<p>Okay, so before you rush at me with pitchforks, hear me out. Adrenaline/anxiety was high, I was on the bubble, and I wasn't sure on whether I would get the grade I wanted in the class. I completed the multiple choice section completely on my own, and then comes the FRQ. The first section contains a formulaic question (environ sci class), I couldn't remember and we were sharing our prompts with our neighbors, thus I glanced at his formula, believed to be right one and used it.</p>
<p>Two days later, I get called up, and I, of course, take the blame, letting my neighbor get off with his deserved grade. Now what my teacher does is slap me a 0, which brought me down from a high A to a rounded B- (not my concern, I was happy to get rounded). He then later REMOVES the FRQ section from the final grade, and reduces the amount the final was worth... again just details. What I want to know is whether this little ordeal is going to higher levels (principal, college, GC, etc.) as my teacher just made me apologize and left the matter at that? does a zero on a final automatically notify somebody of cheating?</p>
<p>I have worked extremely hard my entire high school career (I am a senior unfortunately), and I have already been admitted to my dream school along with some other good ones. I realize I have made a mistake, but to be driven towards a community college for glancing at a neighbor's formula to help me on a section that wasn't even graded? this is absurd.</p>
<p>Final exam grades are not posted on our transcripts, and I will have a B- reported as my semester grade. So do you think I should talk to my teacher about potentially keeping quiet?</p>
<p>Everyone cheats at some point, and it sucks when teachers are so harsh when they catch an unlucky student every once in a while. The valedictorian of my school last year was caught cheating on one of his final exams and although he should have just gotten a 0, they just let him retake the exam. He’s at Harvard now. </p>
<p>All the top students have ‘cheated’ at some point, and teachers really don’t understand the pressure we’re under. I’m not trying to just build up excuses, but I understand your frustration. I seriously doubt that this incident will be reported to your colleges though. The 0 is brutal enough. And I wouldn’t worry, since a B- won’t get you rescinded at any schools regardless</p>
<p>It seems like it has been handled at classroom level which is very appropriate and where you want it kept. Make a point to be extra attentive in class (out of respect for the teacher). Count your lucky stars and make restitution by being an exemplary student.</p>
<p>In regards to records we (sorry HS principal here) do not send any discipline with transcripts by a matter of law. Students often worry about what disicpline things will be sent to college and the answer is none. Where it can hurt you is teacher and counselor recommendations. I read on recently where the teacher hung a kid out to dry for a similar event, so if your apps are done, I am assuming recs are as well.</p>
<p>Good luck! Disclaimer- my answer based on public school.</p>
<p>@Sikorsky
I was trying to generalize with what I said. I don’t know about you, but almost all of my teachers have been indifferent about most students, very biased, unfairly harsh, and several have even stated how much they “hate teaching”. Not to mention I bet a lot of those teachers that were once students may have simply forgotten what it was like to take 7 AP classes at once and be slaughtered with homework every night on top of endless extracurriculars, etc. </p>
<p>And I think I speak for a lot of students here when I say that just because our kind of pressure is different, doesn’t make it any less intense. Yeah I don’t pay bills or raise a family, but does that necessarily mean that the psychological and emotional pressures that come in high school are any less of a burden. My father has told me many times that the most pressure that he ever had in his life was during high school, and right now I can really believe that even though he’s a full time physician.</p>
<p>You should try to be more open minded about the fact that all of us are in different stages in our lives, and whether or not we’re an adult I think the pressure can be just as overwhelming at times</p>
<p>It honestly depends on if your teacher decides to report you further onwards; if he/she doesn’t count yourself lucky. However, i do have a word of wisdom from me, a past cheater, to you - if the class situation between you and your teacher becomes awkward - drop the class. It doesn’t get any better, and your teacher will actually begin to resent you as a student. I only know this because cheating on a test has happened to me, and because of my schools zero-tolerance policy, i was dropped from the class with a giant F. But in between the time i was caught, and the time i was dropped, my teacher openly resented me; like you could tell, and so could the other students. </p>
<p>TL;DR : Don’t cheat, it will ruin your chances for college; im speaking from past experience. Also if you and your teacher become awkward, drop the class, because your teacher will begin to openly hate you.</p>
<p>@alexis
lol ok then. I think the majority can reasonably agree that just about everyone has cheated at least ONCE. And sometimes just once can screw you over. And it doesn’t have to be on a final exam, it may just be some random quiz or homework. And students are pretty much expected to take the hardest possible courseload and pile on those APs to keep up with the top applicants competitively. But I guess I’m the lone guy out again even though I def know that a lot of people know what I’m talking about</p>
<p>SAT128, if your teachers are as you describe them, I’m really sorry. That’s a shame. Burned out teachers do very little good for anyone.</p>
<p>I am somewhat sympathetic to the pressures that students are under. You do have rather little control, for example, over your work deadlines. For this reason, I do try to be flexible when I can. (I should say, “did try.” I haven’t been a classroom teacher for a number of years.) But let’s be real here. If you’re taking “7 APs,” you did that to yourself. And pressure doesn’t excuse dishonesty. It doesn’t excuse embezzling from your employer to pay the mortgage on the house you can’t afford, and it doesn’t excuse cheating on your spouse because you feel unappreciated at home, and it doesn’t excuse cheating on your mid-term.</p>
<p>Yeah I didn’t want to seem like I was trying to make excuses for cheating, but I guess that’s basically what it sounded like. I just understand the OPs predicament and many other friends/students with similar situations and anxiety. I still stand by the idea that taking 7 APs wasn’t just some random choice I made to torture myself, but rather it was a survival strategy in a pool of such competitive applicants. The idea that you don’t max out on the hardest courseload or highest attainable weighted GPA is heresy at this point for me and others. There’s no excuse for cheating, but I really do feel sympathy especially for the harsh actions taken against students that are 99% of the time academically diligent</p>
<p>If you can’t keep up, why try and force it? Stay within limits and do your best within them. I mean, ya can’t voluntarily pack on the pressure then use it to explain away your inability to not cheat. Kinda weird, imo.</p>
<p>SAT128, bro just shut the hell up already. What a silly assumption to make. Just because you cheat means the rest of us do you idiot. Stanford sniffed your cheating ass miles away lmao</p>
<p>OP: deal with the consequences. Shouldn’t have done it.</p>
<p>Oh god not Spaceduck. Please god no. ^This kid hates me :/</p>
<p>And yeah I’ve ‘cheated’ a couple times on homework and once on a pop quiz. This wasn’t supposed to be a rant about me, but nbd mr bigshot MIT. You’re too much of a hardass sometimes. A real duck out of water ;)</p>
<p>SAT128, I’ll admit that in the generation since I applied to college, there has been a dramatic increase in the competitiveness of the applicant pool at the really famous colleges and universities, and that it’s become literally impossible to become so good that you’re sure you’re “good enough” for HYP et al.</p>
<p>But here’s the other side of that coin, SAT. As HYP et al. have gotten impossibly selective, the overflow from those universities and their peers has really expanded the number of places where you can get a first-rate education and have an exciting, life-changing academic experience. You can’t be sure of getting into HYP any more, it’s true, but there’s less “need” to do so than there ever has been. Many colleges and universities that were clear seconds to Harvard, Amherst and MIT in my day are now their serious competition. Many colleges and universities that were once havens for kids with more money than brains have become vibrant, exciting institutions of higher learning.</p>
<p>So, yes, all over America there are brilliant, dedicated, ambitious young people tying themselves in all kind of knots trying to get into my Ivy alma mater, and by taking only the applicants who are off the charts in almost every way, my alma mater makes matters worse every year. It makes me like my alma mater less and less every year, and I didn’t recommend it for either of my own kids. Instead, I happily sent my college freshman to a university that I would never have given a moment’s consideration in the '80s. Because it’s not the '80s any more, and this university has become a phenomenal place to live and learn.</p>
<p>And, again, let’s be real. Nobody is taking 7 APs senior year in order to get into George Washington University or Macalaster–or any of the really good colleges and universities that you really can be “good enough” for. People are doing this to get into Princeton or MIT. I’m not sure these young people are doing themselves any favors. Especially if the price of admission is their integrity.</p>
<p>“I think the majority can reasonably agree that just about everyone has cheated at least ONCE.”</p>
<p>Nope. I don’t agree. I think it’s very sad that you perceive this. It’s possible that it is true at your school. It is not true across the board.</p>
<p>No. Everyone doesn’t cheat. There are many students who do not select that option. Yes, there are some students who are successful and cheat. Eventually, it catches up with them. The recent cheating scandal at Harvard may be viewed as an example of students who developed a lax attitude toward cheating and eventually got caught. </p>
<p>I am sorry that you slipped and cheated. It is understandable that you were stressed and had a lapse of judgment. I suspect that if you have been a sincere and diligent student in the past, your teacher will consider the matter resolved. A sincere second apology would not be out of line. Believe it or not your teacher probably is more on your side than you think.</p>