<p>So there is this girl at my school that is in serious contention for winning valedictorian. I am currently ranked 8/450, while she is ranked 1, 2, or 3. I caught her cheating by using another classmate. So this is how it happened: I have two classes with her which is AP Chemistry and AP psychology. We had an AP CHEM test today and she got someone to tell her all the questions and answers on the test that already took it. I heard them talking about the answers and questions for an hour while we were in AP psych. I really don't think this is fair because I worked my butt off to study for the test and meanwhile, she is getting all the questions and answers with ease. I would feel bad about reporting her because it would ruin her grades and reputation, but I think it has to be done for the sake of fairness. She is trying to get into Harvard, and she has a very good chance of getting in. Also, btw, I'm trying to get a full scholarship that requires me to be top 2% of my class and I am the last person in the top 2% so if she got knocked out of the top 10 then I can get the full scholarship easier. What do you think? Should I report it or not? I would be reporting anonymously.</p>
<p>Cheating***</p>
<p>Do you realize how many people ask their friends from earlier periods for the quiz/answers? It’s like a big deal or anything. Everyone cheats, how do you think we do sports and volunteering while juggling 5 AP’s? Also you have no proof, unless you recorded their conversation or something.</p>
<p>Also no one has a good chance of getting into Harvard and fulfilling a requirement for a scholarship will not guarantee you receiving any money.</p>
<p>A person doesn’t become valedictorian by cheating. It takes hard work, knowledge, and ability, so I think we can safely assume the girl in question is not a compulsive cheater. In truth, she is most likely a good student who made a mistake. (Of course, if you think she cheats often, report her immediately.) Therefore, she probably deserves to get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Your situation is analogous to a person who realizes that her friend’s spouse is cheating on him/her. In that case, the correct course of action would be to confront the cheater. I don’t see why you should act any differently here.</p>
<p>Confront the girl and convince her to face the consequences herself (preferably, asking the teacher to cancel the test grade and replace it with a 0). If she doesn’t oblige, then feel free to report her.</p>
<p>EDIT @ AznSkyDragon: Your advice is appalling! Do you have no sense of ethics? It sounds like you are justifying her actions because you have done the same thing. I would advise you to ignore such advice, spainpark2014.</p>
<p>Wow, AznSkyDragon, you are so sad.</p>
<p>So there is this girl at my school that is in serious contention for winning valedictorian. I am currently ranked 8/450, while she is ranked 1, 2, or 3. I caught her cheating by using another classmate. So this is how it happened: I have two classes with her which is AP Chemistry and AP psychology. We had an AP CHEM test today and she got someone to tell her all the questions and answers on the test that already took it. I heard them talking about the answers and questions for an hour while we were in AP psych. I really don’t think this is fair because I worked my butt off to study for the test and meanwhile, she is getting all the questions and answers with ease. I would feel bad about reporting her because it would ruin her grades and reputation, but I think it has to be done for the sake of fairness. She is trying to get into Harvard, and she has a very good chance of getting in. Also, btw, I’m trying to get a full scholarship that requires me to be top 2% of my class and I am the last person in the top 2% so if she got knocked out of the top 10 then I can get the full scholarship easier. What do you think? Should I report it or not? I would be reporting anonymously.</p>
<p>“What do you think?”</p>
<p>I think you’re probably a ■■■■■. On the off chance that you’re not, I think that if you don’t have the balls to put your name on it, then don’t do it. Sure looks like you’re just trying to knock her down to bring yourself up, quite suspiciously.</p>
<p>If you are going to accuse someone of something very damaging, unless you fear for your personal safety, stand behind your accusation.
Otherwise you have little credibility, especially since you benefit by making it public.</p>
<p>Let her go to Harvard. You should apply to Arizona State . . . Go Devils!</p>
<p>Eh, I’m going to have to take a middle-ground. I’m not saying it was right of her to do that, but she had a test, and she had a friend who took the test, so of course the natural thing to do is to talk about the test because she was curious of the material that would be on the test. But if you feel it gave her a significant advantage on the test, then definitely confront her about it. If she continues to cheat after your warning, then feel free to report her.</p>
<p>But… you said you noticed they were talking for an entire hour? If you were so bothered by this, why did you not confront them during this lengthy conversation? It seems like you let them go on because you wanted her to cheat for the sole purpose of reporting her… by the sounds of your post, it seemed like you were mostly interested in reporting her because it would give you a better academic standing? Is it really worth possibly ruining another girl’s life simply because she made a small slip-up that led to only a minor academic advantage? </p>
<p>That’s my two cents, anyway.</p>
<p>Don’t tell on her. As everyone else said, almost everyone talks about the tests and their answers afterward. She has big dreams, she’s close to it and that one scene doesn’t justify her to be a cheater. As already stated, it takes hard work to become valedictorian and it’s impossible to do so by cheating.</p>
<p>My older daughter reported someone cheating when she was in 9th grade. Her school had honor code and she put name to it. I was proud of her. I think if you are going to report her, you should put your name on it.</p>
<p>You have included a considerable amount of irrelevant information in the OP. There are really only two pertinent facts included:</p>
<p>-students cheated on an exam
-you witnessed the cheating</p>
<p>If you have evidence of the cheating (perhaps additional students witnessed the meeting or you taped it) then you definitely should approach the Chemistry teacher with the evidence. If you don’t have anything more than your testimony, then you should still report the information although it will be difficult for the teacher to act directly in a “he said, she said” situation.</p>
<p>Even if you request anonymity from the teacher, be prepared for repurcussions.</p>
<p>Hopefully you would take the same action regardless of whether the violating student was valedictorian or a straight-C student.</p>
<p>Okay there are 2 purple in this thread that need to get off they’re moral high horses and stop acting like they’ve never committed academic dishonesty and are perfect angels…Azn actually made a good point with his first sentence. EVERYONE asks their friends what was on the test. It just happens. I’m not justifying what she did, but she doesn’t seem like some horrible charter that cheated their way to the top.</p>
<p>Also it seems like you’re reporting her for your own gain, not for some ethical balance</p>
<p>Being a valedictorian is about hard work and effort? Haha. </p>
<p>No, being a valedictorian is about knowing how to beat the system. I’m juggling varsity sports, 6 APs, Debate Club, Mock Trial, Band, etc. and I’m top of my class thus far. I certainly don’t work my butt off on my homework/ schoolwork. I get by however I can. </p>
<p>I have valedictorian friends in other schools (who I know through my Indian community) who do the same thing. Although I can’t prove it as a universal truth, I believe that in general valedictorians get where they are by being smart, not by being hard working. </p>
<p>And don’t report her for cheating. She is not the only one. She is smart enough to use her resources. Please continue to work hard and use whatever resources you have.</p>
<p>Unless you find that it happens multiple times, don’t report her. People talk about the things that are on tests. Everybody that I know, from valedictorian to almost last in my class, has talked about what material is on a test before they took it. </p>
<p>And this is especially true if you want to report her mostly for your benefit. Unless you think she has her high rank because of cheating, it would be unfair to her. And as people have said, it takes more than cheating to become valedictorian.</p>
<p>I get the impression that you are attempting to just further your own position, and I would be willing to put money that the administration sees it that way too. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2</p>
<p>If you decide to go through with it, put your name on it. Otherwise, it just looks like you’re being cut-throat and trying to ruin her reputation so you can be in the top 5 or whatever.</p>
<p>The best analogy used was to question whether or not you would do the same thing for a straight-C student. If you wouldn’t, you’re doing it for the wrong reason, and judging by your post this seems to be the case. I have never met a single high-achieving student in my life who has not at the very minimum asked a peer how a test was. I recognize there’s a difference between that and having someone recite to them what was on the test for an hour, but you should still just let it go.</p>
<p>pfft. everyone does this.</p>