I got into a bit of a disciplinary mess. How will this affect my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a Junior, with an absolutely spotless* disciplinary record prior to this entire fiasco. My current GPA for first semester was a healthy 4.33 (weighted), while my cumulative GPA throughout high-school is 4.21 (weighted as well). </p>

<p>By the end of senior year, I'll have completed as many APs as I could shove in under the terms of my school's AP and pre-req limit for such courses; World, APUSH, Language, Lit, Calc AB, Chemistry, Physics. I have 4s and 5s in whatever I've taken so far and am confident about any future APs.</p>

<p>In addition, I've taken the SAT twice, with scores of 2250 and 2390 so far. I have a healthy list of extra-curriculars involving multiple-year involvement with the school's theater program and Habitat For Humanity.</p>

<p>Unfortunately a few weeks ago, in a moment of absolute stupidity, I plagiarized the opening paragraph of a 2-page Physics report on Meteors. The assignment was meant as a replacement for a lab I had missed earlier, and so I thought I could just copy and paste the opening few lines about the recent meteor strike in Russia. We submit all our work on Turnitin otherwise (except this one assignment) and my integrity was never called into question prior to this.</p>

<p>Physics teacher caught on pretty quickly, and reported it. I got a zero on the assignment, meaning it'll take quiet a bit of muscle to raise my Physics grade back to a B considering that the "Lab" category in the gradebook is a zero right now. I know I will finish with a B for sure though.</p>

<p>I was just wondering how having a lone, single incident of academic integrity on my record, and nothing else, would render my chances of university acceptance?</p>

<p>Mind that I'm planning on going to Canada and applying to places such as McGill, University of Toronto, Queen's, and UBC. But otherwise, any help and insight from anywhere would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Colleges look down on plagiarism significantly. Even if it is a “lone, single incident,” it will impact your chances. How much, I don’t know.</p>

3

<p>I honestly don’t think there’ll be that big of an impact as colleges won’t look at your assignment list but rather your overall grade…</p>

<p>I doubt a single plagiarized physics assignment (paragraph) will go on your transcript (at my HS, a plagiarized assignment earns a zero but does not usually go reported to administration)</p>

<p>And if colleges do somehow find out, yeah it’ll look bad but I don’t think it’ll break your chance to get into a university unless you were already balancing on a line</p>

4

<p>This could be detrimental for many admissions committees, especially because it took place during your junior year. Admissions officers can often forgive a freshman for a disciplinary incident, but they could easily look down on you as a junior. By no means does this disqualify you, but it will be a hindrance.</p>