<p>So at the end of my junior year I got written up at school for cheating. What happened was I did some assignments on virtual school for a friend. I have excellent grades, have taken several AP classes, am #6 in my class and have all the qualifications to get into a good college. Now, the incident isnt anywhere on my transcripts or anything but there is a question on some applications that asks if youve ever been caught compromising academic integrity. I dont know if I put yes to that question and explain how Ive learned my lesson & how academic integrity is more important to me now or I just put no because its not on my transcripts. I want to be honest but I dont want my chances to be hurt because I made a stupid mistake that I will never repeat. So my questions are: should I report it? If I do, how bad will it affect me? Is it less bad that I did assignments for someone else (I would never need someone to do my own assignments)? How do I show that Ive learned my lesson? Best case scenario?</p>
<p>I had a friend who graduated last year. On a trip to Europe junior year he flipped off a teacher, and needless to say he also got written up. It didn’t show up on any kind of transcript, but he brought it up anyway and used it as material for an essay to describe a mistake he made and how he has learned from it and made him a better person. You could do the same.</p>
<p>How’d they find out you did assignments online?
Honestly this is a really mild form of cheating/bordering on tutoring.</p>
<p>At the end of the Common Application, you need to answer YES or NO to these questions:</p>
<p>Disciplinary History </p>
<p>(1) Have you ever been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any educational institution you have attended from the 9th grade (or the international equivalent) forward, whether related to academic misconduct or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in a disciplinary action? These actions could include, but are not limited to: probation, suspension, removal, dismissal, or expulsion from the institution. Yes No</p>
<p>(2) Have you ever been adjudicated guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or other crime? Yes No</p>
<p>[Note that you are not required to answer “yes” to this question, or provide an explanation, if the criminal adjudication or conviction has been expunged, sealed,
annulled, pardoned, destroyed, erased, impounded, or otherwise ordered by a court to be kept confidential.]</p>
<p>If you answered “yes” to either or both questions, please attach a separate sheet of paper that gives the approximate date of each incident, explains the circumstances, and reflects on what you learned from the experience.</p>
<p>===>> Even though the offense is not on your transcript, your guidance counselor may mention the fact in their Secondary School Report (SSR) or one of your teachers may mention the fact in their letter of recommendation. So, it’s always best to tell the truth, admit what you did, the lessons you have learned and move on.</p>
<p>“What happened was I did some assignments on virtual school for a friend.”</p>
<p>Sorry, harasNN, but this is absolutely NOT “mild” or “bordering on tutoring”. This is falsifying someone else’s work, and borders on forgery.</p>
<p>ilaughinghouse, no this is not “better” than letting someone else do your assignments for you. You need to go have a nice long chat with your guidance counselor about this. You need to know what your options are, and what you need to do to demonstrate to that person that you are ready for college. After all, it is your guidance counselor who will be sending out the letters when you apply.</p>
<p>You did someone else’s work. They got credit for it.</p>
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<p>Whenever people with tutors do their work, the tutor ends up doing 99% of it.</p>
<p>Wow, don’t apply any where with an honor code…totally agree with happymom. If you let your tutor do all your work and get credit, your are cheating - passing someone else’s work off as your own. By this standard, you are not “cheating” if you get someone to sign in with your name and take your SATs.</p>
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<p>That’s reallyyyyy a stretch of an analogy</p>
<p>^^Why? OP signed on the virtual school as someone else. He did someone else’s work. Was actually responding to your post where you seem ok with tutors doing a student’s work and not finding anything wrong with OP’s actions. OP seems to realize what he did was wrong and can use this as a life lesson going forward.</p>
<p>Agree that OP needs to talk to guidance about how to address this with college.</p>
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<p>Did I explicitly say I was ok with tutors doing students’ work? I said OP’s action was ok because other kids likely have tutors doing similar things.</p>
<p>Well, the attitude at my school was kind of lax, my guidance counselor said that it sucks that I got caught bc this happens all the time. She said that most applications wont ask about it so we didn’t really discuss what I should do if they do ask. Ill prob just report it and explain how I learned my lesson. And I am aware that what I did was wrong, thank you, I was just curious how bad it will affect me. Is this just a minor mistake in the scheme of things? I just dont know if they will view this as a little mistake made in childhood or a really big deal…my school viewed it was the former honestly…</p>
<p>Oh and what does OP mean?</p>
<p>Agree that I don’t think it’s a big deal. Ask your GC. Anyone who flips out over cheating needs a dose of reality. 99% of high schoolers cheat in some form or another every school year. Besides, it’s not like you were the one trying to pass off someone else’s work as your own.</p>
<p>OP = Original Poster (on this thread that would be you).</p>
<p>A charge of cheating would never show up on your transcript, so you are asking the wrong question.</p>
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[quote[s this just a minor mistake in the scheme of things?
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<p>Academic dishonesty is never a minor thing. If you do it in college, it is grounds for suspension/expulsion.</p>
<p>Your GC is also wrong when she says that schools, won’t ask about it. It is asked and an answer is required by the student, and/or the school administration who fills out the evaluation form.</p>
<p>Are they going to deny me or understand that i made a mistake?</p>
<p>I would first talk to your guidance counselor and get their feedback. My gut feeling is if you write honestly about what you did and the lessons you have learned, I think colleges will understand the mistake. But talk to your GC first to get their opinion.</p>
<p>Your Secondary School Report AND your rec letter writers’ forms will have a place for them to evaluate your integrity. Even if this doesn’t show up on your transcript, it’s likely to impact the rating they give you for integrity.</p>
<p>How much that affects your admissions, though, is anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>Yikes, well I guess they could give my an alright score if I show good integrity afterwards…? We’ll see…</p>