If you lie on your college application, Caltech will catch you.

WSJ ADAM AMENGUAL FOR WSJ The Caltech Team Catching Lies on College Applications ADAM AMENGUAL FOR WSJ WSJ The highly selective, STEM-focused school has a 4-person team of investigators known as the "fraud squad." Roshan Fernandez WSJ News Associate California Institute of Technology The team at scrutinizes everything, from fonts on science-fair certificates to signatures on awards. Nothing is taken for granted. They confirm details online, contact competition officials or high-school counselors, and use a video-interview program to suss out students' research claims. The intense vetting comes at a time when schools nationwide are battling AI-fueled cheating. DADO RUVIC/REUTERS WSJ Some admissions directors across the country have reported seeing "generated by ChatGPT" at the bottom of essays, or being unable to corroborate applicants' academic and athletic feats. ADAM AMENGUAL FOR WSJ WSJ The school, which admitted less than 4% of its 11,400 applicants for the incoming class, now asks candidates to submit evidence to verify extracurriculars. Sometimes the evidence itself seems doctored. ADAM AMENGUAL FOR WSJ WSJ has seen so many certificates that it knows to look at fonts, inconsistent margins, the right official's signature or a superimposed name of a student. The squad probes for explanations. If they can't confirm something that looks off, they reach out to the student directly, allowing 24 hours for a response. ADAM AMENGUAL FOR WSJ WSJ Admissions officers stress the majority of applications are truthful. There have even been numerous times where a seemingly far-fetched application proved true— and left them in awe.