Hello, I am a senior applying to colleges. I have maintained a strong GPA for the last 3 years of high school. However, I recently got myself involved in a cheating scandal at my school.
I was part of a group chat that received answers for a test. I am immensely ashamed of myself for trying to gain an unfair advantage, and I would do everything I could to go back in time and change my actions. Since it is my first offense, it will not go on my transcript (colleges will not be notified). The problem is, the word spread around basically the entire school. Most teachers are aware of the incident, and I assume the teachers I have asked for a letter of recommendation are also aware.
I am concerned if they will include this in their recommendation letters. I plan on going up to them, explaining to them that I made an unacceptable mistake and how I have learned from it. Would this help the situation?
I assume the schools you are applying to will require letters.
I’m not a fan of bringing bad news up upon myself.
But someone who is writing about you will obviously have a solid opinion of you. Explaining what happened and your shame could take away any doubt they have and speak to your character.
On the other hand, perhaps it puts a seed of doubt in them.
If you have schools on your list that aren’t requiring LORs that’d be a bonus.
But I think you can go either way - I see validity to both.
If you really feel that they know and that it would be best to approach, I suggest you write a few bullet points - so you are clear, concise, get to the point, and point to it as a huge life lesson to help you spring forward.
I’m just fearful they might note that in the letter.
No doubt this will be a small blip in your long life - and I’m glad you learned your lesson.
One other thought - you can make them aware - in case they’re not - explain your lapse in judgement, what you learned and ask if they’re still willing to write for you - i.e. give them an escape plan. Just note there is a chance they’ll take it - but you’d be better off vs. them writing a letter that wouldn’t help.
I am applying to a mix of schools that do require rec letters (Duke, Cornell), those that have them as optional (UT Austin, Purdue, Texas A&M), and those that do not accept them at all (UIUC, UCLA, UC Berkeley). I am still weighing the pros and cons of explaining this to my teachers, and I highly appreciate your input.
I have a few more questions:
For schools that have rec letters as optional, do you recommend that I submit them (considering my circumstances)?
Also, would asking my teachers to not mention the scandal make my explanation sound ingenuine and insincere?
The last question is easy - absolutely not. You would come off as disingenuous and it’s never good to tell people what to say/not to say anyway.
As for whether you should submit them - well if you didn’t that would solve your issue as to how to handle - because even if they do submit, you’re not going to know what’s in them and you’re always going to worry.
If the scandal is as well known as you think, then I’d consider my last thought - asking them if they heard about it, if not explaining to them and your lapse in judgement and sincerity in never happening again - and show your enthusiasm to them for their willingness to write - but ask them if they remain comfortable in doing so.
That’s me - if they ask out, then yes you have another issue - but better that then having a not good one.
PS - don’t know anything about you - your budget, stats, major, etc. but that’s a heavy list.
Good luck to you.
PS - I hope others write - because my strategy may not be right -but it’s what I would do.
This isn’t the end of the world - but you can see how one mistake can blow everything up - so i hope u learn from it…for sure.
I would guess that more often than not, a teacher who is aware of your actions and would intend to write about it in a rec letter would probably give you a heads up. If I were one of your teachers and knew, I’d just tell you that I can’t write the letter at all, and you may in fact get that response. Sorry, I know that’s blunt, but academic dishonestly is a big deal.
As to whether to use them at schools that make them optional, it depends on how competitive you are as an applicant at those schools without the letters. If you don’t need them, then your question answers itself unless your teachers confirm that they’re not bringing it up.
Aside from the issue of getting caught and getting into college, hopefully someone has helped you understand why it was a very uncool thing to do.
Can you tell explain a little more how you were part of a group that was receiving answers for a test? That sounds like a cheating scheme that is a little more involved/organized. Perhaps, that is why the story has circulated: as a cautionary tale. If I were a teacher I might have reservations about writing a recommendation letter for you or anyone else involved in this scheme. Sorry to be blunt. It’s a tricky situation. By breaking the academic conduct rules of your school you leave yourself open to the known but also unknown consequences.
I would not mention it to any recommenders, If they know about it and see it as an issue that needs to be mentioned, they would probably tell you so. And they might straight out tell you that they cannot write a recommendation.
I would submit any recommendations that you feel will not harm your chances. Neutral is okay.
Do you have any letters of recommendation from outside of school (some schools allow this and sometimes these outside recommenders are part of an arts or other supplement)?
I agree that there may be consequences that you cannot avoid, but you are fortunate that this is not on your record. Cheating is rampant but an organized group cheat is troubling. How are the others handling this recommendation issue?
Your life will be fine. Hoping this lesson early in your career prevents future troubles.
Duke and Cornell are both very tough admits for most applicants. So if OP doesn’t get in she will never know if it was because of her LoRs or something else.
I agree with this approach. Broaching this topic may do more harm than good. Meanwhile, identify other good schools that you like that don’t require LoRs. Hopefully the rest of your application will carry you through.
First, absolutely do not ask your recommenders to avoid the topic. That compounds cheating with asking them to lie - and to deliberately withhold relevant information to leave people with a false impression is a lie. One might even question whether you are sorry about cheating or sorry about getting caught. So don’t go there.
Second, I think you need to consider the possibility that every letter will be poor. Yes, ideally the teachers should approach you, asking “are you sure you still want me to write this?” or even out and out refuse, but they may be under pressure not to do this by the administration. We live in a litigious society . But you should count on this incident changing their opinion of you, and you should count on this being reflected in their letters. Which reads better?
“Kate would be a tremendous catch for Duke, and I recommend her in the strongest possible manner without a single reservation.”
“Kate would be a fine student for your college.”
I think you need to rethink your college list. Every place that requires or recommends letters is now automatically in the Reach category. You simply don’t know what the letters will say. Now you need to make sure you have enough Matches and Safeties.
You might also think about what you might do to show genuine remorse - at the cheating, not the getting caught - to try and make amends, and to give the letter writers something more positive to write about.
Agree with the examples in the above response- I would predict that in most cases, a weak letter is just short and doesn’t go on and on about how amazing the student is. But this student will never know what they say and should apply more widely.
Don’t know the student, stats, major or budget but I was thinking that even without the issue. That’s a heavy list. And yes, the student could move forth but should put some guaranteed safeties on there.
The other thing is - I know common app has removed questions of academic dishonesty. Not sure if any schools will ask in their section. And if so OP will need to handle appropriately.
You’re applying to some very selective schools. You might be fine, in that your teachers might have already written their recs. Maybe they don’t care enough to change them, despite what you’ve done. However, you have no way of knowing. You are not allowed to read your teacher recs and you certainly can’t say “I regret what I did but can you please not mention it?” Teacher recs are written to shed light on you as a person.
If this is bugging your conscience, write to them anyway, but do it because you want them to know you regret it and that you’ve learned from it, not because you want them to not mention something that only you are responsible for.
This will sound harsh, but you’ve learned a hard lesson. Be sure you have safeties you like and can afford. And no, don’t submit letters if they are optional.
The group chat originally started out as a harmless one… My classmates and I made it to keep track of deadlines and remind one another about homework. One of the people somehow got a hold of the answers for a test from their friend and decided to share them in the group chat. I would like to make it clear that I did NOT use those answers and deleted the group chat as soon as I noticed what had happened. However, I naively thought that no one would get in trouble if I just overlook it, so I did not report it to school. This lapse of judgment got me into my current situation.
I would send a note to the teachers then. Thanks for writing for me.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the group me.
I just want to ensure you know I was not involved in sharing info and deleted the text. And give them an exit…if you no longer want to write for me, I understand.
There has to be more to it. You can’t get in trouble for receiving a text. Sending yes. Receiving no.
That muddies the water a bit, IMO. I think you should consider IMMEDIATELY going to the right person at your school. If you can demonstrate by the answers on the test that you didn’t use it, I am not sure that would be cheating. Does your school have an honor code that discusses this explicitly?
Should you have reported it? Perhaps, but, as noted below, you just received a message.
Have you spoken to your parents about this and explained in full detail what happened? They too can advise you as to the best course of action. It may be that you do nothing and take the advice here. But, it’s worth considering whether explaining the situation in a non-confrontational way can alleviate the negatives of being a “cheater.”
I have received multiple comments on my college list, and I would like to provide some context!
I am attending a competitive public high school in Texas, and I am ranked top 5% at my school. This qualifies me for automatic admission to any public college including UT Austin and Texas A&M although I will have to go through a holistic review for my major (statistics). I will also apply to UT Dallas as my safety school, and I am considering adding University of Arkansas to the list. (Rec letters are not required for both of those schools)
For my ECs, I have done a paid internship at a fairly large company, made significant contributions as officers of 2 clubs, won a robotics award as a member of a robotics team, and competed at the state level in a business club and Science Olympiad.
I will be applying to:
UT Austin
Texas A&M
UT Dallas
Duke
Cornell
UIUC
Purdue
UC Berkeley
UCLA
As far as I am aware, the class of 2022 at my school has been accepted to top-tier colleges including but not limited to: Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, and all of the schools on my college list. This made me believe my list was reasonable, at least until the cheating scandal happened.
Please let me know if you have any further recommendations.
This is the problem with class group chats; it will be the same in college. Approximately 150 students (from 2 different classes) had the same thing happen at D20’S college last semester. Those with scholarships lost them. I believe the appropriate way to handle the situation is to notify the administration immediately, but I’m not positive. Perhaps one of the college admins on here can let you know. I know it doesn’t help your current situation, but know you may face similar situations in college; getting clarification on what you should do may help you avoid possible academic dishonesty charges or scholarship loss in the future. I truly hate group texts.
I wouldn’t necessarily concede that, especially if OP can show any errors she made on the tests evidencing her own work rather than from the message she received.
It may be that OP had an affirmative obligation to tell the teacher/school. I am just saying it should be considered and discussed with OP’s parents to see what, if anything, can be done. Worst case, if OP’s parents discuss this with the school, OP might get a better sense of whether the LoRs could negatively impact admissions.
OP: do any of the schools to which you are applying require you to disclose this incident in the applications?