
<p>theoneo makes an excellent point. If they find out that his transcript was forged after college, they could rescind his degree, which would be horrible.</p>
<p>I'd tell the kid the truth:
-People in the offices look for fakes.
-If he comes out on his own, it'll look a lot better than the colleges spotting the documents.
-They can and will revoke his diploma if they find the fake documents later.</p>
<p>Better be caught now than in, say, August, when he's already moved into his dorms and the college realizes that the final report card doesn't match up. Maybe he won't get caught, but I think I'd prefer being definitely screwed now over being possibly incredibly screwed later. </p>
<p>One smart kid, though. How did he figure out his new rank? Unless his school doesn't rank, he'd have to find someone with grades similar to "his", make sure that this person/these people aren't applying to the same school etc.</p>
<p>Have you told his dad about this? Since it is his son, he kind of has a right to know what's going on. In any case his dad should be the one deciding what to do. </p>
<p>I personally think that this guy should be punished for what he did, especially when thounsands of students in this nation and elsewhere actually worked extremely hard to get the kind of transcript they have, which this person forged.</p>
<p>So the guidance counselor never sent the transcript? Or the midyear report? Is this the kind of high school in which the students routinely sends their own transcripts?</p>
<p>If not, the student's forgery is irrelevant. The GC would have sent the original, official transcript with the School Report and the Midyear Report. Or did the kid also send the school report, recommendation, and midyear report, and somehow convince the GC not to send anything?</p>
<p>Assuming what OP says is true, this is the kind of scheme that takes a lot of work to accomplish: (a) you have transcript that is sent at time of app, (b) you have mid-year report to make to many colleges which includes a transcript, and (c) you have final transcript that high school sends to chosen college. It may be possible to get away with it but there are just too many opportunities to be caught.</p>
<p>Ramifications: (a) college will reject him or withdraw acceptance if it finds out; even if they discover it his senior year in college, he is likely to be kicked out; (b) he has committed an act that is grounds for expulsion from high school but whether the high school will actually do that is up to it, although suspension is likely; (c) if someone really wants to go after him, he has committed the crime of mail fraud (federal law) and forgery (state law), both chargeable as felonies if he is 18, and at least a juvenile offense if under 18. </p>
<p>OP should give serious consideration to telling him that he must tell the father or you will. Consider what happens to that friendship if you do nothing, he later gets caught and tells his shocked father that you knew all along.</p>
<p>If this kid is smart enough to forge his transcript and assumably his recommendations and midyear report, I don't think the colleges would be able to realise this as long as the kid is smart enough to maintain a good GPA in college. Well yes, his final report could get him screwed but other than that, there's no way the college can catch his fraud. And that is why the OP has to do something about it, and it better be confidential. Just tip admissions about it; that's the best you can do when the kid is your best friend's son.</p>