I haven’t met many students or parents who want to write something on a college application that is blatantly untrue. But I’ve met plenty who wanted to leave something off an application that the college is clearly asking for. For example, if you’re asked to list all colleges you’ve attended, you can’t conveniently omit the community college where you took that summer math class that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped.
Katherine in our Redondo Beach, California office shares this story of a Cornell University student who was not only expelled for failing to disclose that she’d attended a community college (even though she never actually completed a course), but is also being asked to repay over $100,000 in financial aid she’d received.
Lying, even by omission, just isn’t worth the risk on a college application. There’s no expiration date on the offense (even if you’re found out once you’re in college), and it’s much harder to explain yourself after the fact than it is to do so in the application itself. Telling the whole truth is always a better, safer strategy.