<p>Recently in my AP U.S. History class, I turned in a research paper on secession in the Civil War. I accidentally turned in an early draft where I copied from one of my sources instead of my finished work (plagiarism-free) which I cannot find on my computer. My teacher gave me a zero on the paper and is sending a letter to NHS to have me dismissed from the club. I didn't tell him that I didn't plagiarize at first because I knew he wouldn't believe me. I told my mother and now she wants me to tell him. I don't think he will believe me, so in that event, how would it affect my chances to getting into colleges (getting dismissed from NHS, that is)?</p>
<p>Getting dismissed from NHS is not a big deal because you don’t have to write that on your application; however, you are required to report all disciplinary action taken against you during high school, and the fact that you committed plagiarism - whether it was intentional or not - is a serious offense that will look bad for you. I believe that you made an honest mistake (I know I’ve done first drafts in the past where I copied extensively and did second and third drafts to eliminate the plagiarism) but I agree with you that it’s very difficult to convince your teacher of this. Your best bet is to find the file on your computer, but DON’T EDIT IT. Under properties, it will say when it was last edited; you can send a screenshot to your teacher to show that you did in fact write this before the deadline.</p>
<p>What happened, intended or not is academic dishonesty, something most colleges frown upon! I’d look at Emory, they seem to have a pretty open mind about the issue :)</p>
<p>Just tell him the truth. I can fathom your situation because I work in a similar fashion (copy & paste, then rewrite). </p>
<p>Most teachers are understanding of these situations especially if you’ve shown that you have integrity in the past.</p>