major problem! please help!!

Applying to College
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hey everyone, i have a major problem right now. ok see, my friend is applying for this pretty selective program at drexel, and since im a star writer, he asked me to proofread his essay, and being awesome friend, i agreed. but as is my way, i scrapped all his work and completely redid the whole essay for him. when i showed it to him, he said he hated my essay and said that it made him sound gay, and that he was sticking with his old essay (which sucked pretty badly). so i said fine whatever dont, and i got kind of ****ed becuase i knew my essay was better than his.

i had already applied to drexel and i for some reason, im not even sure why, some evil force must have possessed me, i decided to apply to the same program that he is with my essay (with no intention of actually going there). dont ask me WHY i did this because i truly dont know, but i got my acceptance letter a couple of weeks ago. i told him i got in, and he was like…okay, great…thanks for lowering my chances, i didnt even know you wanted to be in this program, and i said i didnt haha you suck, my essay ruled…and then he breaks the news that HE ACTUALLY USED MY ENTIRE ESSAY INSTEAD OF HIS OWN!!! what the heck!!!

ok so here’s the problem…i dont want to go to this program and im going to call tomorrow and tell them i want to be taken out, BUT the essay was really good and pretty distinctive, one that they’ll probably remember, and i guess they havent gotten to my friends application yet, but when they do, they’ll probably remember the essay…what’re they going to do? not let my friend in at all because they think he stole my essay?

when i call, should i say that i stole HIS essay? even though i didnt, he really wants to get into this program…but will that get around to other colleges that i do want to go to? and i plan to apply to drexel med school in a couple years, so would they remember this and keep me out??! should i just do nothing and hope they dont notice that the essays are the same!!! (even though i cant see that happening)??

thanks for any advice or guidance. we really dont know what to do right now.

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<p>There are two threads in a row about plagiarism... </p>

<p>No offense, but your friend doesn't deserve to get in if he plagiarized.</p>

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<p>First of all... how many essays are there? 2? 3?
1) his (bad) rough draft
2) your revised version of his draft
and 3) is there also ANOTHER essay that you wrote about yourself that he used? </p>

<p>If it actually becomes a problem, you should just tell the truth. If he made a mistake and plagiarized he should learn the consequences of his actions. Did you really rewrite the essay? And expect that he might turn that in instead? Or just made a lot of suggestions about what should be changed? Sounds like you might have made more revisions than is really appropriate if you actually rewrote it...</p>

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<p>yea i know i know, i went overboard with the revisions and totally rewrote it, and thats one of the reasons he said the he didnt want to use it - because he didnt want to completely use an essay that wasnt his at all...</p>

<p>crap, we're in trouble...</p>

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<p>okay, first of all, hes not exactly a FRIEND based on what you said. he knows that you're better than him but he doesnt want to admit it. also, why are u going to put your education on the line for this "friend?" plagiarism is a pretty big thing, and so if you say that YOU copied his essay, you might get kicked out, its like having a sign saying "cheater" stamped on ur transcript. if i were you, i'd say screw your stupid friend and keep your position where it is. also, you were pretty dumb (but nice) to rewrite his whole essay for him,a nd second, hes an ass for using ur essay and didnt tell you. so well...its ur choice, if he gets in, that would make YOU the cheater, when in fact u werent. ahah good luck.</p>

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<p>You may have a major problem if you are involved in any plagiarism regardless of fault. What if an Adcom from Drexel is informed about your post? Need I say more. The chances are small, but the potential for many repercussions.......exist.</p>

<p>What if your buddy finds out about this?
What if Drexel finds out and notifes other colleges or your guidance counselor?</p>

<p>In other words, further posts could be detrimental to your collee career. Resolve this issue and move on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Hasta la vista! </p>

<p>cc: hmmmmmmmmm</p>

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<p>"and so if you say that YOU copied his essay, you might get kicked out"</p>

<p>yea, but i dont want to be in this program at all, so i dont care if they kick me out...but do you think they would tell my other colleges what happened??
oh, and you're right that im nice and he's an ass</p>

<p>thanks for the help everyone</p>

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<p>Last edited by sheeprun : 10-18-2004 at 10:25 AM.</p>

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<p>is you essay based of his, is it his idea and you just fixed it? or did you write an entirely new essay?</p>

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<p>ummm i guessed i used basically his ideas, but i completely reworded everything and added a brand new catchy intro and conclusions from scratch</p>

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<p>In my book, your part in this whole thing makes you just as guilty. You do not redo other people's assignments when you are asked to edit. You also did so with the full intention that the plaguerized work was to be submitted and you were insulted when it was not. This is the sort of coincidence in life that happens when kids fool around this way and cheat, lie or plaguerize. </p>

<p>I doubt that Drexel will tell your other colleges. They are likely to tell your GC, and how your school deals with these issues is something you need to find out. But really the right thing to do at this point is what I posted above. You will BOTH be in even more trouble if Drexel is the one who contacts your school and the likelihood of your other colleges becoming involved will increase. </p>

<p>I also think you are a pair of jackasses, and you will become much wiser when you recognize the fact.</p>

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<p>is it considered plaigarism if u copied his idea but improved it?</p>

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<p>I saw your essay on another website</p>

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<p>English05 - Yes. If you do that in college, you'll get in trouble. Plagiarism includes copying ideas.</p>

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<p>jamimom: we recognize we're jackasses, but feel none the more wise.
engilsh05: yup, according to dictionary.com...but did both of us plagiarize? and if neither of us presses charges, how can they prosecute? does that make sense?</p>

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<p>hopeful1 - you saw the essay on another website?? what!?!?!</p>

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<p>I didn't copy, I just think that it seems like duhb33f could be blamed for plaigarism if copying ideas counts</p>

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<p>this isn't a criminal inverstigation; hence no prosecution... hence expulsion before admittance? A first</p>

<p>cc: Drexel University disciplinary and ethics dept</p>

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<p>also, hopeful, thanks for the advice, but the school isnt really drexel..i changed the name.insides joke with my friend, since we both got rejected from drexel</p>

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<p>English05 - They're both guilty, like you said. That's the point jamimom was making.</p>