In this competitive admissions climate many students are tempted to "fudge the facts" just a little bit on their applications. DON'T DO IT. Colleges are beginning to check applicant's credentials. It leaked a few years ago that MIT had hired a private investigator to do random checks on applicants, and other schools have joined this practice. Some admissions officers will simply call a high school for verification if an activity, award, or claim looks suspicious. Remember, major awards are listed online in most cases so admissions folks will check that out. Same goes for rankings in sports. Be truthful about the extras you were involved in, the time you put into those extras, the jobs you held, and the awards you won. The Common Application asks for your extracurricular activities and how much time each took. Remember there are only 24 hours in a day!
On a similar note, we are often asked if students can apply to more than one Early Decision (binding) school because "colleges would never find out and it would increase my chances." The answer is a resounding NO. It's unethical and dishonest. You have to sign an agreement when you apply Early Decision that you will not apply to any other ED or binding programs. Your college counselor and parents are also asked to sign this agreement. Is it legally binding? Probably not, but regardless, you want to adhere to the rules here. You can still, however, apply rolling or Early Action as these are non-binding. (Again, Early Decision is when you apply to one school in November and hear mid December and are bound to attend if you are accepted. Early Action allows you to apply to many colleges as it is not binding. Your odds, however, are better Early Decision.)
Though typically colleges do NOT share lists of early applicants, with increased computer applications, they may start doing so, so to be on the safe side, do NOT violate any of their early policies! If you are caught, it will mean automatic rejection (for instance, if you applied single action early action to Yale and then early decision to Dartmouth - that's a no-no).
Create winning applications based on expressing who you are rather than fudging the facts to try and become someone else.
Products are produced and marketed by manufacturers to make profit. And this is not profound statement that I have discovered from anywhere but a well known fact. Prior to the last twenty years manufacturers were not questioned as to the contents and ingredients of the food products that they produced and packed. But in the last twenty years people have become extremely health conscious and aware and have begun to question what really goes inside the processed foods that seem to taste so good.
In fact most of these consumers were surprised to learn that the amount of sugar that was added to cereals did more harm to their teeth and did not really provide the nutrition that it blatantly and shamelessly claimed.The trends in the health zone were assessed by the cunning companies and then started claims of low sodium, low GI, sugar free and fat free. But one does not really know yet, whether these claims are genuine or not.
The fact of the matter remains that there is no way by which a consumer can test the levels of fat in (say) a bottle of mayonnaise or cheese spread.
Though the Food and Drug Administration dictates that any such health claim needs to be backed by robust proof, it is the FDA cannot check each and every batch of food products that is produced by all companies since the process requires manpower and laboriously picking up samples from the market. The manufacturing companies tend to take advantage of this situation and relax their error margins allowed in the formulations and equipment.
One other way in which these companies try and cheat the consumer is by slimily providing lower quantities in packages that visually look larger. It is not uncommon or foolish to assume that a pack of snack cake or candy bar will contain one serving. However, the actual size of the product inside merits only about half a serving.
The information provided on the food label could be for any serving size that the company chooses. Whether this serving size used to tabulate the ingredients and their quantities is more than the actual content or less depends on whether the company wants to create a perception of higher vitamin or calcium content or whether they want to make a claim of low fat or low calories.
The lesson to learn from all that has been mentioned above, is that while buying we should read between the lines and make sure to read the fine print and understand what we are purchasing rather than fall prey to the perception that the manufacturer wants to create.
It may not matter if you ingest a few calories more or less but false information on a diabetic product may create a huge difference in the metabolism of a diabetic causing sudden increases or decreases in blood sugar levels.
So, make sure that you are an aware, wary and skeptical customer when you go out shopping
Both Mimi Doe & Kenneth Scott are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mimi Doe has sinced written about articles on various topics from Parenting, College Education and Parenting. Mimi Doe,award-winning author is the co/founder of and the internationally acclaimed Application Boot Camps. Mimi has been cal. Mimi Doe's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.