In my sophomore year of high school, I cheated on a math test. One of my friends sent me the answers to it and, through my carlessness, I copied it down. It was a pre-calculus question and both of us used a way different from what the teacher had taught so we were caught. I do understand why cheating is fundamentally wrong as it puts students who do it the right way at a disadvantage. I feel terrible but I hope that it is a mistake early enough that it will not affect my college decisions and I can explain that it was a mistake made when I was clueless. I am a good student, I have a 4.0 GPA, 35 ACT, 4.64 W, 2 AP freshman, 3 AP sophomore, 6 AP senior, unknown for senior yet. I have all As. I am in 3 clubs, HOSA (a health club) as an officer, beta club (a volunteer club) as an officer, and FPS (future problem solving) in which I hope to make it to state or even nationals by senior year. I volunteer at the hospital and have a 501(c) non-profit for connecting elementary school students with high school tutors in my city. I don’t want this one stupid mistake I made in my sophomore year to mess it all up and I wish with everything in my heart that I could go back and redo that day, but I can’t. What do you think?
Is it noted on your transcript - i.e. did you fail a class?
If not, there’s nothing to worry about.
If it is, use the section on the app to explain what you did and honestly, there are some schools that ask about a time you faced adversity - what a terrific subject if you handle it right. Messed up. How I recovered. What i learned, etc.
Colleges want authenticity.
Common App won’t ask about this and assuming you have great grades, it’s not noted so you skated by.
Even if it was noted or a school asks - don’t hide from it. It happened - show how you’ve grown, recovered.
No one is perfect and honesty is always your best policy.
But i don’t think it will come up.
4 posts were split to a new thread: Essay about plagiarism?
No cheating is fundamentally wrong because it doesn’t show that YOU know the right way to do something. Cheating is all bout what YOU did, not other students.
I would not say you were “clueless”. You took someone else’s answer and used it as your own. That’s not clueless.
What disciplinary action was take with regard to your cheating? What happened in the class re: your grade? Some schools are more lenient with first offenses and only a warning is issued.
I would not suggest using this as your essay topic. Your essay should be about you as a person. Do you want to be known as a reformed cheater? I would guess you have better topics from which to choose for your essays.
I would ask for a copy of your “official transcript.” You may have to pay a nominal amount of money. If it is not on there, it should put your mind at ease. Of course (sorry to mention), there is always a chance that a counselor mentions it in a recommendation or dings you on the check boxes because of it.
I strongly doubt that your counselor would mention this in a recommendation. And I have a feeling that you would have been told, had the school intended to put this on your transcript. But you need to make sure, by requesting official transcript, and if it IS on the transcript, you need to get it off.
I agree it is unlikely. Unfortunately, for a few, the punch that knocks you out is the one you don’t see coming.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Essay about plagiarism?
If it were me, I would first get a copy of an official transcript. That is not an abnormal request.
Next would be a guidance counselor talk and as @Mwfan1921 said, parent involvement might be smart.
How can I get it off if it is on there? I haven’t checked yet.
I understand, I got a 100% on the other part of the test so on that test I got a 60, and I had a class grade of an A 95 that semester.
You might not be able to remove it from your transcript if the policy is to put it on there. You would need to involve your parents in that case. But, one step at a time…get the official transcript first.
I’d imagine it won’t be on there. Transcripts have grades. If you failed the class because of that it would be on there in the form of a lower grade
I am quite sure that if the school had been planning on flagging the grade with an academic dishonesty mark, they would have informed you. You’re probably okay. But make an appointment with your guidance counselor, ask her to tell you if there is anything adverse on your record that will be on your transcript to colleges.