<p>So me and my 'friend' both were applying to Stanford, and he stole one of my essay ideas without my permission from my computer when he was over at my house. I found out through a friend that he told. I'm really upset; i spent hours and days and weeks on this essay and he basically took it and changed up some words.
But beyond being angry, I'm really worried that I won't get in, or he ruined my chances, and I don't know if I can talk to an admissions rep about it or anything and possibly either turn in a new essay or do something about this.</p>
<p>You definitely can contact the college and try to talk to a rep about this. He’s cheating. Meanwhile, I’d work on both essays–the one that he stole AND a new one to be safe.</p>
<p>You should call the admissions office tomorrow, tell them about this, offer to send over a copy of the essay, see if you can find the earliest possible copy.
This is insane, I can’t believe that someone would seriously do this.</p>
<p>If you can prove that he did this, they will probably just reject him on the spot because in college plagiarism is a huge deal. I’d just call them and somehow prove it to them. You should ask to speak to a counselor, not a rep.</p>
<p>His word against yours. How did your friend copy the essay from your computer? Email, thumb drive, what? Because if you can prove that it was on your computer prior to being on his or his thumb drive, you’re in the clear. I would also talk to your school counselor about this. If they can help you get proof or make a phone call or something it definitely looks more legit. However, I would call first before asking your counselor to. Shows more responsibility.</p>
<p>So did he just steal the idea/general subject or the actual text?</p>
<p>If it’s the actual text…try to take a screenshot of something like the ‘Date Created’ for the essay file and collect some samples of your writing. Writing styles are often quite different and it’s hard to fully mimic someone else’s. Then call Stanford and explain the situation and note that you have “evidence”, such as it is, to provide them with. Talk to your counselor, tell him/her what’s going on and ask about how to proceed.</p>
<p>It might help if you two have somewhat different English grades (e.g. if you’re the better writer and have all A’s, he had more B’s), if you showed a teacher your essay and workshopped it before your friend copied it, or if your friend has had previous issues with plagiarism.</p>