Do schools check university degrees? Can I not mention about my MS?

Hello, MaxB1. Your question is an interesting one, one that I have considered myself at times. My own situation, though, is that I formally withdrew from two different programs before I had earned any official grades. When I applied to graduate programs, I did not feel compelled to mention schools for which I would have no official transcript other than one that might say, "Withdraw." I can say that no database of school records barred me from getting into my eventual masters program. If you have gone all the way and earned a degree, on the other hand, then you will be treading a fine line between truth and untruth if you apply to a school and fail to mention those years of your life. Do you intend to apply as someone who went straight from undergrad to the workforce? How would you account for the extra time you had spent in school? Were you working at the same time? I would advise telling the truth. If there were some compelling reason for your lower GPA, then that could be something to address in an essay. If you were a party animal or something and just did not take your studies seriously, then such details might be something you could purposefully omit. You did earn a degree after all, and you do not want to risk getting caught in a lie.

Good luck.

- Andrew