<p>I'll try to be terse and incisive.
I cheated as a Freshman on my Geometry test. I received a 0 on the assignment and was required by my assistant principal to submit a written assignment on academic dishonesty. I did end up with an A in the class—but this is beside the point.
My concern is this: nowhere in my transcript does it allude to the history of cheating. The fear in this, if it is a fear, is a sordid one because I do not know if my guiding counselor will ever bother to bring it up in her recommendation (of me) to colleges. I submitted the written assignment to my assistant principal, and I cannot say with strictest confidence if it was ever referred to the guiding counselor. I also do not know if she had forgotten about it, let alone know about it. I do not know if a record of my cheating history is kept or saved, but I presume it isn't considering it isn't indicated in my transcript. And is there such a thing as a permanent record? (I was not suspended, nor yet dropped from the class by the way)
I am stuck in a limbo here. My wailings and worrying are childish at best, but I do not want to ask the counselor if she has a record of my cheating when she actually doesn't know about it. How would I go about this issue?</p>
<p>Can anyone answer me?</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Can’t help you on the cheating front but I would suggest learning the difference between “principle” and “principal.”</p>
<p>I really don’t think I’d profit from your advice—especially when spelling is involved. It is something everyone is inclined to fail on from time to time. I observed the error and revised it but what is there to be learnt from it? Are you implying that I do not know the difference between principle and principal? It’s a pity you are only merely obsessed with grammar and only to ignore my question, just to be a prissy dunce nitpicking on spelling error.</p>
<p>On the college app where it asks about disciplinary action, I would tell them if I were u cuz if u dont, it could cost u even more if the college figures out from a teacher or counselor. this isnt something that colleges would want hidden from them. Granted, this would hurt you either way if u choose to send it or not so its just a matter of weighing the pros and cons. Hope that helps :)</p>
<p>Yes, but I do know if the counselor knows about this. I don’t want to bring this up in my app. if the counselor is unaware of my history. Deceptive, I know.</p>
<p>Go talk to your assistant principal. If he or she has dropped the matter, didn’t include it in your record and didn’t tell the guidance counselor, then it’s over. Forget about it and don’t bother reporting it. If it is in your record somewhere, go see your guidance counselor and ask how they want you to handle it. If there is any chance that the school will report it, then you need to report it - but something that happened once in 9th grade (you were 14?) is not indicative of flawed character or a tendency to lie under pressure and I’m betting your assistant principal decided that if it didn’t happen again, it wasn’t worth documenting.</p>
<p>I’m not suggesting that you lie on your college application - but not every single disciplinary action need to be reported. Suspensions and expulsions, definitely. Criminal records of course. Detentions - why bother? A 9th grade stupidity? Find out how the school views it.</p>
<p>That’s part of the problem too. The assistant principal resigned 2 years ago and is now reinstated with a different one…</p>
<p>I would go see your college counselor to find out how he/she is going to write your LOR. Volunteer to write a bio about yourself to help GC write your LOR. You may also want to find out what percentile GC is going to put you at - top 1%, 5%, 10%…and what kind of course load you took in high school. </p>
<p>I really wouldn’t worry about what happened in high school. I doubt it if anyone remember what happened.</p>
<p>Read the school profile portion of the Common App, where the counselor is asked if the applicant has ever been “found responsible for a disciplinary violation”…“from the 9th grade” forward, including “academic misconduct”.<br>
It sounds like you know the answer is “yes” in your case, but you are hoping that no one at your school remembers the incident and that your school does not maintain a permanent record of these offenses.</p>
<p>Wow. You don’t seem the least bit remorseful.</p>
<p>Siliconvalleymom really hit the nail on the head, didn’t she?</p>
<p>Wodedali, you were found guilty of academic misconduct in the 9th grade, plain and simple. You were penalized for it. You went on with the rest of high school. </p>
<p>If it’s an isolated incident from when you were 14, most colleges and universities won’t care. And if you don’t get into Harvard, it won’t be because of this.</p>
<p>Having cheated in the ninth grade says that you’re human, and sometimes you do things that you shouldn’t do. Wanting to cover up this transgression in your past when you’ve been asked clearly and directly whether you’ve ever done anything like this really says the same thing about you: you’re still human, and you don’t like to admit your failings. But if you actually try to cover this up, it will say something more disturbing about your character, IMO, than if you fess up to what you did years ago.</p>
<p>Here…anybody else want a turn on this here soapbox?</p>
<p>If you have had a clean record since then, it’s unlikely to be mentioned again. Why not go to the guidance counselor and find out if there is anything in your record that could jeopardize your chances for college?</p>
<p>By the way, was that the first time you ever cheated or just the first time you were caught? If you are an adventurous type, you could make it the subject of your college essay.</p>
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<p>I’m not sure how you’d do that. Write an essay that boils down to “I’m not too trustworthy,” but write it in such a way that the reader finishes it and says, “I really want to bring this person into my community.” Wodedali, I think if you can do that, you should skip college altogether and go straight into a career as a grifter!</p>
<p>Yup. More to be gained from owning up to this one and going to the GC, than assuming anything. The GC has to answer the same discipline question- want him or her to look at the records and check yes, while you check no? That’s trouble. In plenty of cases, the hs sees a transgression and says, not what we consider worth reporting. At this point, you don’t know what’s actually noted, only what you hope. </p>
<p>And, don’t write an essay pointing our your flaws. Most hs kids don’t have the writing experience to turn cheating into a positive, somehow.</p>