I have decent stats, the biggest problem I face is that I have a bad academic record: I was involved in cheating and my role was being the person who did the homework assignments for other
How much will this affect me? I have grown from this: it happened sophomore year and I am a rising senior
I honestly don’t know. I suspect it may depend on how you present the story and if you teachers and counselors can confirm personal growth and learning from that mistake in your LORs. Pomona, Barnard, USC are very difficult admits even without that on your record so you should have several safeties in mind too.
Some colleges ask, some don’t. It’s doubtful something like that will be on your transcript. If it is on your transcript, they’ll see it was a couple of years ago. Teenagers do dumb things, that’s common knowledge. If there’s a way to attach a letter from your counselor in your college application, that could help a lot. Are you shut-out from a selective college? Absolutely not. The selection process is very subjective, and this is just one out of a thousand reasons they could say yes or no. A less selective college probably won’t give a darn, even if it’s on your transcript. If your stats are strong, you’re probably good.