I made the stupid decision to cheat on a AP Spanish test today. I wouldn’t normally have done such as thing, but the test was originally in February and I was absent the day of the test and the following week school was out becuase of a snow storm. My teacher left on maternity leave and because so I waited until she returned, now, to take the test. But my friend received her test back a couple months ago and so I copied her answers on to a piece of lined paper and hid it under my desk, But as evidence to my inexperience I was caught pretty easily. I had a very low, barely passing grade and was really concerned because the previous year I received a high A in a Spanish 3/4 block class. The teacher took my test and said she was going to talk to the department head. I was very apologetic when talking to her. She did say that she knows I’m under a lot of stress especially with finals, AP testing, and IB testing. She even walked me through on what I need to do to salvage my grade, but she says I will probably be removed from the IB diploma candidacy, but she is not one hundred percent sure because it is up to the department head. I feel terrible and can’t focus on anything else, I guess I just assumed that so many other kids get away with it that I might to. But I know this doesn’t justify my decision. I am just concerned that I will be kicked from my IB diplomacy and wouldn’t want to give up a whole year’s work because of one stupid decision, I don’t even care about my grade at this point.
Since your fate is in the hands of the department head, I think it would reflect well on you if you took the initiative to apologize for your actions to the department head. Acknowledge that you know what you did was wrong and that you deeply regret your actions - not because you might lose your IB diplomacy, but because of what cheating says about you as a person. Don’t try to make excuses for your actions (it sounds like your teacher is on your side already, which is great. She’ll probably explain the fact that you’re under a lot of stress).
Lesson learned, the easy way(cheating) will never be an option. It hurts everything for what you have worked so hard. I hope this doesn’t affect your chances for being admitted into schools…
I plan on apologizing to my teacher again tomorrow to let her know that I really do regret my actions and I want to talk to the department head but I have never had a class with the teacher before or even a one on one discussion with her. I just don’t know how to approach her without there being a little bit of awkwardness, and even more given the circumstances of our first meeting.
First, you need to know that colleges treat academic dishonesty very seriously so if this is on your transcript it is going to be a blot on your record that you will have to address. The IB Diploma is the least of your problems. People caught cheating on tests usually are going to have serious consequences so I don’t think you can expect not to. Take heart that even if you do not complete the Diploma, having IB classes on your transcripts is still very strong.
You could have study the answer from your friend in the last couple months although that may also be counted as cheating, but you took the even more stupid approach. School discipline in junior/senior year would have a bigger impact in admission than in freshmen/sophomore year. But besides that, think about why your grade went down from A to barely passed. It seems you may have more than one issue.
I’ve told my kids that it’s better to fail than to cheat. You can overcome failure, but once you lose your reputation for integrity, it’s very hard to win it back. It makes all of your work suspect. That’s why colleges take it so seriously. How does anybody know that your previous A wasn’t from successful cheating.
Many colleges do take cheating very seriously. I agree with ^. One of my friends messed up his grade because he cheated on his final exam… I hope ur talking wih department head goes well-
Everything cam to surface today. I’m getting a zero and a parent phone call but nothing is going on my record. I’m in good standing with my school and my IB diplomacy.
Everything cam to surface today. I’m getting a zero and a parent phone call but nothing is going on my record. I’m in good standing with my school and my IB diplomacy.
Wow! You got off easy. I really, really hope that you have learned your lesson and think of this situation as a gift. Because most of the time, its a permanent deal.
Hopefully it won’t be on your transcript. In my school, if you cheat and there is hard evidence or do something like punching a teacher it will be listed under something about disobedience on your transcript.
Everyone makes mistakes so just know that next time, don’t ever do this again. Don’t worry about it too much because it already happened.