My junior year I got caught cheating on a quiz. I’m a generally honest student, so it came as a surprise to even me that I made this lapse of judgement. I got detention for it and it’s on my disciplinary record. I’ve looked online and people have said that colleges judge a student who cheats more harshly than a student that got arrested for marijuana or something. It only happened once, and I seriously regret it. Cheating is rampant at my school. Many students get caught but manage to weasel out of it with a failing grade on the assignment without it going on their record. I make above average grades, have good SAT/ACT scores, and have good ECs. Will this one incident harm my chances of getting into the colleges that I want to go to? I know that different schools hold different standards for cheating. Some schools might immediately reject you, others might look at the rest of your application. So for reference, the schools I’m applying to are Georgia Tech, UT Dallas, UT Austin, Texas A&M College Station, Baylor, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, UI Urbana Champaign. If anyone has been in this situation and gotten into one of these colleges or colleges as selective as these, please comment!
Discuss this with your high school counselor. Will this junior year transgression be reported to colleges either as part of the record that your high school sends to the colleges or by your couselor in a summary or reference letter. If yes to either you need advice from your counselor on how to mitigate the situation.
@fogcity I don’t know if I need to check the YES box the college application because I didn’t get suspended or anything. I only got a detention. What worries me is the etc. part in that question. I also got rejected from NHS so I don’t know if they put it on my transcript or not. I think they might have. It’s just so embarrassing to talk to my counselor about this because I usually don’t do things like these. I guess I just panicked because I couldn’t study all weekend due to a debate tournament.
On the transcript they sent out to colleges from my school it just showed final averages and exam grades from regents, not any of my absences or cuts. I’d assume a cut and detention have same priority so those probably won’t show up. Plus it’s a quiz, you already got punished for it. I wouldn’t think schools send colleges your conduct records.
I cheated freshmen year on a quiz, luckily my teacher knew me and that it was a one time thing. She only gave me a 0 on it. No disciplinary actions or it going on my record. She even forgot about it (she probably didn’t remember me much either lol) the time NHS admission came around.
Since you didn’t get suspended for it, I’m not sure it will be reported to colleges. High schools don’t report detentions.
That said, you’re applying to a lot of OOS publics that aren’t going to give you aid. Are your parents saying that they’ll pay the full costs of those OOS schools?
They can pay for it, but I’m applying for a lot of scholarships from third party groups so they’re applicable everywhere. If I get some, even a few thousand dollars will save me a lot. Plus, I’d rather stay in state but there are only 3 or 4 colleges I’m applying to in state and one is a safety. Applying to more schools will maximize my chances of getting into even one for the program I want to do, but in the end, I’m pretty sure my decision will boil down to how much I’m gonna need to pay.
Just be careful most colleges will give you an automatic dismissal from their program if caught without a transfer of credits or refund.