Hi everybody,
So I have just seen my (former) friend’s submitted USC transfer essays, and I’ve noticed that he’s plagiarized a big chunk of my essays. I’ve been trying to get in contact with the USC admissions office, but they haven’t picked up yet. I’m depressed because USC is my dream school; I spent 3 months working on my essays, whereas he just spent 2 days on his. We go to the same school, so I’m 99% sure that the application reader will notice the similarities in our essays.
I’m panicking because I really don’t want my application to be negatively impacted; what do I do?
Edit: I asked him to look over my essays because I trusted him completely; he was my friend.
Question: when you gave him the essays you had spent 3 months on, what did you think he was going to do with them? No sarcasm, I mean it sincerely. Why on earth would he want them, if not to steal them?
Another question: I’m guessing you had a chat with this former friend. What did he say?
I honestly thought that he just wanted an idea of what to write in his essay, because he told me that he was stuck.
I talked to him after I read his essays, and he said: “don’t worry about, they’ll never find out.” I don’t want to take any chances, so I’m probably going to report him to the University. Hopefully, they won’t penalize me for my mistake.
Sensation: I’ve sent an email to the admissions officer that’s going to read our essays, detailing my situation. I left my number so that I can explain to her in more detail.
jk201820: My counselor told me to report him to USC, which I’m planning to do on Monday. They also told me to gather some proof that I wrote my essays before him. I’m just hoping that USC understands, and doesn’t let this affect my chances of admissions.
I’ve got like 5 counselors that will be able to vouch for me. I also have plenty of emails that I sent to myself containing my drafts, so presenting proof shouldn’t be a problem.
Hope all is going well in this situation. Personally, I would have preferred that you had discussed the situation with your GC and expect that person initiate contact with the school. As an applicant, you really don’t have a speaking part in this situation. Instead, a schoo! official can investigate the situation, accumulate evidence, and present it to the school. Are you confident that your work hasn’t been submitted elsewhere? If the other student used materials plagiarized from you and is accepted, that too is a problem. Your GC and the school principal are in the best position to track fraudulent applications by the other student. I know that once I was safely admitted to my school, I would think I had escaped a bullet and moved on. It should matter that the other student acted fraudulently against you and other applicants.
I wouldn’t stress about it. USC gets so many applicants that even if both essay are read by the same person, even the admissions person won’t likely notice it. If you get declined, it won’t be because of the essay. It would be because they have a 17% acceptance rate. What your friend did was stupid, no doubts there. I’ve done more than my fair share of stupid in high school, but it’s not worth holding a grudge over.