In recent weeks staff have come across a few applicants submitting fraudulent documents, like modified unofficial transcripts.  I guess some people are desperate and willing to do anything for admission.  Once detected, the consequences are serious however.  They certainly won’t be admitted to Waterloo, now or ever.  In some cases, this information may be circulated to other universities for them to take whatever action they think is appropriate.

Our staff seem to be quite good at detecting fraud.  They have extensive training and various cross-checking systems that continue through the application process and even into the Fall when the new students are starting.

It seems unlikely, but it’s hard to know if maybe a very few still get through the screening process.  But in the end, if they are really not academically qualified they will soon fail out of our program anyways.  We would just prefer they not take up space that a more qualified applicant could have had, so we carry on with scrutinizing documents as best as we can.