The teacher of that class may just have the opposite opinion. LOL.
What not to do when under pressure: Cheat
What to do when under pressure: Talk to your teachers, talk to your guidance counselor, drop classes, ask for extra time, get counseling.
In my opinion, the OP is an excellent writer, and much more clever than most of us.<<<<<<<<<<
As in creative writing?
Good lord.
OP is an excellent writer.
This is an 18 year old high school student who came here seeking help & guidance.
How could this not cause a suspension ?
that’s sad- 1 strike should be it, a second strike indicates a complete lack of integrity
It’s not about writing skills.
It’s about choices made. OP plagiarized.
In my school, cheating on a major exam would be a suspension and failure of the course for the marking period.
Getting back to the original question: writing a letter blaming family problems for the drop in grades is a mistake. If an adcom asks about it, your guidance counselor can’t lie. You’ll come off as a liar and a cheat.
Make no mention of it and let the chips fall where they may. But answer honestly if you’re asked whether you’ve ever had a disciplinary issue dealing with cheating.
@lookingforward: The writing skills comment was the result of other posters criticism of OP’s writing skills as displayed in this thread.
Still shocked by the anger in this thread. OP was caught & punished. Her school knew of the circumstances & acted accordingly.
The writer cheated, was caught and then punished. Everyday, we pass by others under huge stress and we simply don’t know it. When we need help, we should ask for it. Cheating is not an appropriate means of self help because it exacerbates problems. I hope your life becomes significantly less painful and complex.
Just an update for anybody interested. I went to a meeting with my advisors and the dean of High school. Because it was my first transgression, they stated that they would give me a 0 on the assignment (giving me a C- in my AP Chinese Class), but they would not provide a note stating the circumstances. I am so grateful and appreciative for the second chance, and I will most definitely not waste it at the college I am currently attending.
I was accepted at UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, UCSD, UCSC, UCSB, UC Irvine, Scripps, USC, Carnegie Mellon, Claremont McKenna, and Pitzer. I decided to go to USC Viterbi School of Engineering (CS Major) for a new environment. Thank you to everyone who supported me and gave me comfort. I still can’t believe I got off easy but I won’t question my luck and just thank my lucky stars. I have learned so much from this experience and hope to never ever repeat this experience again. The feeling of heartache and the sheer dishonesty will always remain as a reminder if I ever think to go down that route again.
“top UCs, USC, and Ivies are very high reach for you and you should change your plan completely.”
Well apparently not, CC is usually pretty good about these kinds of situations and offering guidance, but given the OP got into all these colleges, totally wrong on this one, except for the few posters that tried to offer support as opposed to being judgemental.
Wow, I don’t agree with the high school not reporting this infraction. Seems to me that the lesson is not learned unless there are consequences. My oldest kid has often had kids attempting to copy off his/her papers during tests. Not a fan of cheaters. No excuse is valid.
These days you will be caught and plagiarism is a ground for expulsion at some schools.
@Happytimes2001
I don’t like cheaters either. However, don’t you think the school may have some facts/reasons to which you are not privy? When you go to a school/have a job, you follow the rules of that organization and are subject to it’s rules.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Well, one can agree or not agree. But at this point, what’s done is done and it is what it is. So no reason to debate the issue.
OP, thanks for the update, and best of luck. Closing thread.