In college, a lot of the activities that you will likely partake in occur in a bar or with the contents of alcohol. This makes for quite the conundrum when it comes to those unlucky few at college who are aged between 18 and 20. As one will quickly come to learn, there are ways around the age of 21 as the "legal" drinking age in the United States. The best way, and absolutely critical way in terms of your social life, is to acquire a Fake ID.
You will find that you will become a state expert when you get to college, not as a result of your rigorous geography tests or being preached to by professor after professor, but rather, because you will come to know all the different type of ID's that there are in the college world. Your friends from other states will show you their Fake ID's, which will most likely be from another state than they are actually from, and you will do the same. I have friends from Washington DC who say their Maryland Fake ID is flawless, and similarly, I have friends from Illinois who can't get over the sheer brilliance it took to replicate a California ID.
You'll come to learn the different type of jargon associated with the crazy world of Fake ID's. People will wonder does your ID Black light? This means that the ID maker, whoever he was, was smart enough to add something to the product that glows when it is black lighted by a black light. Pretty nifty technology used by the government on this one don't you think? Some other features that your ID might exhibit it the ability to Scan. ID's that can scan are hard to come by and you can seriously tell the quality of the ID if it can scan. Scanning just means that the magnetic strip on the ID actually contains information that can be read if indeed scanned. Another feature is if the ID has a hologram. Not all states have a hologram, but those that do, it is very important that your ID has it. Depending on how you got your ID (we will discuss this next) will also depend on whether the picture in the ID is yours and the information on the ID is relevant to you.
The road to receiving a Fake ID is an interesting one to say the least. You may travel down one of an infinite amount of roads in order to complete this journey from underage to fully grown human being able to drink and gamble just because of a few lousy months. One of the best ways to acquire a Fake ID is to find an older friend who looks like you (he or she will probably look nothing like you, but same hair color or eyes if terrific!). They then can give you their ID when they turn 21 years of age. This is pretty solid acquisition. The ID is technically real so it will be able to do all the cool tricks. However, the information on the ID will not be your own, address, height, weight, birthday, and of course name. This will be problematic if you're highly intoxicated. The ID may also be close to expiration so the life of it may be short lived.
The next way to get a fake ID is to find someone who makes them. It is unlikely that you will ever actually meet the person who creates your fake ID, because they are remote sketchy people who work through other people. They typically will also take their pay in either gold, diamonds, or straight cash. The benefits of this are many. First, they will probably be able to get a picture of you on the ID. You will also probably be able to put your own name on it and birthday. This helps when you're drunk. The address will be different, unless they make IDs from the state you are from. There are drawbacks with these fake ID's, however. Depending on the quality, it may not be able to do all the funky tricks, blacklighting, scanning, and holograms, that real IDs do. Also, bars at your college will become aware of a prevalence in certain Fake IDs and if you are stuck with this state that further hurts your chances. They will literally train people at the door of a bar or when you are purchasing alcohol to look at common flaws (couldn't they do something better with their time?).
The final way you will get a Fake ID is by receiving someone else's fake ID. This is the most common, but at the same time the most risky. Nothing on the ID will resonate with you aside from a small resemblance which is minimal at best. Steer clear of these fake IDs.
Fake IDs will cost you anywhere between $30 and $150. Anything less, you might as well make it yourself with paper and photoshop, anything more, you're getting royally skrewed over. Know the market value of your product. If it can scan and black light and this can be verified, you're looking at something on the higher end. If it just looks like you, this is a cheap investment, but one you will probably have to make again. Think about the long term implications of your investment, give it time and it will pay its dividends.
Some great places to find fake IDs would be any fraternity on your campus, especially sketched-out SAE. Just bring it up and someone will say, "They know a guy, who knows a guy..." and then you're set. Also bring this up to older friends or siblings, if they're "cool with that."
And now my own ode to my fake ID and the 5 visitors that this site has had from Glendale, California. Yes, I too have a fake ID. I plan on turning 21, but not yet. I have a fake California ID, which has been in my possession since December of 2005. I have been through some crazy things with this ID and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything in the world. It has my picture, it has my details, but the address is a different story. Have I ever been to Glendale, California before? No. Has Map Quest ever heard of this location in Glendale, California? No. But has it opened the doorway to some of the most ridiculous experiences of my life? Yes. And I'm so glad it did! Be careful. Be smart. Be the solution.
This post was originally written by The College Answers University of Michigan · Marketing · 21 Aug 2007
