<p>I'm going through a bit of a dilemma here!</p>
<p>I'm applying to Columbia, Stony Brook, Macalay Honors (via Hunters), and Hofstra. </p>
<p>My question is, do any of these colleges use a program that would compare my common app essay to a database of pre-existing ones? </p>
<p>The reason I ask is because I would like to use an essay that my cousin wrote. However, she never applied to any of these colleges. In that case, do you think it would be safe to use or could I still get kicked for plagiarism? </p>
<p>Before you disregard this thread, please just take a minute to give me your honest opinions!! I would like to add that I am terrible at writing essays so I feel as if I have no choice! I have a great SAT score and a great GPA but I can’t seem to write a good essay… Thanks again guys!</p>
<p>It is plagiarism, whether you get caught or not. Don’t do it.</p>
<p>@VSGPeanut101 I understand and trust me I really do not want to copy. However, as I mentioned, I fell as if I have no other choice (should I wish to receive acceptance into these colleges). I have written so many common app essay on every prompt there is but they always sound cliched and boring 
</p>
<p>Straight up plagiarism.</p>
<p>To answer your first question, yes, I think some colleges use programs to check for plagiarism. </p>
<p>But regardless, you should not submit an essay that you have not written yourself. </p>
<p>You say you are desperate and have no choice, but you do have a choice. If this is to be your honest application, you can choose to only submit your own work. </p>
<p>@Pennylane2011 Do you know of any specific plagiarism programs that the colleges I stated use? I tried to research but I couldn’t find anything. </p>
<p>And what do these plagiarism checkers do exactly? Do they search for similar essays on the internet or compare them to other essays written by students? Sorry for all the questions! </p>
<p>No, I don’t know exactly what they do, but have only heard that it is possible. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if they check or not. You’re asking if you can submit an essay written by someone else and that is plagiarism. You say you have no choice, but you do. You have the essays you have written. You can choose to use them. </p>
<p>every real university checks essays with an extensive database not restricted to their school. if they pass it through the check and find 80% similarity you are sr…wd. not to mention if you cannot write an essay then how in the world do you plan on going through college. Half of the time is essays or lab reports so even if you are doing programming you are still writing. If you plagiarize, they will not only deny your admissions, it will also go as an academic honesty record and every college after that will be able to see it. it’s like having cheater imprinted on your forehead. Even if you think it’s not. It is plagiarism.</p>
<p>not to mention the essay will not reflect who you are. would you really want to turn in an essay that doesn’t show YOUR personality?</p>