Got accepted into college, but then cheated on a test in 3rd trimester of my senior year

Discussion title is pretty self explanatory. I got accepted into 2 colleges but then I decided to be dumb and cheat on a math test and I got caught now it might be on my disciplinary record and could possibly lower my grade. Will those affect the college im going into & is it probable that they’ll rescind my admission?

I would suggest you be proactive and meet with your guidance counselor ASAP. If needed you may have to get your parents involved too. GC can typically tell you what disciplinary actions school may take and they ramifications. Most GCs are advocates for their kids. Hopefully, he/she can work something out for you.

I don’t know what will happen, but it was good of you to post the question. Hopefully, your cautionary tale will make others think twice before making the same choice. Have you set a meeting with the teacher to simply apologize for your poor judgment and for the disrespect you showed to the learning environment and to his/her teaching efforts?

In my opinion, it would be wise to own this mistake without asking your teacher or anyone at school whether or how it will affect your record. Assuming this is an isolated incident, your otherwise good character and reputation may help.

That said, if you have been occasionally or regularly cheating your way through school - even if no one knows but you - and this just the first time you’ve been caught, be grateful that you’ve been stopped in your tracks. Although this moment is painful and scary, it’s actually very important. Even if this was a first-time offense, this sort of thing can’t continue in college. And if you’ve deceived yourself and others about your own academic readiness - which is what cheating is - you may need more time and support before you are fully ready for a four-year college.

Good luck with this situation and with your applications, and please, please learn from this… not just that it was “dumb,” but that it is the opposite of admirable, that it lacks personal integrity, that it is deceitful to others and to yourself, and more. I’m sure you strive to be a person of honor. When you fully feel the weight of this decision, you’ll never make it again regardless of circumstance. I hope you’ll share how it turns out.

“it would be wise to own this mistake without asking your teacher or anyone at school whether or how it will affect your record”

Sure, if we’re just talking about how the OP squares this with his own conscience and/or God. But he needs more information in order to address the practical college issue. If he does not know how it will be recorded, or what the consequence will be, he can’t have an informed conversation about it with his colleges. His next move might be different depending on whether he gets a zero on the test, an F in the course, a suspension, etc.

I hear Hanna’s point, although I do disagree. The OP will learn, soon enough, the teacher’s/school’s consequences regarding his/her actions, and can prepare in the meantime for a variety of outcomes. It’s clear that there is not an established institutional policy re: cheating at the OP’s high school (or the OP wouldn’t need to wonder.) This means there will be subjectivity involved on the part of the teacher and/or school administration. IMHO, the last thing the OP should do right now is to present him/herself as a person who first cheats and then, when caught, rushes right into self-focused info-seeking mode regarding his/her own future. Yikes. It’s probably what most people would do, unfortunately. However, owning this major mistake and formally apologizing – full stop, with no inquiry about consequences – would highlight the otherwise good character of the OP and potentially go a long way toward demonstrating a lesson learned. This can matter a great deal to high school teachers and administrators when they have the latitude to choose among possible consequences. Just my $0.02.

@CardinalBobcat
“the last thing the OP should do right now is to present him/herself as a person who first cheats and then, when caught, rushes right into self-focused info-seeking mode regarding his/her own future. Yikes. It’s probably what most people would do, unfortunately. However, owning this major mistake and formally apologizing – full stop, with no inquiry about consequences – would highlight the otherwise good character of the OP and potentially go a long way toward demonstrating a lesson learned.”

Hey, OP here

So what you’re telling me is I should ignore this mistake and continue on knowing there may be consequences throughout the future? I don’t think so. I believe rushing into “self-focused info-seeking sicko mode” is better than just moving on and doing nothing. I regret cheating on the test and I have learned my lesson obviously (i’m glad it happened now so it doesn’t have to happen in the future, I obviously wont be doing it again) however, I don’t think showing my “good character” will benefit me in any way, and will make things way worse. Trying to talk to the guidance counselor about it may work and if it does, problem solved. If not, problem not solved, but I did something in the end.
Point is, there’s no space to show my good character in a situation as such.

@Hanna is correct and knowledgeable in this area. First step- talk with your teacher. You say you were caught, what did the teacher say to you? Did they discuss your actions, consequences and remedial possibilities? You need to know what your grade will be on the test, how that will affect your class grade, GPA, and if it has been reported as a punishable offense for disciplinary action. What is your school policy? Colleges take cheating seriously. If it is reported to the colleges, they will review the circumstance, the letter from your school and possibly ask for a response from you. If you can show that you addressed your actions it may be helpful. Each college will handle the report differently. Some may send you a stern letter, some may place you on academic probation when you attend. I don’t know what the possibility is for a school to rescind based upon this one infraction. I think if you can gather the information together, Hanna will be the best resource for you.

OP - there is always “space” to show your good character. You want to warchest as much good character as you can. Assuming you already have (good student, respectful, no priors), your teacher, GC and school administration may simply handle this quietly (or may not). Good character goes far beyond this incident although I realize your youth has created a frantic situation. Most things in life aren’t quite as frantic as you might think.

I don’t believe @CardinalBobcat was advising you to do nothing. I believe he mentioned apologizing to the appropriate folks without putting your concerns ahead of the infraction. Otherwise that would make it about you when you are the one who caused the issue. If they sense you are genuinely contrite (perhaps due to your existing warchest), they will likely chart your course toward a favorable solution. If they think you are mostly concerned about college issues, that could lead to a different outcome. In other words, I wouldn’t go in leading with a “what’s going to happen to me and my future” approach.

I hope they work with you and resolve this quietly. I take you at your word that this was a one time offense. We all do stupid things in life. Learn from it, grow from it, but don’t ever think the situation doesn’t have room for character. In fact character is what will likely solve the problem.

Best of luck.

@jadoaly How is apologizing to the teacher doing “nothing”? Are you sorry you cheated or sorry you got caught?

Hi OP,

No, that’s not what I said at all, but, obviously, you are free to interpret my advice in any way you’d like.

I wrote, “Have you set a meeting with the teacher to simply apologize for your poor judgment and for the disrespect you showed to the learning environment and to his/her teaching efforts? In my opinion, it would be wise to own this mistake without asking your teacher or anyone at school whether or how it will affect your record. Assuming this is an isolated incident, your otherwise good character and reputation may help.”

but you interpreted that to mean, “what you’re telling me is I should ignore this mistake and continue on knowing there may be consequences throughout the future?”

I wrote, “The OP will learn, soon enough, the teacher’s/school’s consequences regarding his/her actions, and can prepare in the meantime for a variety of outcomes… right now, owning this major mistake and formally apologizing – full stop, with no inquiry about consequences – would highlight the otherwise good character of the OP and potentially go a long way toward demonstrating a lesson learned. This can matter a great deal to high school teachers and administrators when they have the latitude to choose among possible consequences.”

but you interpreted that as “just moving on and doing nothing.” Sigh.

Reading it again, I’m surprised by the overall tone of your response, especially considering that only three people out of the thousands on this site took the time to consider and reply to your question. Everyone’s advice was sincere, and you seem not only unappreciative of the effort but unnecessarily argumentative. I hope your conversation with your guidance counselor goes better. Graciousness matters, even when a person strongly disagrees.

Working in education for more than two decades – and dealing directly with violations of academic honesty/integrity – has given me the opportunity to see all kinds of student approaches to mistakes like this. Your approach may work. Hopefully, you’ll get the outcome you desire.

Hi, OP,
I wasn’t going to bother answering your question, but I will chime in now and say that if you decide to talk to the GC or the teacher, you would do yourself a favor by checking the attitude. You come across as very arrogant and self-involved, and seem to be missing the point entirely.

When someone is caught cheating, it opens the question of whether or not this is a one-time offense, or if you’ve gotten away with it so far…

The questions is:do regret cheating on the test because it was an unethical thing to do, or because it has caused you trouble?

You should not be “happy” that it happened now, so that it “doesn’t have to happen in the future”. Why would it “have to” happen in the future? And from what you’ve said so far, it isn’t at all “obvious” that you won’t be trying it again, no matter what you think. Maybe you think, since you got caught, then “obviously “ you wouldn’t try it again, but that is not necessarily the conclusion other people will make. They WILL take into account your understanding of the “problem”, and if your understanding is that making it disappear is “solving” the problem, then you are probably LESS likely to get the outcome you desire.

Assuming you did cheat and they caught you with plenty of evidence that you cheated…
You need to take responsibility.

Talk to your guidance counselor with something like: “GC, I would like to talk to you about the effects of my cheating on the math test (not teacher catching you…not “mistakes were made”). I didn’t study because (reasons) and I know that copying answers is not fair to the other students who did study and also isn’t fair to represent I know the information when I don’t. But given where we are, I am wondering what my test grade is and how that will effect my final grade. I am also wondering if/how it will be reported to colleges. I made a bad choice, but I would like to plan for the consequences.”

There is a thread back somewhere on CC about a student who cheated senior year and had his acceptance to Brown rescinded. So you may end up at a community college.

Things seem to have taken a quick, downward turn here, and I wonder if the problem might found be in the OP’s reconstruction of @CardinalBobcat’s words:

@CardinalBobcat: “IMHO, the last thing the OP should do right now is to present him/herself as a person who first cheats and then, when caught, rushes right into self-focused info-seeking mode…”

OP’s reconstruction: “IMHO, the last thing the OP should do right now is to present him/herself as a person who first cheats and then, when caught, rushes right into self-focused info-seeking **sicko ** mode…”

OP, you can show your good character, a trait which is developed and maintained over the length of your lifetime, even in the face of owning this act of poor decision making.

This is a moment’s failure, the impact of which will have an indelible impression on you and inform the choices you make going forward. But this does not have to leave a permanent black mark on you, who you know yourself to be, or who you show yourself to be going forward.