Hi, guys, sorry to bother everyone with my story. I am a junior now in a top 20 university. I get into trouble recently. In an advanced computer science course, I borrow my work to my friend to refer. Although I have informed him several times that do not copy them, he still almost copied everything of my codes. I didn’t find it because I never saw his codes…This case is reported to honor council and the honor council give me a F in course, a permanent internal record and one-semester suspension. I feel so disappointed at this time since I am a student with excellent academic performance (before last semester I got a 4.0 for the whole year and an overall 3.8 GPA…) and I am a student with honor program, too. I try to appeal for my case but the honor council reply with the same sanction. I feel I am doomed and my application for the top graduate school will end. Right now,I am trying to transfer to another university and wait for the readmission. I would like to ask for some advice for applying for a top graduate school (considering financial engineering and statistics) with this suspension, or it will never happen in my life now…? Please give me the honest suggestions, I know truth might hurt me but I am still willing to hear about it. Thanks for your help, guys.
You aren’t doomed, but you need to change the way you present your situation. You make it sound like you are the victim. You ‘let a friend borrow your work’ and told him not to copy. That was cheating. Tutoring your friend would have been fine. That’s not what you did. If you continue to present yourself as the victim, you are unlikely to gain any sympathy from a grad school. (Or from the honor council to which you appealed.)
It’s better to own up to having make a mistake. I don’t know if there is a cultural issue here. Your English suggests that it’s not your first language and I’m assuming you could come from a country/culture where it’s routine that students share their work and it’s not considered cheating (to give this the most generous possible interpretation.) Own the mistake - that this is considered cheating here - and that now that you understand that, it won’t happen ever again.
People make mistakes and many are given a second chance if they have an otherwise stellar record which it sounds like you do and they acknowledge their error. Are you certain that transferring is the right course of action here? If you have faculty who understand that this was a one-time mistake because you didn’t understand the seriousness of what you did, perhaps they can advocate for you at the graduate level.
Thanks for your advice, I am still thinking about my future, so maybe transfer or readmission after the suspension.
@seanmoore930707 I don’t know if transferring will work, since many schools don’t offer transfer admission to students who have completed more than a certain number of semesters of college.
I agree with N’s Mom; I doubt English is your first language and maybe it could be a cultural issue. But regardless, allowing others to copy your code is generally unacceptable (this includes showing others your code), and if the course/university policies allow those sanctions, then it’s fair game.
Regardless, if you apply to graduate schools, be sure to “own up” to it if asked, instead of being the victim.
I take it that “one-semester suspension” means you will be, or will likely be, re-amitted after one semester.
If so, why are you “trying to transfer to another university” from “a top 20 university”? How does it help you in grad application?
Grad schools will ask you for transcripts from all schools you’ve attended after high school. If I were on ad com, I’d rather see a student being re-admitted than being transferred.
Your best option is return to your own university after your suspension. Then do not do anything that could be considered cheating, and you will have a clean record when you apply to grad school. Do not try to transfer now. The suspension will appear on your records, and it is not likely that any college or university (other than an open admission community college) will accept you.
Did your friend confess that he copied your work, or is the problem that the university thinks that you may have copied his? Were you both suspended?
In fact, he copied my work. However, the university finally decided that we copied each other’s. He didn’t confess and tried to insist innocence in hearing, that is why we both got the most serious punishments.
Actually, I would like to transfer to another university with a lower general ranking but a higher major ranking (in math). Why do you think readmission is better?
If you apply for transfer right now, this suspension will be on your record. You need to fulfill whatever requirements your university set in order to qualify for readmission before you do anything else. When you have done that, your university will be able to readmit you, and will be able to state that you are “eligible for readmission” on the letter that goes along with your transcript if you do decide to apply elsewhere. Depending on your university’s specific policy, it may be possible for all record of you having been suspended to be wiped out. Obviously, that is what you would like to have happen if it is possible. So take this time off to think about where you would like to finish your degree, but stay in touch with the people at your old university.
Thanks for the advice guys, but I still want to know whether I still have a chance to get into the top graduate school for a master degree (you know: schools like NYU, CMU…), I will appreciate a lot if any one have ideas about that.
Do you come from a country (like China or Korea) known to teach its students how to cheat and where cheating is institutionalized? If so, probably not.
why you discriminate such countries? Interesting…
No it is not discrimination against those countries. But, there are a few countries that are known to support cheating among students intending to attend US schools. This is not a new thing. Cheating can happen anywhere and there have been scandals in the US as well. A difference is that in the US students may cheat but the involved adults (parents, teachers, school administrators) are not all working together to help the cheating. Rather, when an adult gets wind of it they put a stop to it and usually penalize the student pretty significantly. And it would be unheard of to have a made up or forged transcript and grades and bogus letters containing lies about the applicant. That would not happen. But there are probably hundreds of students now enrolled in mediocre to poor US schools with students from certain countries where that type of corruption is supported. And some can’t speak English at all or barely. And they hang together with others who probably used similar bogus credentials to gain access. I don’t think this happens in better schools but I believe it is somewhat common in less strong (and lousy) schools. I think the US should stop accepting any students in situations where there is question about the student’s credentials. When countries are corrupt there is no accountability. This is institutionalized and country sanctioned cheating! Don’t want the cheaters bringing that mentality to our schools! But it is not an indictment against all students and it is not discrimination. But unless it is possible to verify credentials, students from countries that promote cheating should not be admitted to US schools.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/01/19/chinese-students-hungry-attend-universities-caught-fraudulent-application-process/gpRB06mqBVAsxZ6eAbFKCJ/story.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/cheating-concerns-in-asia-cloud-sat-testing-1433549895
http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/01/pf/college/chinese-students-cheating/
http://world.time.com/2012/07/26/forged-transcripts-and-fake-essays-how-unscrupulous-agents-get-chinese-students-into-u-s-schools/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/22/asia-pacific/college-board-scrubs-china-macau-sats-amid-cheating-allegations/#.VuYxc5MrKu4
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/fraud-fears-rocket-as-chinese-seek-a-place-at-any-price/2004704.article
http://time.com/3707355/sat-cheating-china/
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-11-20/how-to-stop-asias-sat-cheats
http://world.time.com/2013/05/10/for-the-first-time-sat-test-gets-canceled-in-an-entire-country/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323744604578472313648304172
http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/05/28/group-of-south-koreans-barred-from-sat/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/sat-cheating-scandal/
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/cheating-suspicions-keep-chinese-south-korean-students-waiting-sat-scores/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/world/asia/china-south-korea-students-fallout-suspected-sat-cheating.html?_r=0
“For example, in 2010, ■■■■■ China, a consultancy for U.S. colleges and universities in China, published a survey of 250 Beijing students, as well as a dozen individuals involved in college admissions. The widely cited results were distressing: Nearly 90 percent of applicants said they’d submitted fraudulent recommendation letters, and half had used false transcripts. Though ■■■■■ didn’t reveal the incidence of test fraud, it seems logical that if parents were willing to pay for fake transcripts, they probably wouldn’t think twice about paying for SAT answers.” from http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-11-20/how-to-stop-asias-sat-cheats
I’m not sure why they blanked out the word -just for the record, it is the name of a city-oh it is back. wow that was odd!
Anyway, in certain cities and countries, this stuff is rampant.
You’re asking a question that noone can answer. Let’s see you asked this question, “I have 4.0 GPA, 170/170/6.0 GRE scores. Do I have a chance to get into the top graduate school for a master degree?” Noone could give you an honest answer either.
For now, concentrate on remedying the problem, trying your best in the next 2, 3 years to be honest, to get the best grades, to participate in researches, to keep contacts with people who would write great LORs, … Everything will then fall in to place. You will get what you get.