<p>We know what a scantron is. You did not explain well how the scantron is related to the accusation. Did they accuse that you looked at other people’s scantron forms to bubble yours? Please explain this clearly.</p>
<p>"If you had seen the level of writing I’ve seen during my stint as private academic tutor at my LAC or reviewing essays with friends TAing at elite universities, including some HYPS, this won’t come as much of a surprise. "</p>
<p>Yeah, JHS. How would you possibly know what the level of writing is at Yale? You only went there - but cobrat has friends who TA’d at Yale who allegedly shared essays with him, so clearly he’s the real authority. Next time, stick to stuff you know.</p>
<p>122cbound - it sure seems like you believe people really resent you for being valedictorian. Why is that? Why do they want to take you down a peg or two?</p>
<p>I’m glad you told your parents and hopefully this whole thing will blow over. If the investigation turns up that this isn’t just a misunderstanding but a clear case of harassment, then I think it would be appropriate for the school to discipline these kids somehow. It does seem like there is some hostility to you from some of the other kids and I’m wondering how do they even know that you are currently#1? Is this something your school publicizes? I would think that would be a violation of your privacy, but since our school doesn’t rank students like that, I don’t know how it’s done. If it’s something that you have publicized, I recommend keeping quiet about your grades/rank to avoid provoking people like that into competitive nastiness.</p>
<p>At my school, being top ten gets publicized. My intention wasnt to be #1, I just wanted to do well in school. </p>
<p>About the scantron, my teacher said that a student emailed him saying she saw me with another scantron on my desk. So apparently, I had someone else’s scantron with all the answers, and i used it to fill out my scantron. The accusers claimed that someone next to me gave me his or her scantron.</p>
<p>Why on earth would someone do that? And if you are such a good student, why would you prefer their answers to your own? Makes no sense.</p>
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<p>That’s what I am wondering. Someone has to be ranked #1; I’ve never heard of fellow students ganging up on the valedictorian just out of spite. Sounds to me like the OP is a ■■■■■. Or doesn’t “play well” with others – smug and condescending to his or her peers, perhaps? Or really is cheating.</p>
<p>It would be easy enough to prove that one is not cheating simply by retaking the test or a variation of the test in question under a proctor’s watchful eye.</p>
<p>Thanks, LoremImpsum.</p>
<p>I’ve known quite a few cases where not only the valedictorian but all the hard working students are resented by the others, because these students consider that by working, the hard working student makes them “look bad”. Raising your hand in class will make you a target for paper clips, for example. Some lower-achieving students just resent the fact others seem to be successful and want to take them down for it. In some cases, the successful students are accused of “acting white” or on “wanting to be better than others” (seen as an insult) or all other variations on wanting “to be too big for your breeches”. Being #1 would definitely be seen as “wrong” by some people.
I’m actually surprised you have trouble imagining this (even if, in the competitive world of CC parents, it mustn’t be frequent, at least <em>some</em> parents must live in rural areas or in low SES areas or in areas where intellectual/elite etc are seen as bad things? Where families think that a kid who reads is lazy, because the kid isn’t “doing” anything “useful”?)</p>
<p>In my son’s high school, the top four kids were within .08 GPA of each other after the #1 student got one A- his last semester. Even though technically #1 was still #1, the four students made a mutual decision to be joint valedictorians. While these four kids were and are very competitive, they all appreciated each other’s work ethics and capabilities, gave a joint commencement speech and attended each other’s graduation parties. The OP’s scenario, if true, sounds horrible.</p>
<p>I’m with MYOS. Back in the 70’s in my rural high school, the sal my graduation year started a PR war against the val. over some questionable grade. It got so nasty I actually went to see the principal about getting someone to intervene with the two girls. So yeah, it most definitely happens.</p>
<p>OP should offer to take another test over the same material. Perhaps the grade will actually improve!</p>
<p>Never heard of #1 NOT being the val. Huh? How does that work?</p>
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<p>My son was ranked #1 in both the junior and senior classes and was not eligible to be val because he graduated high school in 3 years. He was thrilled, actually, because he didn’t have to give a speech.</p>
<p>“The accusers claimed that someone next to me gave me his or her scantron.”
Well, then lucky you. First of all, this should have been witnessed by several people near you if it’s true. And secondly, you said earlier that you didn’t even get an A. So, it should be easy to tell whether you copied from the other scantron–did you get the same questions wrong, and did you mark the <em>same</em> wrong answers to them? This should be quite obvious. If you are innocent, it should be easy to clear your name.</p>
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<p>Agree with MYOS theory as it’s par for the course at many NYC public high schools, especially those in neighborhoods with high crime rates and/or a critical mass of residents/students who hate above-average academic achievers. While there has been some improvements, this issue is still present in many of those neighborhoods. </p>
<p>Moreover, it seems to be a nationwide problem judging by accounts I kept hearing from college classmates/colleagues who attended mainstream US high schools where the high academic achievers/G & T kids were often subjected to social ostracism and bullying from classmates & sometimes even teachers/admins and other parents.</p>
<p>Any data to support that it is "par for the course’?? Seems like a bit of an overgeneralization.</p>
<p>Let me just throw this out there…Could OP be the accuser? His/her writing style makes it hard for me to believe he/she is ranked #1.</p>
<p>Actually, my current theory is that the OP is thinking about making a false accusation against someone else and is trying to figure out how to do it and whether it will fly. Because the OP was so reluctant to explain exactly what happened and the whole “she says she saw someone else’s scantron on my desk” thing the OP at long last presented makes so little sense.</p>
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<p>I can just as easily generalize that it’s not a problem based on my own experiences, where I was up for valedictorian (I was ultimately #3) and got nothing but positive you-go-girls from other students who knew of it. But, I mean, my experience can’t possibly count next to the thousands of experiences cobrat has vicariously lived through all his neighbors, friends, cousins and classmates.</p>
<p>Look, the vast majority of students don’t CARE about being valedictorian because they’re just in school because it’s the thing to do at that age, and they aren’t dying to be #1, or apply to Harvard, or any of the rest. Just like the vast majority of the population doesn’t care about academic achievement. Wish it were different, but that’s what it is. So if you’re a valedictorian and every one is trying to “take you down a peg,” it makes me wonder if there is a social skill issue going on. Maybe not, but it’s my first blush guess. And no, this is not blaming the victim.</p>