Caught cheating but not suspended

Applying to College
1

<p>I've got a few questions along with a "chance me"</p>

<p>Junior year, which was 2008-2009 for me, I got caught cheating on the last day of school which was the day of my precalc final. I got caught, went through a long interrogation process where at first I denied but then in the end admitted. The other kid didn't admit but he didn't have to once I did. I did not get kicked out of the class or receive a suspension but I did receive a 0 on the final which was 15% of my grade and thus lowered my overall semester grade to a D+.</p>

<p>My main punishment was a "0" on my final, bringing my grade down to a D+ and a "academic integrity" title on my record. Nothing else.</p>

<p>I retook the course at a college over the summer and came out strong with an A to make up for the D+. By doing this, my GPA would not be affected by the D+ but the D+ will still remain on my transcript to be seen by the admissions officers. I also asked my counselor whether or not my "academic integrity" title would appear for admissions officers to see and she said they do NOT. But if they find the need to find out what happened with my D+, and call my counselor, she has every obligation to tell them the truth.</p>

<p>What I'm wondering, if anyone can have the sympathy to answer for me honestly, is how badly will my admission to the schools I want be affected?</p>

<p>How much emphasis do colleges put on situations such as mine?
- do colleges micro-manage transcripts and scrutinize that one D+ and reject me because of that along with the academic integrity title?</p>

<p>On the common app, there is a question listed asking if you have ever been caught for alcoholic, drug, academic, etc. issues that RESULTED in a suspension, dismissal from class, etc.
- none of those things happened to me so I technically wouldn't have to check "yes" , correct?</p>

<p>I also would like some of you more knowledgeable posters and members to help me determine what a good set of schools would be considering my current circumstance.
- what I have in mind are almost all the UC's, more focused on UCLA, UCSD
- Northwestern
- UMich Ann Arbor
- USC
- Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>My GPA is running around a 3.6/7 unweighted and a 4.0 weighted.. I probably have around a 4.1 UC weighted</p>

<p>SAT I (600 CR, 710 Math, 710 Writing, 10 on essay)
SAT II (590 math 2c, 580 Bio E/M, 540 Spanish) <em>please note I am retaking these in Nov.</em></p>

<p>AP scores - 2 on Bio
2 on AP US</p>

<p>Classes for senior year</p>

<ol>
<li>AP Calc AB</li>
<li>Physics</li>
<li>Teacher Aid/Economics (second semester)</li>
<li>AP Spanish 5</li>
<li>AP Language and Composition</li>
<li>AP Statistics</li>
</ol>

<p>I appreciate you all for reading this extensive and dense story/statistical analysis of myself and hope that you all can help me and direct my mind the right way in an honest fashion.</p>

<p>I thank you all again</p>

2

<p>Probably not too great. The D+ I’m sure they can forgive but cheating looks pretty bad.</p>

3

<p>The D+ might be forgivable, though there’s a really good chance that either a bright red flag would be put up and/or they’d call the counselor about it, and if they hear about cheating that’d be probably really bad…not saying you necessarily did other times but I feel like their mind set would be, “if this kid got caught cheating once, how do we know he wasn’t constantly doing it previously.” Academic integrity can and usually is taken very seriously in college…just be thankful you didn’t get caught in college, you can be expelled for that.</p>

4

<p>Yes I understand where both of you come from. My counselor and vice principal (the man that carried the investigation) both said it would affect me but not to the extent of me not getting into some of the colleges I want to get into.</p>

<p>Can anyone be more specific to what my chances are and how badly these terrible series of events may affect me?</p>

<p>My counselor did all she could to calm my senses down by saying that I shouldn’t worry about it and finish my months in highschool strong. I, on the other hand, have gone in more than three times and am about to go in for a forth to talk about it with her.</p>

<p>My vice principal also offered to write me a letter of rec due to our ongoing relationship. He’s an awesome guy and an awesome letter writer.

  • what I’m wondering is, if he did write about my incident, would that just mean everything goes downhill for me?</p>

<p>Thanks everyone and I’m sure more questions will come up as this forum continues to expand. </p>

<p>Once again, thank you</p>

5

<p>Look at yourself statistically without the “academic integrity” flag first.</p>

<p>Northwestern: Your SATs are at or below the 25th%-tile
Michigan: Your GPA is in the bottom third and your CR is 25th%-tile the other SATs are closer to the mid-point. If you’re OOS that’s another negative.
USC: GPA in the bottom half and SAT profile similar to Michigan’s.
CMU: Same analysis as USC & MIchigan.</p>

<p>In short, these four schools are reaches for you, primarily because of your standardized test scores. Add in the cheating issue and I think you have a hard hill to climb. As far as UCLA and UCSD, statistically you’re much closer to the norm, especially if you GPA of 3.6/7 includes the D+. I suspect your best chances are at the UC schools.</p>

6

<p>The Common App. and private schools will ask about suspension and disciplinary type of questions, where as UC & CSU applications will not.</p>

7

<p>Not sure if it is the right strategy or even if it is advisable, but you could point that you got a D due to this incident and how you have learned your lesson (went back and learnt the subject instead of a short cut) and that it will not happen again. You could use it in an essay e.g. an essay on an ethical dilemma you faced (cheat or not cheat and get a bad grade) and how you took a wrong choice and paid the price. </p>

<p>Others who are more experienced can weigh in on if it this strategy is recommended or not. I am merely pointing out an alternative approach as I do not know the best answer. Also, it is not all or none, you could this approach at one school and not mention it at another.</p>

8

<p>I suspect the private schools and Michigan will want some sort of explanation of the incident. In that sense the “falling-on-ones-sword” strategy may work. The problem of course is that you’re falling on your sword and people will want to know why you did it and why they should believe you won’t do it again. Cheating because you felt overwhelmed by the material will probably not make schools too comfortable about your future performance. Cheating to help out a friend (peer pressure) will result in a different reaction, not necessarily better, just different. Lying or getting cute about why you cheated is probably the only suicidal strategy as they may choose to follow-up with your school. Regardless, I think you need to be ready with a well thought out explanation.</p>

9

<p>The other issue here is the timing, do you wait it out and then give a well thought out explanation if they ask for it, or do you preempt it by “confessing” first. If they ask for it and even if your explanation is believable , they could come back and say “why did you not mention it till we asked you?” or “if you hid this, what else are you hiding?”. On the other hand they may never ask you and “falling on your sword” may hurt you.</p>

10

<p>“On the common app, there is a question listed asking if you have ever been caught for alcoholic, drug, academic, etc. issues that RESULTED in a suspension, dismissal from class, etc.”</p>

<p>Because of the etc., I would be encouraging my son to check yes were this him. Then I would encourage him to write about it and what he’s learned in an appropriate place on the app. And if he could get a positive rec from the vice principal that addresses the situation I think that would be a good thing. JMO.</p>

11

<p>Your best strategy is explaining the situation with the help of your counselor at schools that are not already major reaches. The schools you list would mostly be tough with your stats and no transgression–the list needs to be more realistic.</p>

12

<p>Given the situation, I think that you would probably be wise to expand your college list considerably, as it is difficult to predict what the reaction will be to the D+ and your explanation of cheating. It might be be good to have a lot more options than usual.</p>

13

<p>I’ll go contrarian here and suggest that your “academic integrity title” be listed as an award. Please don’t take my advice. Good luck.</p>

14

<p>I am going to point out a different red flag that I believe I am spotting in your stats. To have a 3.6/3.7 uw GPA including the D+, the majority of your other grades are A/A-. Having scores that are low compared to the grades in the class (590 math, 580 bio, 540 spanish, AP Bio 2, AP US hist 2) are supposed to be a concern. I know you said that you are retaking the SAT IIs in November, I think it would be important that you achieve scores that reflect the grades you got in the classroom.</p>

15

<p>Why not apply to some of the colleges that will auto admit you just based on SAT or GPA.
Kansas, Mizzou, Oregon just to be sure. Their websites spell out the requirements pretty clearly.
Go to college. Put the past behind you. Lead an honest life and get a second chance. Transfer to one of the colleges of your choice after you have racked up a good college GPA.</p>