After being dismissed from the University and returning via subcommittee review, the student who falsified his GPA and major on a Symplicity profile submitted this open letter to The Daily Illini for publication. He did not include his name or contact information.

Dear friends:

Those of you who are in the College of Business, and economics and finance majors in LAS, must be familiar with the Symplicity system. It is a wonderful job searching database that has successfully helped us land great internships and our dream jobs.

You must remember, prior to joining the system, we all signed an agreement that we would provide true and accurate information.

I also signed the paper. However, I provided false and misleading information regarding my GPA and major in my Symplicity profile. As a result, I obtained six interviews in fall 2007.

Five of those companies would not have interviewed me had I provided accurate information. It gave me a significant advantage over other students. I didn’t realize that the students who may be perfect candidates for these companies didn’t even get a chance to interview because of me.

I sincerely apologize to these students. There is no way to justify my dishonest actions. In early February, after a two week hearing process, I was dismissed by the Subcommittee on Undergraduate Student Conduct. It’s been the darkest and most painful period of my life. My parents were shocked and very disappointed, and the dream offer from a stock trading firm in New York City is gone.

But I learned a very important lesson of being honest. I will be honest to the world and to myself for the rest of my life.

There is a quote: a wise person will learn from other peoples’ mistakes.

Dear friends, I sincerely hope you learn from my mistakes.

Thank you.