i got caught for academic dishonesty(this was my first and last time) and will get detention. It’s going on my transcript. Will this ruin my chances of getting into UTD, UNT, etc.? I’m a junior. If it will completely ruin my chances then I’m thinking of graduating early, going to community college for a year, and transferring. Since this is a first time infraction I’ll ask if they can give me leeway this one time by not putting it on my transcript, but it likely will go on my record. What should I do?
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If this is your real name you may want to change it, to protect your privacy.
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I don’t think being caught for academic dishonesty alone will have a college eliminate you per se.
What I would do is - I’d set up a common app account and load these two schools - both accept Common App. Add the schools and go through their prompts to see if they ask.
And see if they ask the question - have you ever been found guilty of…
Common App itself no longer asks. The school may (or may not). If they don’t, you won’t be asked.
I’m not sure how it shows up on the transcript. My kid’s transcript simply showed semester classes and grades. Many schools ask for a counselor report and certainly it could be highlighted there.
But here’s the thing - control what you can. You messed up. Hopefully you learned. And you won’t do it again - and if asked, you can explain this. Even on the Common App there’s a place to explain something you want - and you can do it there if you do it properly.
Personally, I think, you’re a teen and made a mistake. This isn’t going to wreck your life. But - you need to ensure you handle it properly and learn from it.
I can’t say for sure and I don’t know your overall record - but I don’t think this incident alone would keep you from these schools.
Good luck.
First, calm down. There is no need yet to jump to conclusions.
Make an appointment with your guidance counselor and calmly ask about the repercussions of your actions. Ask if it is possible to have it left off your transcript. If not, you can email admissions officers at the colleges you are interested in and ask them point blank if the incident will affect your chances of getting in.
If it turns out the college does consider this, then you can use the additional information section to explain, but you must be sure not to make excuses for your actions and to accept responsibility.
Some colleges will give a student a chance to explain. There may be a question similar to this:
If there is any circumstance in your high school record that requires further explanation, use this space to do so.
Really, they want you to apply. They aren’t out to ruin kids’ lives. The goal of the “punishment” is to stop this kind of behavior in the future, so show them you have learned from your mistake.
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An academic honesty infraction is more likely to impact college admissions than a detention for something non academic.
If it stays on your transcript (it’s illegal for public schools in my state to put disciplinary actions on transcripts) you will have to talk about it in your applications. Especially to schools with strong honor codes. Your would write about what you learned from the mistake, you’ll never do it again, etc.
You and/or your parents can also ask to have or removed from your transcript.
Thoughts @hanna?
My story may not be applicable to high school but wanted to share it so you don’t lose hope. A mom here whose child had a similar situation while applying to grad school, his friend copied a piece of programming code as is and it was considered as plagiarism, It went on transcript as a F and had to retake the subject. The subject was only offered in the semester after his applications so we know all his transcripts went with F grade. Own your mistake, do not put blame on anybody else and talk about what you learnt and how this has changed you as a person.
He informed his professors on how he was helping a fellow student during remote learning and she also vouched that she was completely at fault and my son was not aware about it. His GPA was 3.97 and professors knew him, he mentioned it in his application and the professors might have also mention in his LOR. He got admission in Upitt, Brown, Carnegie Melon, he is at Brown doing PhD.
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