The man who conned his way into Harvard - Inspiration or Cautionary Tale?

Scroll to see replies

I just read this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/17/student-conned-harvard-sorry

This guy is quite brilliant and so nearly pulled it off, and it led me to contemplate my completely clean and factual CV which has finally got me some work but it is still 100% truth

If I added to it and embellished it well, would it catch up to me? Likely not unless I went too far, but is it worth while doing this in the application form processes required to enter large companies for most people? Adding internships and prizes? Experience and prestige?

Or should we be worried that we'll be the next Stuart Baggs

What do you think?

I think the difference lies between embellishment and outright lie. You can say how 'brilliant' you are at something, thats not necessarily lying as the term 'brilliant' is subjective. But saying you can do something you cannot do at all...

Reply 21

User414413

Original post by manchild007

I read the article and it said it was b/c someone checked his application when he applied to a job/something else; it says he was okay in his work but missed a few tutorials.

Who knows; amazing he managed to get away with it, but he denied someone else a place :rolleyes:

I'm surprised this guy wasn't caught, i've heard Harvard's application process is very rigorous. Also, why did he chose one of the most prestigious prep schools? I thought that would've made it much easier to identify the legitimacy of his claims.

Reply 22

manchild007

Original post by Annoying-Mouse

It is - but he managed to get the schools he was saying he went to, to fall for his deception, so it wasn't really Harvard's fault b/c as you say, they have one of the most comprehensive applications processes in the world. So basically, he said he went to X prep school and then he got a transcript from them (saying he was a student who was ACTUALLY at the school) - once he received the transcript, he changed the name and sent it off. Obviously this has all changed now, as Harvard has hired an external company to fully vet (even things like extra-curriculars now) prospective applications.

By the way, that post was actually about the guy who conned his way into Oxford - from reading the articles, his work was fine but he missed a few tutorials and was applying for a job or something. Who knows/cares, they should not have lied in the first place...

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 23

akash11

Inspiration, come thats a Simon Gruber in the making

Reply 24

Lionslayer

this person is a hero but also a dumb-ass for the flawed application.

Reply 25

Leon Trotsky

Original post by ollienbert

but he is harming the reputation of the university. By association that harms the credibility of the degrees of the genuine students and of course makes the staff of the university look slightly silly if they cannot spot a fraud.

Universities have to guard their reputations with fierce pride. All students should do the same, it is hard to win a place at uni and hard to get a degree.

Plagiarism is just not acceptable. That is not quite the same as saying that the you learnt leadership skills when doing your Duke of Edinburgh bronze award.

Lol, do you really think people might look down on a Harvard degree just because some guy lied to get in one time? :lol:

The prestige of universities is based on how good their research is, mainly, not how good they are at detecting liars. That said, Harvard have only themselves to blame for not detecting that this guy was a fraud. If they'd have looked in to some of his outlandish claims, he wouldn't have got as far as he did.

Reply 26

username549578

Wheeler's probation terms forbid him from entering Harvard and ban him from profiting from his escapades.

So does that mean he can't even have his story turned into a movie? Thats a harsh punishment.

Reply 27

Leon Trotsky

Original post by micky022

He did cheat more deserving people out of scholarships and a student place though...

Hmm, but it's not as if there's any actual victim per se of this crime - nobody would know whether or not they were the person whose place was stolen. In fact, it's possible that even if the guy hadn't lied and didn't get in, they'd have offered places to the exact same people.

Reply 28

micky022

Original post by Addzter

All true. I was referring more to the scholarships.

Reply 29

PortiaLovesMcqueen

There is a guy I know who bought a certificate to say he gained 4 grade A A Levels when he actually got ABCC.

He bought them off the internet and got into UCL to study Politics.

He is in 3rd year now and is yet to get caught. I doubt he will.

Thousands of people, particularly independent UCAS applicants and Internation students do this a year without getting caught.

The key is for them to use realistic grades that most people in the institution would have gotten saying you got 10 A Levels is over stepping the mark BIG TIME.

When he told me I asked him how he got away with it. He bought the degree and made sure he enrolled at the busiest time of the day when people aren't really particular. The lady asked him to photocopy his ID, student loan letter and qualifications which he did.

In the photocopies all the documents look the same they never check as most of the students attained the same grades.

Don't know about the US but this is very easy in the UK.

Reply 30

Leon Trotsky

Original post by micky022

All true. I was referring more to the scholarships.

Again, nobody would know whether it was they who lost out on the scholarship due to the conman's actions, so nobody would know that they're a victim.

He's kind of hot.

Original post by adam_zed

Catch me if you can is also on, coincidence or act of divine intervention?

I was about to say catch me if you can lol.

Reply 33

Freakonomics123

atleast he tried something that he probably wont regret.

How many people in there lives, want to do something but never do it?

End of the day, you only live once.

Reply 34

doivid

Original post by Addzter

Again, nobody would know whether it was they who lost out on the scholarship due to the conman's actions, so nobody would know that they're a victim.

A person can still be a victim even if they don't know they are a victim.

Reply 35

Leon Trotsky

Original post by doivid

A person can still be a victim even if they don't know they are a victim.

So? If they don't know they're a victim, they won't care whether or not the guy makes money from talking about his crimes.

Reply 36

Reformed2010

His wasted his time and other peoples hard earned money. I have no pity for him.

Reply 37

i.am.lost

Original post by a_t

I just read this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/17/student-conned-harvard-sorry

I prefer the story about a guy from my school who similarly conned his way into Oxford: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7007677.ece

Reply 38

im so academic

Original post by Annoying-Mouse

There was a similar case where a guy lied about his 10A grades (A level) and 14A* at GCSE to get into Oxford. He only had 3 A grades at a level (after two years of retakes) and his GCSE was a range of grades from As to Bs. He nearly finished a whole term in Oxford before getting caught.

This is all I could find about it.

Reply 39

doivid

Original post by Addzter

So? If they don't know they're a victim, they won't care whether or not the guy makes money from talking about his crimes.

You said that there wasn't any victim per se of this crime. I can think of a few. The people who awarded the grants and scholarships to this person wouldn't have done so if he hadn't have done the acts he did. Harvard have also been unjustly duped. The people that might have been awarded the places/grants/scholarships can also be seen as victims although possibly less so than the grant/scholarship awarders and Harvard. These two victims might also care about him making money from his crimes.