<p>I was caught cheating on part of my semester final in an AP course. The punishment was a zero on the free response portion of the test and and I have yet to take the MC portion. I realize this decision was entirely stupid, but I have had illness in the family that has affected my academics as far back as 2 months ago. The weekend before I cheated, I was in the hospital with my family member and had no time to study. The depression, anxiety, and stress got the better of me and I decided to crib because I simply did not study. I immediately talked to the Deputy Principle, who informed me that since this is my only academic violation, I receive no punishment beyond the teacher's decision of a grade (unfortunately, a zero on 30-40% of the test). He said explicitly that colleges will not know of this cheating because I haven't received any official punishment for it. He sympathized with my situation, but we both agree that I should have addressed the issue before the fact, not after I got caught. I talked to my teacher as well, one who thinks of me highly, and in her words, she said this was "my cry for help" and that she understands what I'm going through. She isn't going to 'punish' me more than the grade on the FRQ, and I'm confident this boost will make me study more for the other portion of the test, and I will end with a B in class. All things considered, no big deal!</p>
<p>I am, however, a senior in HS. I receive ED news in a few days and I am concerned about what impact this will have for RD schools. I know it does not go on my record to colleges, but will this be something my GC notes on her rec? She has obviously written it, but has not sent them for RDs yet. I am not sure if she even knows of this incident (yet), but if/when she is notified, is there anything that will prompt her to change my recommendation? Additionally, will this preclude me from any selective colleges (I am applying to a number of them), even though this was an honest misjudgement and not a reflection of my character? It does not go on any record to college, so my hope is no. I think I have learned my lesson, I don't want my future ruined because of my own personal struggles. </p>
<p>If you read the post, you would notice how aware I am of my own mistakes. As an addendum, I was one of only a few students appointed to our school’s Honor Code Committee in the 9th and 10th grades, a result of my academic integrity. I take the honor code and honesty seriously and I don’t see your facetious remarks as productive or insightful. If you can’t sympathize or don’t understand my personal grief, why are you commenting? You do not understand my situation and the specifics of it and I did not ask for reiterative posts regarding my failures. If you do not have a productive answer to my question, then please do not comment.</p>
<p>Why am I even responding to an obviously worthless that contains more grammatical errors than commas?</p>
<p>I understand your problem and do sympathize with you, though not entirely because cheating is always wrong. However, I do not think that this will affect anything college-wise. The part about what your Deputy Principal said (“He said explicitly that colleges will not know of this cheating because I haven’t received any official punishment for it.”) makes me think that this isn’t an official offense, and it therefore will have no bearing on the college admissions process. I am assuming that your counselor will find out about it, though, so it might be a good idea to talk to her about it. You don’t have to blatantly say “I was hoping that you won’t put this in my rec” or something like that. I would just talk to her about your situation (you mentioned depression and anxiety, which your counselor can certainly help with), and hopefully she will get that it was a one-time mistake.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Don’t cheat again. I understand the circumstances, but teachers are generally really understanding about this type of thing if you come to them BEFOREHAND. You probably could have gotten an extension or something. In any case, it most likely will not affect your college admissions, provided that you don’t cheat again.</p>
<p>Good luck with your admissions decisions, though!!</p>
<p>Talk to your counselor. Ask her what your chances are in X, Y, Z universities (list your dream and safety schools). Ask her if there is anything in your records that will hinder your chances in these schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is likely to affect you greatly unless it results in a very low final grade for the course in question. You haven’t been disciplined, so you don’t have to answer “yes” to any questions of that kind.</p>
<p>(For the record, your excuse does absolutely nothing to absolve you of guilt. You should feel bad, and the events that preceded it should not help you feel better for it. Depression, anxiety and stress don’t have anything to do with integrity. Your Honor Code Committee presence conveys less of an idea of your commitment than it does of your hypocrisy.)</p>
<p>But the past is past. If I were in your situation, I’d be anxious about my lack of information. If your GC doesn’t know, you don’t want to bring it up. If she does, you really need to to see if she can help you (by either being dishonest or straightforward + the bullish “I was having a bad day” excuse). </p>
<p>I hope she does. I know you’re remorseful, and as long as it sticks, that’s all that counts. Good luck.</p>