<p>Long story short: Okay, so I'm a great writer and I re-wrote my friend's absolutely terrible essay. She ended up getting into an amazing college, while I struck out at all my tier 1s. The friction has just completely destroyed our friendship.</p>
<p>Yes, I can be the better person and let it go. But no, I'm not. And this thread isn't to lecture me about morals. </p>
<p>I want to report her now for what I did. However, I'm afraid that the college will also notify authorities. Is what I did punishable by jail? Is it a crime/misdemeanor? I don't care if they report it to my college. Considering costs, I might very well go to a community college anyways. I just want to know if this can go on my permanent record.</p>
<p>If anyone knows about this, please respond. Thanks.</p>
<p>I doubt that you would go to jail, but you might. This is America the land of randomly putting people in jail. It seems more like an act of plagiarism, which is an ethical violation but not actually illegal (by itself) You would be just as guilty though and would get a blackmark on your record that would make it hard to get into any college ever. Have you also though of what proof you have? The moral of the story though is to not help people cheat because it backfires.</p>
<p>I think you need to let your “jet engines” cool…and give it a few days. You will regret your actions if you carry through with your plan… </p>
<p>I mean, MANY people have others edit and rewrite portions of their essays… and I am sure colleges know this…it will just look foolish on your end to report it…lol.</p>
<p>you are assuming that it was your essay that got her in…? And that if not for the essay, they would have accepted you instead? It’s not that simple of a zero sum game. It’s easy to think that the essay alone did the trick for her, but remember the school accepted a total package…she also had to have had the curriculum, grades, scores, ECs and LORs.</p>
<p>Think back,you wouldn’t have helped your friend if you hadn’t wanted to. What good is "telling " going to do now? Outcomes could range from absolutely none (you are ignored, or else taken as a case of an applicant with sour grapes, and thus ignored), to both of you being booted for honor violations (and what does that achieve), to your school booting you for an honor violation, and her school doing nothing because she tells her school that your merely helped her edit her essay.</p>
<p>Also, your high school could become involved in this, and this could also be an infraction of that honor code…with the result this would be on your permanent record/transcript for any college you apply to that would want a high school transcript.</p>
<p>Spend some time looking in the mirror. Think about what kind of person you want to be.</p>
<p>Come September 1 when you’re steeped into the excitement of being an entering College freshman, this event will mean next to nothing. Will it come back to bother you every once in a while? Maybe. But really you should be focused on enjoying the last few mos. of HS and having a great final summer before college. Otherwise, the citations of you’re being a petty and mean person will be absolutely right on. You’re about to go to college. Maturation requires big boy/big girl decisions on how to conduct oneself.</p>
<p>Just let it lie. It’ll go away. And you’ll feel better too. Good luck to you. (and don’t do it again!)</p>
<p>I think you have to step out side yourself and reflect on what kind of person you are and what kind of person you want to be. Doing this would be pure spitefulness, and is the mark of a bad person. You must let it go, or it will end very badly. This type of behavior will show on your face a number of years down the road.</p>
<p>You say you don’t want a lecture on morals, but this is what this post screams out for.</p>
<p>With only one post, perhaps you are a ■■■■■, anyway.</p>
<p>Of course you are not going to jail. I think you are wrong to think your reworking the essay was the only reason she got into college. </p>
<p>I think the blame is on you for helping. It is one thing to help correct the grammar/spelling/puncuation and another to write the essay yourself. If you wrote the essay yourself, without any of her ideas, you were wrong. Hopefully, you will learn not to help others by doing their work.</p>
<p>No prosecutor will spend time and taxpayer money prosecuting this kind of fraud, if that’s what it is. However, you will look like an idiot if you draw any attention to your helping her and her using your help. If you don’t really care about the morality of trying to ruin your exfriend’s future, you should at least care about your own image. How do you want the world to view you?</p>
<p>Hopefully you are a nicer person than these posts are making you sound. If this is generally how you come across, I wonder if your recommendations were not so hot. Please look in the mirror and don’t blame your friend. </p>
<p>Time heals a lot of wounds, and you still have a great life ahead of you. This will be small potatoes in a few years.</p>
<p>OP, assuming that you actually wrote your friend’s essay (as opposed to editing it), I think you both deserve to be punished. I am surprised at the responses that want to protect your friend.</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with your plan to turn yourself in. The question is, how do you do it? Tell your GC? That might be the best plan, and then s/he can decide where to take it from there.</p>
<p>You will not go to jail for this. It is your friend who perjured her application, not you. I don’t think she will go to jail for it either, unless it amounts to criminal fraud, but I am not an expert in that area. She will most likely deny that you wrote it anyway, and it will be impossible to prove otherwise.</p>
<p>Why would you or your friend get punished at all? Is there any proof besides your word that you wrote your friends essay? And it sounds like you friend would deny your claim, so unless you have some legitamite proof no punishment would happen. For all the college and your friends know, you are simply jealous of your friend for getting into a good school</p>
<p>There are prob thousands of kids who don’t write their own essays. Stinks, but there you go.</p>
<p>While I understand the need to get back at her, and if her attitude about it is ah, look at me!!! I can feel your being beyond irked.</p>
<p>However, the likelyhood that anything will happen to her is minimal, while there is more chance it’ll blow back to you.</p>
<p>So don’t do anything. This is not a judgement of you or your anger or wanting to out her, I totally understand that and would be tempted myself. I just think it can hurt you more then it will hurt her.</p>
<p>Very likely, they, if they did anything, would ask her, did your friend write your essay, and she will say, no, my friend proofed it for me, but thats all. Must be jealous and disturbed.</p>
<p>They will look at her whole application, maybe, and eh, very likely do nada. Meanwhile, if it blows back, itl
Blow back to you.</p>
<p>cortana brings up a valid point. In the end this would become a she said-you said situation. You’d need undeniable proof that you wrote the entirety on the essay and you’d have to hope that the college would care enough to investigate. Jail? I can’t see how. Sure, it was a deceptive practice but it’s hard to see how it rises to the level of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’. You’d likely just come off as a petty and embittered high schooler trying to sabotage another’s success; which of course, you are.</p>
<p>The other interesting legal issue is if you take this course of action and your ‘friend’ is harmed by your admission, she might be in a position to file a civil suit against you. Your actions caused her harm, she seeks recourse against you. She might even have recourse against your parents since it happened “on their watch”. I have no doubt that she could find some contingency based lawyer to come after you and yours. </p>
<p>The thing people always forget is that in a pi*sing contest everyone gets wet.</p>
<p>If you tell the college that you wrote this person’s essay, they are going to disregard your message without giving it another thought. There is practically no way of verifying your claim and the college won’t care enough to pursue it. It’s not like the essay alone got this person in.</p>
<p>So feel free to let them know if it makes you feel better, but its going to fall on deaf ears. Colleges don’t take these kind of claims from random high school students very seriously. People are bitter and try these kinds of things all the time to get their classmates kicked out of school. It never works. I’m sure admissions regularly get letters about applicants cheating in school, cheating on the SAT, lying on their resume, etc. There are some things that can be background checked but other things that are just totally unverifiable (as is the case here).</p>