<p>Usually I'm *very *against snitching but I think this is a whole different level. It's forging a teacher's name. There's a person's face on this. That's really bad. Personally I'd contact the teachers instead of doing stuff with Yale. You don't know if he's lying about doing this and you really don't want to be caught holding the sh1t bag. It is *imperative *you do this anonymously-you need to care about your safety here and the integrity of your future college applications-believe me he will retaliate if he knows who you are. If it is in fact true, your GC and school will handle it from here and take the appropriate steps to contact Yale. But whatever you do, make sure that first he doesn't know it's you, and second, that the teacher's are aware of this.</p>
<p>I don't see any reason for the OP to let the guy know that the OP plans to turn him in. What the friend did went against my sense of ethics. I don't see any reason for the OP to expose himself to danger, and other problems, by telling the friend he'll turn him in. It's not the OP's fault that the friend will lose his Yale admission if it ends up that the letters were forged, and Yale finds out. I don't think that anyone who turns in a criminal (and forgery = crime) needs to let the criminal know what they have done.</p>
<p>You're all gutless! </p>
<p>Maybe that's a bit too harsh. But I believe the Honor Code analogy is a fair one. Anyone who says it's too risky to confront a cheater should not be attending a school at which the Honor Code requires you to do exactly that. </p>
<p>Here's Haverford's honor code:</p>
<p>Confrontation
In order to maintain the atmosphere of trust, concern and respect, we must be willing to face situations that may be uncomfortable. We cannot always expect to feel at ease when confronting another student about his/her actions. Despite the difficulty sometimes entailed in challenging the behavior of a fellow community member, we must take upon ourselves individually the responsibilities stated in the Code, or be ourselves in violation of the Code because of our failure to act. As confrontation is often a matter between two individuals or parties, it is advisable to exercise discretion and respect privacy accordingly when initiating a dialogue.</p>
<p>I agree that in an ideal situation one should confront the person. It's sneaky not to. However, not all situations are ideal and there are always exceptions. In this case, I would fear confronting the person so much that I would likely not tell if I had to confront him. I can only imagine what he would do if he found out who ratted him out. Furthermore, that is why I suggest he sends emails to the teachers first without doing anything permanent or serious, like contacting Yale. That's for the teachers and school administration to do if they decide it's necessary. Also, that gives the cheater the impression that it's the teachers and administration to be angry at (to whom I doubt he'll do anything) as opposed to a student (to whom he will likely retaliate against).</p>
<p>"Anyone who says it's too risky to confront a cheater should not be attending a school at which the Honor Code requires you to do exactly that. "</p>
<p>Fair enough. No indication, though that the OP is attending a school with that kind of honor code.
Even schools with honor codes don't all require that one confront cheaters before turning them in.
I would bet that a school like Haverford, which is known for having a strong honor code, probably attracts students who are less likely to break the honor code at all.</p>
<p>like straight up, youre probably the only one he told about the recs.</p>
<p>he's going to kill you if he finds out. i dont think he's dumb enough to think that yale would randomly call teachers this late, so he has to know that some kid reported him if they find out.</p>
<p>i would understand if you found out through other people or if he told many people, but apparently he didnt since you had to "confront" him. seriously, you might get messed up if you tell on him.</p>
<p>this isnt about an honor code anymore. its about your own safety...</p>
<p>
[quote]
...that is why I suggest he sends emails to the teachers first without doing anything permanent or serious, like contacting Yale. That's for the teachers and school administration to do if they decide it's necessary...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agreed with this and went further by suggesting the emails be anonymous. The teachers have no legal obligation to keep your identity confidential, and I have known of teachers who do not respect requests for confidentiality.</p>
<p>I wonder if he actually didn't fake them, that he just said he did as a kind of joke. At our HS they can't be faked; only the counselor can receive them from the teachers, copy and mail them (with appropriate safeguards, such that the colleges know what's real).</p>
<p>My suggestion is not to screw somebodies life even if they did something that was wrong, you will never know when somebody will help you later in life.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wonder if he actually didn't fake them, that he just said he did as a kind of joke. At our HS they can't be faked; only the counselor can receive them from the teachers, copy and mail them (with appropriate safeguards, such that the colleges know what's real).
[/quote]
This is exactly what I was going to say.</p>
<p>That's how it works with most applications submitted from our high school, anyway. </p>
<p>This isn't the same for every college, though. The University of Texas has teachers submit references online. You give them the teacher's email address, and then the teacher goes online to submit your reference. I suppose if you gave them a gmail address and said it was the teacher's address, and then logged in to that email address and submitted a reference, they would think it was coming from that teacher. I would imaging most kids give their teacher's official school email address but that is probably not required.</p>
<p>yea dont even bother reporting him now.</p>
<p>why are all these cheating threads popping up so late. if you wanted to report him, you could have done it in december or something (if you found out that early) or right when he got accepted...</p>
<p>reporting him wont do anything for the kid whose spot he took. plus theres the possibility of becoming a paraplegic. and dont forget the fact that snitchers are indeed dirty people, especially when the snitching benefits no one.</p>
<p>"My suggestion is not to screw somebodies life even if they did something that was wrong, you will never know when somebody will help you later in life."</p>
<p>How can you say this? I'm tired of the mentality that the snitch is the one who messes up the cheater's/whatever's life. That's not true at all. The person at fault is the one who broke the rules, NO ONE ELSE. THEY forfeited their own future by breaking a contract that THEY signed. You're not screwing up their life. It doesn't matter if they get rescinded, it's still their fault. Maybe they should have thought about the consequences before they broke the rules.</p>
<p>If this kid got into Yale, I wouldn't be so worried about safety as to be worried about reporting this anonymously.</p>
<p>I am SOOO tempted to post one of those "that's what's wrong with people/kids/America today" rants. But I won't, because this is actually the most interesting CC thread I've read in a while. Sure beats one more "chance me!" thread [barf]. </p>
<p>I staked out the "moral compass" position so I'll stick with it. The idea that it is okay to allow a flagrant cheater to go unchallenged is grotesque. And where do so many of you get the idea that the cheater is this violent nutcase? How do we know he's not a pathetic weanie (he got into YALE, doesn't that tell you something :-P)? Not that that should dictate the moral decision to be made, but still, why are you all so paranoid? </p>
<p>I propose that going behind the guy's back to report is 10x worse than confronting him. What if the cheater feels really guilty about it? What if he told OP - who he considers his friend - because he wanted to come clean? What if the fact that OP had no reaction to his "confession" was taken as condoning his cheating? What if he was secretly hoping his FRIEND would man-up (sorry ladies) and tell him he was wrong? What if he confessed it to someone else, and then he gets caught, and tells everyone that he ALSO told OP who was too much of a weanie to do anything about it?</p>
<p>There are a lot of possibilities out there other than homicide, folks.</p>
<p>Are you certain he did that, because if he really did I can swear my last penny that he wouldnt tell a soul. You have to be sure before u take ant actions otherwise u will end up being the bad oerson.</p>
<p>I also am not sure that he really faked anything. If I were the student in question and someone confronted me with the inconsistencies in what I had said, I would say "What? I never told you that. You're misremembering." He may have just been blowing smoke.</p>
<p>Honestly, the most I would do is write a 2-paragraph letter to Yale. Just say what you know with as much specificity as you can and stick to the facts. Say you cannot be sure, but you thought the school ought to know in case they wish to look into it. The ball will be in Yale's court, where it should be. They can resolve the problem with two phone calls. If it turns out that nothing unethical happened, no harm done.</p>
<p>[edit: Oh, and if you do write a letter, do ask that Yale preserve your confidentiality.]</p>
<p>OP would not be a "bad person" for reporting this incident, even if it turned out to be a joke. There is no harm done if the recs are checked and found to be legitimate. Who would be hurt by this? No one.</p>
<p>^Exactly. </p>
<p>I would probably contact the school first, because they may clear up the misunderstanding. Contacting Yale first can be potentially troubling if you don't have any evidence. Again, the evidence is with the teachers. Let them provide it.</p>
<p>Dude, most of the advise these posters are giving to you....OP is going to get in harms way.</p>
<p>Like, do you seriously think that Yale guy won't find out and like...kill you. Unless you move to a different state, he will find some way to retailiate against you because he would know that you found out and you've snitched.</p>
<p>For your personal safety sake, I wouldn't dare risk someone's admission to Yale regardless of whether he did something morally wrong or not. Its too scary to think of the consequences. </p>
<p>Neither party really wins. Your just asking for trouble. Its way too easy to stick with the moral stance. If I was in his situation, I would be jealous and would feel compelled to tell someone, to see him get kicked out of Yale, but carrying the action out is a totally different story.</p>
<p>My advise is...do what you want, decrease your likely of being caught, set up a situation where it complete rules you out as the culprit, then your set. Thats the most important part. Not getting caught by the Yale guy. He will inflict massive repercussions on you if he gets dinked out by Yale. Now thats scary.</p>
<p>^ I call complete bull here. Something wins, and it's the integrity of the school and the admissions process as a whole. Not reporting this could damage the school's image if the fraudulent recs are actually fraudulent.</p>
<p>Please, do not worry about your safety excessively if you report this anonymously. This kid got into Yale. He's clearly not a criminal. Unless he is a street tough with a switchblade and a nasty attitude, I wouldn't fear for your physical safety. In addition, unless you are known as a goody-two-shoes, he probably won't find out it's you. First, he has absolutely no proof. Second, ask the school not to mention that they even got a tip. End of story. I don't know this kid and I don't know you, but none of the other posters do either.</p>
<p>Will you be in harm's way by reporting this anonymously? Is this kid the child of a crime lord or a mafioso? Is he erratically violent? If the answer is no, fear of retaliation probably shouldn't deter you from reporting this.</p>