It has come to my attention that one of the students who was accepted early decision into Rice has many false accomplishments listed on his resume, some of which were simply outrageous (ex. claiming to be the cofounder and president of an official nonprofit organization). What is the proper way to deal with this situation so the student is appropriately reprimanded?
None at all if you aren’t the student or their parent or their GC. Odds are that you heard this as a rumor, and you have not actually seen the application yourself. Nor do you know all aspects of the applicant’s resume, like activities outside of school, rec letters, essays, family ethnic background, etc. It might be irrelevant in the application (honestly… colleges see so many students who “start” nonprofits to boost their college resumes that it may not be the big boost you think is was even if they lied).
Bottom line. MYOB. Work on your own applications.
First:
This is not just some rumor I heard. I personally reviewed the student’s resume before it was submitted.
Second:
I undersand all aspects of the student’s resume, since I have known the student for many years and have mentored him from when he was just a sophomore in high school. I strongly believe that his “extra curriculars” played a pivotal role in his decision.
Third:
The organization I am referring to is an official 401c3 nonprofit organization (nontaxable). It has various chapters in several universities and high schools across Texas. I am personally a member of its executive board and have been working on its cause for several years. The true founder and president has been working on this cause since 2014, and has currently graduated from college and has been working on it full time. Please understand that receiving an official nonprofit status from the IRS is an arduous task, which takes months of paperwork, validation and approval.
I strongly believe exploiting the work of other organizations and claiming to be your own, in addition to taking credit for the work of other students (which results in the applicant earning a position in Rice’s limited spots over other students who deserve it more) is something which is morally wrong, whether it is “irrelevant” or not in Rice’s decision. At least, the student’s application should be re-evaulated.
FYI I am not a high school student who is “jealous” and looking for revenge from my peers. I am currently an undergraduate student at an accredited unversity.
If you have advice on what is the proper steps to take (has anyone been in a similar situation and taken the appropriate action), please comment. If you are here to lecture me on “minding my own business”, please take your views elsewhere.
I think you email Rice on this telling them about this situation. That’s probably the best place to start
You will be seen as a bitter, vindictive person trying to harm the accepted student.
I’m not sure why you would be seen as bitter or vindictive. Essentially someone cheated and you know about it. I would start maybe with an email to their guidance counselor. I don’t think I would take it directly to Rice because you have no standing, but I think the counselor could inquire (if you’re believable irl) and take it from there.
@determined4life… You state you reviewed the applicant prior to it being sent. That would of given you amble time to deal with this with the student and his parents. Why did you wait till now? That is what doesn’t make sense to me. It should of been handled correctly at the beginning instead of waiting for an acceptance and trying to get back at the student now. Maybe I am not fully understanding this. Once reported you will be asked when you first knew of this incident. Also get ready for legal action against you for taking this step that could be looked at as false claims. Maybe talking to an educational lawyer first. Many will answer question like this for free to see if there is anything there to do.
I agree that the appropriate first step would be to email his GC. Be prepared to sign your name to the email; otherwise it will not be taken seriously. Give the GC concrete information. He/she will be too busy to research the student’s false claims.
That said, if you reviewed the application before it was sent did you not tell the student he needed to take the false accomplishments out, and if you did are you sure he didn’t follow your advice?
I can assure you that this message board is not the first stop for this concern. The moderators will probably delete this thread for a numbers of reasons.
While I agree that it’s a little suspicious that the OP actually reviewed the resume beforehand and did nothing, that could be because s/he didn’t think the student would actually get into Rice.
One of my own sons set up a non-profit after his Eagle Scout project, to try to continue the work he had begun. It took months and involved two accountants and three lawyers (2 of whom were my H and I). It was arduous and time-consuming and I would be furious if I found out that someone other than my son was claiming credit for setting it up.
If this is a legit story and the OP knows the kid and his family so well, I think the first step is to speak to the young man and tell him that if he doesn’t withdraw his acceptance from Rice, that s/he will go to the GC and then to the school.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
No. But I am closing, since it will just lead to debate, and adding the following response:
It’s not your concern, and any college will view an attempt by an uninvolved third-party to “inform” them about a student’s “discrepancies” as a sabotage attempt.
Additionally, unless you were there when he hit submit, you don’t know that this is the version he submitted or if he was yanking your chain.
You can certainly raise your concern with his GC (but not anonymously) and let the HS investigate, but that’s the extent of your involvement.
Finally, since the OP made a secondary account (a ToS violation which led to me banning this account and warning the primary) to make this “claim,” and then violated ToS with the above snarky quote, I suspect the GC will not give any credence to your claims.