Marilee Jones, a prominent crusader against the pressure on students to build their resumes for elite colleges, resigned yesterday as dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after acknowledging she had misrepresented her own academic credentials.

Ms. Jones has been a popular speaker on the college admissions circuit, where she urged parents not to press their children too hard, and told students there are more important things than getting into the most prestigious colleges. She rewrote MIT’s application, trying to get students to say more about their personalities and passions, and de-emphasizing lists of their accomplishments.

But Ms. Jones, dean since 1997, issued a statement saying she had misrepresented her credentials when she first came to work at MIT 28 years ago and “did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since.

“I am deeply sorry for this and for disappointing so many in the MIT community and beyond who supported me, believed in me, and who have given me extraordinary opportunities,” she said, adding she would have no further comment.

MIT spokeswoman Patti Richards said Ms. Jones has at various times claimed to have degrees from Union College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Albany Medical College. But Ms. Richards had no immediate information on what degrees Ms. Jones actually has or how the matter was uncovered.

Jason Gorss, a spokesman for RPI, said Ms. Jones attended that university as a part-time, nonmatriculating student between September 1974 and June 1975 but did not receive a degree. Messages left for officials at the other schools were not immediately returned.

Ms. Jones attracted attention with her campaign to reduce the pressure college applicants from the bully pulpit of a campus famous for its overachievers. She is the co-author of a 2006 book “Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond.”