My good friend got caught yesterday for plagiarism. It was a very minor thing–he said on homework and googling, and he’s not sure how he got caught. I don’t think he’s ever had discipline before and I know him to be an honest worker.
He applied Harvard EA. He is writing a letter to them as we speak to explain what happened since he received a suspension for it and the school is forcing him to write it.
Does he basically have no chance whatsoever now? I’m really worried for him.
<p>Not sure if the high school considered the plagiarism as minor as your friend did, since they suspended him for some time period and forced him to write to Harvard about it. Sounds decidedly un-minor, frankly. </p>
<p>And if he was caught this time, were there other times, for which he wasn't caught? This question has to be on the admission officers' minds.</p>
<p>O.k. But how similiar must two essays be to be regarded as plagiarism? (100%, 60%??) Sincer there are so many essays on the web...and you take one sentece here, another from there...</p>
<p>There is no college except perhaps the scam degree factories (such the one recently publicized for awarding a master's degree based on life experience to a dog) that would regard any kind of plagiarism as being "minor."</p>
<p>Plagiarism isn't regarded by colleges as a simple prank or something that everyone does. It's regarded as a major problem indicating a deficiency in a student's character and ethics. </p>
<p>I think that to be guaranteed admission to college, your friend would have to apply to schools that are less competitive than are the schools your friend is now regarding as safeties.</p>
<p>Colleges also know that odds are that a student who gets caught for plagiarizing has plagiarized many times. This assumption also will cast doubt upon whether the student's grades and their scores were actually earned or were the result of cheating.</p>
<p>And, economicus, any unattributed quotes from any source are considered plagiarism.</p>
<p>i told him to look into full-scholarship honors programs since he is NMSF and has scores that would boost any school. those schools (like UT-Austin) probably don't care, right? do you think he should go to one of those and then transfer to a better school after a year? do transfers have to deal with past refractions?</p>
<p>It sucks that your school makes him call. In my county, it is a policy that displine records are not to be disclose to colleges. I dunno why but w/e</p>
<p>haha no this is not me. i specifically posted that at the end because everyone always assumes you're talking about yourself when you say "a friend."</p>
<p>he actually doesn't go to my school, but rather to another elite private school that shall remain unnamed...i will simply describe it as rather uptight...</p>
<p>This WILL destroy his chances. With their level of applicants, they have no need to take plagerizers (minor or not). Instead of writing to Harvard, he should write a long letter to his school (counselor, teacher involved, and administrators) apologizing and putting himself on acedemic probation (and I mean long, like 10 pages or more, detailing all of his good points and attributes).</p>
<p>If the plagerism is minor, he will still ruin his chances at a top school. While I in no way condone plagerism, it shouldn't ruin the next 4 years of his life (I'm being a little overdramatic). If he wants to stand a chance, he must beg and plead not to release the information, or do it in a more positive light.</p>
<p>He must pour out his heart, and if his school can glimpse his hope, honor, and humble nature, then he may have a chance. If not, then it is both our society and his activities that must change.</p>
<p>Not too good, my friend. If you don't mind my asking--what did he plagiarize? You say it was 'minor' you never said anything about it. "Minor" is all relative to who reads your post, so please clairify that.</p>
<p>This is what I don't understand...plagiarism...it's so easy to avoid, just put quotes around it and use parenthetical citations to cite the source!!! It is not that hard at all...especially when you have programs like the MLAgen (<a href="http://mlagen.sourceforge.net%5B/url%5D">http://mlagen.sourceforge.net</a>) that can take information from the web browser and make an MLA-styled Works Cited page. It's so easy to do! How you get caught for plagiarizm is beyond me, especially since it is so easy to avoid!</p>
<p>No one jokes when it comes to plagerism and it is not taken lightly. Commit it in college, you will not only fail, you can get thrown out of school or even have your degree rescinded.</p>
<p>He has killed the honor code, so he is toast at any school that has one. While he may be apologetic, most people will look at it as you are just sorry you got caught as there is no right way to do something that you know is wrong. (He knew he was plagarizing when he did it, so everything now is just back peddling)</p>
<p>Because he has received a suspension, and this question is pretty much asked on all college apps, the GC is going to respond yes and wil have to explain the circumstances around the suspensions.</p>