<p>The title is a little misleading because isn't about me but what would happen if someone lied on his/her resume and said that they won certain awards (e.g all district, 1st place in [x] competition) when he/she actually didn't. I mean, apparently colleges (for the most part) don't do a Google search on you, so how would they know the validity of your awards? </p>
<p>Don’t lie–it will bite you in the face when you least expect it.</p>
<p>@Bromfield2 Haha no i would never. But I’m just curious. Are there people that actually do this? I guess what i’m actually asking, in short, is how do admission offices know the validity of your awards</p>
<p>I’m sure some people do it. But the consequences can really be severe if they find out. You can get kicked out of your college.</p>
<p>The more prestigious the award, the easier it is to look up. UC’s ask a percentage of applicants to verify one of their EC’s.</p>
<p>If one lies and is caught, admission could be rescinded. If you’re already on-campus, you could be asked to leave. If you’ve graduated college, your diploma could be revoked. It’s not worth it.</p>
<p>Some further insights:
<a href=“Lying in College Admissions | Ivy Coach”>http://theivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/tag/lying-in-college-admissions/</a></p>
<p>It’s a really bad idea to lie on your college application.</p>
<p>They could kick you out if they find out after you have matriculated, and they could even rescind your degree after you graduated if the lie was particularly heinous.</p>
<p>However - real life is that maybe you won’t get caught, and benefit in the short term. I have a former co-worker who said he graduated from Princeton, and it turned out he did not - they never checked on it until he was trying to get tenure, and of course they fired him and also got rid of who hired him without doing proper checking. He ended up getting a new job for more money at a prestigious firm - and no one knew if he lied to them too.</p>
<p>Sooooooo…don’t lie but some do and benefit from it. The results could be disastrous - or you could luck out. You’ve heard of Bernie Madoff. In jail for 150 years now, but by lying, he had a great life before he was caught…</p>
<p>You need to read the thread about whether colleges google students names - some do.</p>
<p>For awards you’d be a fool to lie about, but I don’t really think exaggerating the number of hours you do an activity, if it’s not by some ridiculous multiple, would get you kicked out of Harvard in your senior year if it was discovered…</p>
<p>If you can easily lie about it, chances are, what you added will have little to no impact on your admission anyway.</p>
<p>It really depends. If you won first place at your high schools in house math contest, it’s not really going to merit looking into. If you claim to have won 1st place in a prestigious national math competition, it’s going to merit some verification. </p>
<p>If you raised $1000 through bake sales to donate to a local charity, it’s not going to merit looking into. If you’re claiming to have raised $100,000 for a big charity, they’re likely to want to look into it. </p>
<p>The bigger the honor/EC, the more likely they are to look into it. They can take steps to verify any of your ECs if they so choose. Generally they don’t, but some schools do check them far more often than others. The best bet is to not lie on your college applications. </p>
<p>The world is stunningly small. Applicants should never lie. </p>
<p>There is a girl on my daughter’s team who is listed as having received a major national award. I don’t know if it was her error or the coach misunderstood another award she did receive, but I do know she just never received this award. I actually think it may be the coach’s error. This national award is not required, as my daughter did not receive it but is still on the team brag sheet.</p>
<p>Just makes her look bad. Others may not take the time to look up whether she won it, but I did because I was so surprised that is was listed on the team page. There are a few other girls on this team who DID receive the award, and they may also know that this girl didn’t.</p>
<p>As pointed out, some colleges like the UCs do random audits. And kids that are willing to do this seem to have little judgement in a lot of areas, not just with regards to college apps. So they brag to their friends about how they puffed up their app. Friends talk to their friends… If the word gets to someone that doesn’t like the first person, in the spring when they know where the person is headed for college all it takes is a phone call or email to alert admissions. And for colleges that have interviews, there have been posts here where alum interviewers were nonplussed to be assigned interview a local student who’s app claimed something the interviewer knows is false.</p>
<p>Is everyone caught? Of course not. Is it a risk worth taking? You’ll have to decide… </p>
<p>It didn’t turn out well for Jay Gatsby</p>
<p>
To use a real-life example, it did not turn out well for Adam Wheeler or Mathew Martoma.</p>
<p>I’ve seen posts in the archives of this site by students asking if they should tip off colleges about a fellow student who lied on his/her application. @mikemac is right. It only takes one to derail an admission.</p>
<p>I second austinmshauri. I have mentioned in several threads that I heard an admissions director state that they receive several anonymous tips each year, and they do follow up on them. All it would take is a rival (or parent, or teacher) to catch wind of the lie, and the colleges would hear about it. Your adviser is also expected to sign off on your application(s), and to mention any outstanding accomplishments in a letter. Large public universities often do not ask for a letter of recommendation, but they might conduct random checks. The simple truth is that - like most minor crimes - you can probably get away with it, but the risks if you’re caught outweigh any potential benefits. Any extracurricular activities that would really tip the scale in your favor are the ones that can most easily be verified. This sort of behavior can escalate quite quickly, until the perpetrator is eventually caught. The simplest answer is “Don’t!”</p>