How one student fooled Yale with fake name and grades—until roommate exposed her

She arrived on Yale’s campus with a single suitcase, a purse, and a carefully crafted lie. Katherina Lynn — not her real name — had spent years faking her identity, rewriting her past, and forging transcripts to secure a spot at one of the world’s most prestigious universities. But the charade unraveled faster than she could have imagined.

How she rewrote her story

Lynn grew up in a Chinese family in California, a childhood marked by the name her parents had given her — a name she 'hated' and that made her a target for school bullies. By sophomore year of high school, she had decided that her real identity — an Asian girl with average grades — wouldn’t get her into Yale.

So she invented a new life. In her Yale application, she claimed she was born and raised in Tioga, North Dakota, a town of just 2,000 people. She forged transcripts using Adobe, wrote her own letters of recommendation, and learned the ins and outs of college security measures to keep her story intact.

“It was just about creating a story that worked for me,” she later admitted to Air Mail News, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Erasing her old self

Lynn went further than mere fabrication — she tried to erase her past entirely. She skipped her high school graduation, begged that her real name not be read aloud, and legally changed her name to Katherina Lynn. By fall 2024, she applied to Yale under her new persona, claiming the small-town upbringing that she thought would make her stand out.

“I wrote about how being from a small town would shape who I am,” she said.

Arrival and early tensions

Her plan worked — she was accepted. But the reality of campus life quickly exposed cracks. Assigned to a tiny four-person suite in Lanman-Wright Hall (“L-Dub”), Lynn saw a sticker on the door: “Katherina Lynn — Tioga, North Dakota.”

“It was just a sticker on a door, and I should’ve taken it down,” she admitted. “But I’d just flown in from California on a red-eye. I was exhausted and not thinking clearly.”

Her obsession with controlling every detail of her fabricated identity collided with real life. Suitemate Sara Bashker noticed issues immediately: a mildew smell, leftover food, and inconsistencies in Lynn’s stories about where she had lived. Other students reported that Lynn was in a long-distance relationship and spent hours daily on the phone.

The slip that exposed her

The downfall began with a simple luggage tag. On September 16, Bashker spotted a name she didn’t recognise, photographed it, and sent it to their freshman counselor. Later that night, while Lynn showered, Bashker checked her purse — finding an ID matching the luggage tag, listing a California address.

The dean was alerted. Yale rescinded her admission. Bashker recalls watching as Lynn quietly packed her belongings, accompanied by a police officer and the head of college.

Yale's response

“Yale receives thousands of admissions applications each year, and the process relies on the honesty of the applicants and the accuracy of the information that is provided,” a Yale spokesperson told Air Mail News. “When it came to the university’s attention that a student misrepresented themselves in their application, the university rescinded their admission as outlined in the admission’s policies. Yale will not be sharing additional details.”