Lying on college applications is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. It’s morally wrong. It severely jeopardizes your chances for admission. And, if you get caught, you risk not only not getting in but also facing jail time. Just ask Adam Wheeler from Delaware, a young man who was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in addition to ten years of probation for lying on his application to Harvard. Was it really worth it? Of course not! And guess what? He’s done it again!

According to CBS News’ piece on the Harvard faker, after serving out his sentence, he now must undergo a psychiatric evaluation for claiming he went to Harvard on his resume – a violation of his parole. And why’d he go to prison in the first place? Because he received federal financial aid funds after lying about even the high school he attended. He claimed to have attended Andover and even MIT (it’s unclear if he applied to Harvard as a transfer student, but how else could he have even theoretically attended MIT if he wasn’t applying to Harvard as a transfer?).

Lying on Your Application Will Backfire

If you’ve ever considered lying on your college application, think again. Don’t do it. It’s not worth it. Not in the least. If this story doesn’t sufficiently deter you, consider the plain probabilities at play. Do you think that you’ll be able to outsmart an elite college or university, full of the strictest admissions officers out there? Maybe at first, but you’d better believe that once they’ve caught wind of your misrepresentations, you’ll be quickly expelled from your campus. And this applies to everything, from large-scale deceit to minor misrepresentations of test scores, GPAs, and, yes, even family finances.

And it’s not just lying that can get you in hot water. Disciplinary or legal infractions of any kind can jeopardize your offer of admission at any point after you’ve received your acceptance letter. In fact, it’s not unheard of for alumni to have their degrees revoked years after graduating due to something unsavory coming to light. Just look at the case of Russian spy Andrey Bezrukov, who had his graduate degree revoked from Harvard University for, well, being a Russian spy!

What Does Honesty on College Applications Look Like?

An acceptance letter is akin to a legal contract with specific conditions. And just like any binding contract, if either party fails to uphold the terms of the agreement, the deal falls through. Every offer of acceptance is contingent upon maintaining academic performance, good behavior, and honesty in all aspects, both academic and otherwise. With that being said, there are plenty of gray areas when it comes to honesty on college applications.

Honesty Isn’t Optional on College Applications

Misrepresenting numbers, dates, scores, and lying about attending certain institutions or completing specific activities is black and white, and colleges rightfully have a zero-tolerance policy regarding such dishonesty. However, college applicants have been known to exaggerate certain aspects of their background, such as their level of commitment to specific causes.

A good rule of thumb to go by if you’re unsure of the accuracy of a detail you’ve included on your college applications is to ask yourself whether what you’re conveying is a fact or an opinion. Your relative fluency in a specific language is a matter of opinion. Whether you attended MIT or got a 1480 on your SATs is not. Do you get the picture?

Ivy Coach’s Assistance With Ethically Navigating the College Admissions Process

We get it. Sifting through all the bits of information that go into a college application would overwhelm even the best of us. Add to that the pressure of honestly and accurately representing yourself or your child, and you’ve got a perfect storm for stress. So let us take on this burden.

Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers will work with you and your child to optimize their odds of admission to highly selective colleges ethically, accurately, and strategically. To get started with us, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch.