I am a fourth-year college student. I have recently been accused by one of my professors of academic dishonesty during a test. When the professor had asked for us to turn in our tests, I was walking towards the professor with my test in my hand. As I was doing so, I was looking over my test to see if everything I had written down was right. However, I happened to stumble upon one thing that I wanted to correct, which I tried to do, and I believe that this was what my professor saw as me cheating.
I have a high GPA, and I have never been accused of cheating before in my life. I am very worried that this accusation will ruin my academic career.
Does anyone have any advice that they could offer? Also, based on the description I have given, is this considered academic dishonesty?
I actually just witnessed a dispute between a professor and a student where the professor called time and the student kept writing; he said that he’d treat the first time as a warning but if it were to happen again, he’d reprimand the student for academic dishonesty. I also saw something similar in high school during an AP exam; a student was reprimanded for trying to finish up his last sentence on the FRQ after the proctor called time.
The idea is that if your professor asked the class to turn in the test and then you make a last minute correction after the professor says its time to turn in the test, you are at an unfair advantage over the rest of the class who didn’t get the chance to look over their test and make last minute corrections because they actually turned in the test when asked to. In my honest opinion, I think it’s slightly lame to actually treat that sort of stuff with the same gravity as other forms of cheating but the argument is still there.
I think the first thing you should do is meet with your professor - don’t get on the offensive just quite yet. Go to your professor and explain your side of the story. See if there is any alternative to remedying the situation (retaking the test, taking a 0 for the assessment, etc) aside from a disciplinary hearing (or whatever the equivalent is at your school.) Don’t try to turn it into a “woe is me” sort of scenario (don’t bring up how disciplinary action/a citation is going to impact graduate school admissions and you’ll end up spending the rest of your life living in a cardboard box because you didn’t get into medical school) but rather own up to what you did and prove to your professor that it was a misunderstanding and that it won’t happen again.
I did try to talk with my professor about this. However, he showed no desire of wanting to hear my side of the story (I should also mention that he basically has a “zero tolerance” policy against cheaters), and he did also state at the beginning of the semester that the minimum penalty for academic dishonesty is an F for the course.
I admit that I was in the wrong for what I did, and this was nothing but poor judgment on my part. Assuming that the worst that happens is that I get an F, would I be better off simply accepting the F?
I would just accept it and move on. Your professor called time, and that means take your test and hand it in. No ifs, ands, or buts. I always try to make sure to triple-check my test before turning it in because like you, I would want to change an answer if I thought it was wrong.
How many points would you have lost if you turned it in as is? Would it have made that much of a difference?
It sucks that your prof didn’t want to hear your side of the story, but that is going to happen. In the future, your boss won’t normally want to hear your side, so it’s best to learn that now rather than later when you can lose your job.
Also, is it too late in the term to drop the class? I would withdraw and retake it rather than take the F.
If possible, withdraw from the class (better than an F) - but if that’s not possible, then take the F and move on. Sure it’s gonna hurt your GPA but it’s a lot better than the incident being recorded on file and academic dishonesty being tied to your undergraduate academic career permanently. Luckily you have a high GPA after 3.5 years of study which will definitely help “absorb” some of the impact of an F. Your situation seems lousy right now but it’s not the end of the world - try to grow from this experience. Best of luck.
Most campuses have some sort of student advocate in the Dean of Student’s office. See whether they can offer any suggestions on a reasonable way forward.