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emsepower
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 12:02
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Hey guys-

I was working on my applications today and was wondering how much, if at all, people exaggerate on their apps?
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Dawgie
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 14:22
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A lot, you gotta sell yourself. A lot of the small details cannot be verified anyway. For example, I heard some guy that had a low UG say he was suffering from cancer.
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 15:00
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Dawgie
A lot, you gotta sell yourself. A lot of the small details cannot be verified anyway. For example, I heard some guy that had a low UG say he was suffering from cancer.
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wtf? hope he knocked on wood because faking illness and deaths of family members is really a no no in my book. I think people exaggerate all the time - i used to not but i learned to do as well.
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 16:11
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Well, thats not exaggerating, thats lying.
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 16:36
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Don't lie. Try not to even really exaggerate. Just try to look at what you did in the very best light as possible.

In an interview with the Harvard Dean, she said that her biggest pet peeve is when people have claimed more responsibility than they really had for something. I think they get pretty good with their BS detector. Remember that you're going to have recommendations coming in too.
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 16:40
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I'd say it would be pretty easy to verify cancer with a background check. Medical expenses, insurance receipts, hospital stays, etc. Or is all of that information sealed? Either way, that seems like a disgusting way of getting into b-school.
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How much do you exaggerate? 19 Sep 2010, 17:06
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WOW, I know everyone "paints themselves in the best light" but cancer? thats just horrible.
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 00:00
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emsepower
Hey guys-

I was working on my applications today and was wondering how much, if at all, people exaggerate on their apps?
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Yeah, lying's bad. But don't undersell your accomplishments either. I think the best advice I've heard is to imagine that your mother or father or spouse/partner is writing the application for you. How would that family member describe your accomplishments to someone else if they knew all the most impressive parts?
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 00:31
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emsepower
Hey guys-

I was working on my applications today and was wondering how much, if at all, people exaggerate on their apps?

Yeah, lying's bad. But don't undersell your accomplishments either. I think the best advice I've heard is to imagine that your mother or father or spouse/partner is writing the application for you. How would that family member describe your accomplishments to someone else if they knew all the most impressive parts?
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I use a variation of the above advice- I pretend that my boss/spouse/fellow committee members were going to read the application and be asked for comments on my answers. That helped me identify a firm line in the sand without being too modest.

It turned out to be a good approach, as for one of my ECs I described co-chairing a silent auction at my employer for the United Way annual fundraising drive. The person I co-chaired with is my former boss, is writing my letters of rec, and requested that I share my application with her so she could include additional points she may have forgotten.

How embarassing would it have been to send her a document that described my taking all of the responsiblity for something we accomplished together?!? :oops:

Keep in mind you're telling the schools how great of a candidate you ARE, not how great you would be if you had done X, Y, and Z. And if a school can tell that's there a mismatch between what you claim and what they think actually happened (which I believe that most adcomms are quite adept at identifying), the message they're going to get is that even YOU don't think you're good enough for them. Then what are they supposed to do, but believe you & reject your application?
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 03:20
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I know someone who went to a top tier school and for one of the application essays narrated a story he/she had read a long time ago - i.e. what was written in the essay didn't really happen to that person - I was shocked when I heard about it but now that I think about it I guess it happens a lot. Although, I have to admit the cancer story is just wrong. You have to fear karma at that point - you're jinxing yourself! Personally, I'm big on authenticity, i.e. zero exaggeration.
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 07:35
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Essays would be so easy if i could just make everything up!
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deechi
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 07:44
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On another topic, can someone explain to me this "background check" thing? Is this a common practice for business schools? and what does it entail?
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 08:26
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Faking cancer is pretty messed up. I doubt they could get that on a background check, simply because that is private medical info, but still geeze...
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 08:46
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They can't catch it, they aren't going to ask for x-rays of tumors or anything.
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 10:16
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Dawgie
They can't catch it, they aren't going to ask for x-rays of tumors or anything.
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so where did he end up?
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 10:42
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He chose HBS, even though he got $$$ at Yale.
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 12:50
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What about writing about an offer you received two years ago, but chose not to work there? Can the school go back to the employer and verify the offer? I ask because I wonder if I should contact the firm and let them know that they may receive a verification call from Kroll/Bschool.
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 13:09
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On job descriptions people exaggerate quite a bit. On scholastic history I would bet its minimal if non-existent. On extracurricular activities I bet its pretty heavy.
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 13:27
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Dawgie
They can't catch it, they aren't going to ask for x-rays of tumors or anything.
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Bet they can check if you have cancer ............. if you are a survivor, I am sure it is possible to find out. But then this guy ended up at HBS ..... :roll:
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How much do you exaggerate? 20 Sep 2010, 13:50
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u0422811
On job descriptions people exaggerate quite a bit. On scholastic history I would bet its minimal if non-existent. On extracurricular activities I bet its pretty heavy.
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i exaggerate but dont lie. my extracurricular is 0....
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