<p>Seriously, what are the chances of adcoms actually verifying your ECs that you list in your app? </p>
<p>Think of all the applicants--if adcoms verified each EC (ex. Calling the organization you "supposedly" volunteered for), that would take FOREVER.</p>
<p>Instead of wasting time on ECs that you don't care about, why not focus on what's important to you, and use this strategy to fill in the gaps. It's not a matter of conscience, it's a matter of time management.</p>
<p>well if you have any sort of conscience, this question is irrelevant</p>
<p>Well if it’s a little far fetched such as you went to Somalia or wherever for a month and helped feed children, I’d think they would think somethings up if you didnt elaborate in your essay.</p>
<p>I think people lie about ECs alot but probably the farthest they’d go is lying about is the hours spent volunteering.</p>
<p>If it’s insignificant enough that adcoms won’t check up on it, chances are it won’t really boost your chances of admission.</p>
<p>Don’t lie.</p>
<p>I doubt they would check if you applied to state schools and your BS EC wasn’t too spectacular.</p>
<p>to answer the OP’s question, the chances are around 10%, as the applicant pays $50+ for adcoms to look at the app, they do cross reference some things with the guidance counselor and organizations</p>
<p>It is a very stupid idea to lie about ECs your counselor can confirm, as it could determine whether u go to college or not,</p>
<p>If you can lie about ECs, then you should become a public defender or one of those lawyers that can defend ex-Nazi from warcrimes from World War II.</p>
<p>But then I find the interview should be the most important factor for admissions as it puts the person on the spot, real-time where they can’t get away with lying/etc.</p>
<p>The chances are low, but the few colleges that really factor ECs into admission are the most competitive colleges in the country – the ones like HPYS that have so many high stat applicants that they can afford to pick and choose among those applicants in order to create campus in which there are hundreds of active, student-run ECs.</p>
<p>Consequently, the ECs that impress such colleges are major ones that are very easy to verify, and are very obvious if you lie about them.</p>
<p>In addition, lies about ECs can come out in interviews. On CC, I heard about an applicant who was interviewing at an out of town college, and coincidentally ended up interviewing right after another applicant from his school – an applicant that was lying about holding an office that the other student really had.</p>
<p>I’ve been an alum interviewer and have caught students in lies because I really know my community. One student, for instance, claimed to be active in a community organization that my son happened to be president of, and I was an active volunteer with. I didn’t tell her that I knew she was lying. I told the college. She didn’t get in. </p>
<p>If you Google, you’ll also find at least one article in which admissions officers talk about this, including how they often are tipped off to lies by other applicants. Even what one might think is a minor lie like calling oneself “president” of an organization when you’re really a co-president can bite you.</p>
<p>“I doubt they would check if you applied to state schools and your BS EC wasn’t too spectacular.”</p>
<p>Virtually universally, state schools make admissions decisions based on stats, state of residence and whether students have done the required high school courseload. They don’t care about ECs.</p>
<p>Don’t do it. Lies big enough to be important will be caught and small lies (like exaggeration of hours, which seems to be the most common form of lie from what I’ve read on this website) will have little effect (though they are virtually never caught because they’re not important enough to check). Not to mention that it’s immoral.</p>
<p>They will check if something makes them suspicious. If you lie, there is a substantial risk that something in your application (in a recommendation, for example, or some inconsistency in your lie) will make them suspicious. Don’t try to BS someone whose whole job is evaluating BS.</p>
<p>What is the chance that they check after acceptance?</p>
<p>I had some slightly inaccurate information (I anticipated doing something that I ended up not doing so my hours were too high in an EC), not intentionally, but it’s there all the same and I don’t want it to get me rescinded.</p>
<p>Even if they did, they would ask before rescinding, right? Because I can explain…</p>
<p>Very low, jmds. They are not looking for reasons to rescind people and it wouldn’t be worth their time to check up on every accepted student’s ECs.</p>
<p>I was sent a letter from the UC system saying that I had to verify my EC. They had my application printed out and they highlighted the part that they wanted to verify. I sent in a copy of my school newspaper that said I was in it and was cleared. </p>
<p>If you are not able to produce the evidence to support your membership, you are automatically taken out of their system and your application would not be read. </p>
<p>This happened near the end of January</p>
<p>I’m not saying I’m going to lie about my ECs or anything, but if your counselor doesn’t know you that well, how would your counselor know whether you’re lying about your ECs? Since people are saying adcoms cross reference with guidance counselors and all… Personally, my guidance counselor has no way of knowing whether I’m really doing my ECs or not. I tell her my ECs and she just says “Good for you!” and basically shrugs it off.</p>
<p>I doubt that would be an issue, sqd. They don’t expect your GC to know everything about you.</p>
<p>what if you said in an interviewer you participated in a program but you didn’t really spend as much time in it due to SAT prep- is that bad</p>