<p>To what extent can we exaggerate / BS our ECs/Volunteer/etc on our apps?</p>
<p>thanks in advance.</p>
<p>This question has been asked many times.</p>
<p>The moralistic people will tell you that any exaggeration is bad/dishonest.</p>
<p>Others will say that giving yourself a few more hours over the years won't hurt. </p>
<p>However, writing down something like President of a club when you're just a member, is very dangerous. </p>
<p>My take is to try and present yourself in as favorable a light as possible, but don't start writing down things you didn't do.</p>
<p>I understand the temptation to "fluff" your application because of all the competition to get into competitive colleges. However, it's still wrong! Most of the students on this site are competitive students and they didn't get here by cheating or being dishonest. They got to be top in their class by old fashioned hard work, so to ruin your integrity now just because you want to get into a school with a name really kind of cheapens all your sacrifices to get those good grades. Sounds corny, but really it's how I feel. In the end all you have is your honor and your integrity. Don't blow it for a label.</p>
<p>Read the honor codes at your top three schools and then fill in your app. If you don't follow the code now, why would you do so once you are enrolled?</p>
<p>go ahead and give yourself a few more volunteer hours</p>
<h1>1: You can exagerate, but not to an extent where it becomes a lie or evident that you are very egocentric.</h1>
<h1>2: Remember that if you get caught liying, you're pretty much out of the game.</h1>
<h1>3: So just fluff your app. without stampeding upon stated limits in #1.</h1>
<p>Furthermore, don't feel bad about it. Yes, there are people who have worked super-extra-beyond-human-hard throughout high school. If you weren't a natural born super genius, don't sweat it. Maybe you were more popular than said geniuses, or had more of a life, or God knows what. Point is, yes some people are just beyond amazing applicants. But if you're not exactly one of them or up to their standards, and want to get into the same school, there's nothing wrong with fluffling your app. if it may improve your chances. End justifies the means.</p>
<p>If what you write about yourself paints a different picture than what the rest of your app shows, adcoms may check with counselors for the discrepancy. OTOH, fluffing a few hours won't help your chances anyway. Expect claims of being a club president to be checked out in any case. But be practical: If you get into a pattern of lying at this age, you can forget professions where truthfulness is valued.</p>
<p>So you may want to consider Politician or lawyer as a future career. =)</p>
<p>
[quote]
To what extent can we exaggerate / BS our ECs/Volunteer/etc on our apps?
[/quote]
They don't expect you to lie/exaggerate at all!</p>
<p>Why do you need to exaggerate? Do you lack self-confidence in your app that much? Consider what difference a few more hours would make or how lying about participation in an activity will effect your chances. It is a moral question, and I'm sure you could get away with a few more hours, but at such a big risk, is a little lie really worth it to you?</p>
<p>People exaggerate because they know others will. I'm not saying it's a good excuse to lie, but it's simply in the competitive nature of college admissions.</p>
<p>If it is something like, "i have done 24 hours of community service in NHS each year", but you really only did 23.5 hours, then it is okay to round up (no one's going to strangle you/deny you acceptance for it). Otherwise, it'd be completely dishonest and not in your best interests to fudge hours any further than that.</p>
<p>Just tell the truth in the best light possible. </p>
<p>"Helped organize blahblahblah event, raised $30"
vs.
"Organized the first ever blahlblahblah event, which over 30 people attended to raise awareness and funds for blahblahblah"</p>
<p>Don't lie though.</p>
<p>What I'm confused about is how will they verify that I actually joined certain clubs?</p>
<p>None of the clubs I've joined during high school have given me any certificate or any proof that I was actually in the club. So what if some college asks me for proof that I was actually active in the club? I'm not going to have any....</p>
<p>Most clubs have a teacher advisor so that advisor can verify your participation if necessary.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What I'm confused about is how will they verify that I actually joined certain clubs?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>They won't, because they could care less how many clubs you joined if you are just a member.</p>
<p>sup means they couldn't care less (they don't care at all how many you joined, so how could they care less?).</p>
<p>Hmm... so guys, is this thread implying that you can get away with whatever you want as long as you don't get caught?
If that's true then I think it's safe to assume that some people totally bsed their application and got away with it... mathematical certainly.
Life is so unfair, haha.</p>
<p>lying about hours is one thing(5 would be the limit), I wouldn't go lying about the clubs you are in, because if you get caught(which is easy to find out) you are done.</p>
<p>In what ways can they catch you making club names up? </p>
<p>Sometimes I wonder how the admissions committee work.</p>
<p>I mean, let's say I'm applying at a prestiguous school. Let's use NYU for example. They have over 20,000 applications and let's pretend that 1/100th of those 20,000 made up the clubs that they're in. That's 200 still .. would they REALLY call up to check one by one ? I don't think these adcoms are that hard working. </p>
<p>and we're only talking about 1% here. </p>
<p>What do you guys think?</p>
<p>There's several ways. </p>
<p>1). Interview. - Try BSing 4 years of your life, along with your significant ECs which has undoubtedly shaped your life in someway (well at least according to your essays). Try talking about your positions, hours, etc freely to an experienced interviewer that has seen many candidates under pressure. </p>
<p>2). Essay. - Sure you could BS but how are you going to present it? You obviously won't go into too much detail in the fear of getting caught. What if they question the lack of detail? </p>
<p>3). Teachers/Counselor Rec, - What if you say that you are this and that but your recommenders label you as a hard working but inactive student? Or something even worse? Might leave enough doubt for them to actually call someone at your school and find out. </p>
<p>Well, think about it practically. Unless someone does not care about getting in or not, they will not BS their entire high school life but embellish it a little. Is putting a few more hours on the application, and exaggerating a little event you did really going to affect whether you get admitted or not? They won't really even notice the small things that people put their necks on the line to polish</p>
<p>So in short. </p>
<p>Embellish the Application and not get caught = Not too much to gain but you die a little inside morally...</p>
<p>Embellish the Application and get caught = You'll be in worse **** than a 14 year old Hitler Jugend member trying to defend the Fuhrer Bunker during the Battle of Berlin.</p>