College Admissions: 3 Ways Big Brother IS Watching
Monday, December 06, 2010
Thinking of embellishing your attributes on your college applications, stealing a few lines for your essays, or minimizing your assets on your financial aid forms? Think again. Both Harvard and Stanford were embarrassed last year after accepting transfer student Adam Wheeler who falsified his credentials; Harvard even gave him $45,000 a year in aid. Since the debacle, colleges have clamped down on unscrupulous practices and are now employing tactics to prevent fraud. The honor system is OUT, and plagiarism software, fact checkers, and audits are IN.
1. Liars Will Be Caught
Stanford, Harvard and the University of California system have all announced that they will be randomly auditing applications. What does this mean? It could mean that they check the authenticity of the honor societies you claim, they e-mail your guidance counselor to make sure that you do hold certain school offices, or call the local animal shelter to verify your volunteer hours. At times, it gets difficult to imagine that so many ivy league applicants with 700s on their SATs and 4.0+ GPAs could also have been elected class president, done medical research, played concert level violin, captained sports teams, been published, and performed extraordinary hours of community service. Stories circulate about Harvard asking students to demonstrate their claim to piano prowess or karate expertise while on campus for an interview, but there is no proof that this occurred. No one knows how many colleges in addition to Harvard, Stanford and the UC’s are fact checking, but the trend is growing to drill down on applicant claims in the interview process and with audits.
2. Plagiarizers Beware
Likewise, essays are an area of increased scrutiny. Most colleges can spot applicant essays that have been penned by a parent or professional essay writer, but the new focus is on plagiarism. Google is one tool used by admissions, but there are also specific software packages to spot plagiarism, like “IThenticate”, “Turnitin” and “Viper”. Sadly, these systems also deliver a fair percentage of false positives. This year, I have also seen several colleges ask select students for a graded writing sample after they filed their application (even though it was not part of the stated admissions process). I suspect it was to compare with their college essay style to ensure that they had written it. The rule of thumb is that it is fine to have a counselor or teacher brainstorm ideas with you and make suggestions on grammar, but they should not write entire sentences for you.
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Where else are colleges cracking down? In the financial aid documentation process. For years, many institutions have had a policy of asking a small percentage of families for documentation to back up the CSS Profile or FAFSA. However, the economic downturn has forced most colleges to undertake a more rigorous review of financial aid paperwork. So if you applied for aid, don’t be surprised if you are asked for bank or mortgage statements to verify your assets and payments. This is one area where there isn’t a lot of grey, numbers don’t lie.
The bottom line is that when you file your college applications, you sign a statement that says that you have not falsified any information. If you have been dishonest and that is discovered, even after you matriculate, your acceptance can be rescinded. So, tout all your assets on your application, but don’t embellish.
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