Acceptance rates at top 50 colleges and universities have dropped by 31 percent since 2006 according to The College Investor. As a result, in order to get into these top schools students are leaning on other options and strategies to gain enrollment such as including false information on their applications. Many students think making “small embellishments” on their applications will change their outcome of college acceptance and not cause any harm. While this may not seem like a huge deal, and may even be encouraged by parents or college counselors, getting caught would not only be detrimental to that student’s chances of getting into college, but it is also incredibly unethical and should not be suggested. 

In 2023, Intelligent, a college-based research website, ran a survey on college application embellishments. Out of the 1,600 current four-year college students, 61 percent admitted to including untrue information on their applications. In this 61 percent, 30 percent faked letters of recommendation, 34 percent embellished their college essays and only one third were caught by admissions officers. When the survey became public, many were shocked that so many applications could be altered with barely any backlash.

The Varsity Blues Scandal occurred in 2019 where many parents — including some celebrities -– altered parts of their kids’ applications, hobbies and some even paid colleges to secure their children’s acceptance. Celebrities, Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman were involved in this scandal which led them to face jail time. 

This scandal as well as the Intelligent survey caused an uproar in the world of college admissions. Following the scandal, many believed colleges would become more strict and difficult within their admissions process. Unfortunately, many colleges have not taken this as seriously as it needs to be.

According to the Menlo-Atherton Chronicle, “Not a single coach or club advisor was asked to verify information on a student’s college application —for example, no college attempted to verify whether a student was really a captain of a sports team.” If colleges aren’t fact checking important extracirculars, then why not embellish a little to make your application stand out? Even the highly prestigious ivy league schools rarely fact check. As mentioned in the Menlo-Atherton Chronicle, Dartmouth College admitted to rarely fact checking applications, but instead they focus on fact checking test scores and recommendation letters.

Meg Heimbrodt, a college counselor at Redwood and in private, has been privately counseling students for about ten years now. While Heimbrodt has never heard of anyone blatantly lying, she has come across students making small exaggerations on activity lists. 

“There’s no way that a school’s going to have the time to go and find out if you volunteered 15 hours or 150 hours,” Heimbrodt said. 

Not only is fact-checking not improving and giving students even more of a reason to take the risk, it seems that parents and peers are encouraging this behavior. 

Heimbrodt explained that while counseling students, she’s seen two types of parents: those who are more laid back and those who are very active in the process, which can often contribute to the embellishments. Although parents think they know everything about college, the truth is they don’t. College is a completely different level of difficulty nowadays than it was when our parents went to college. While cheating may help you get into college, it won’t help you when you’re there. While getting away with embellishing the truth on applications may have significant benefits and help you get into your dream school, the potential consequences completely outweigh any positives. 

Ivy Coach, a counseling and tutoring admissions website, explains that if caught putting untrue information on applications, one could face expulsion, denied admission, offer can be withdrawn, admission is withdrawn and can be asked to leave campus immediately. 

There is a tremendous amount of pressure when applying to college right now and it is normal for students to lack self-confidence especially considering how challenging getting into college has become. However, there is no excuse for lying on college admissions. It can be damaging to your admission process and it is unethical. College isn’t just about how low the acceptance rate is, it’s about finding the right fit for you and finding a place where you can see yourself living for the next chapter of your life. There are over 5,000 colleges in the United States alone, everyone finds their place and lying to get there sets the wrong precedent before even stepping on campus.