"Plagiarizing" College Essay?

So I don’t want to be a pain, but I honestly don’t know what to do even though this isn’t even my business.
My friend told me that he had used a Harvard student’s college essay that graduated about 3 years ago from his school. Obviously, he isn’t stupid enough to flat out copy word for word, but he told me that he rephrased/reworded the entire essay but with the same topic/structure. I don’t have the guts to call him out cause I honestly don’t feel like this is none of my business, but then again, it gets to me every time whenever I think about it. I’m just worried that he might get rejected to his colleges and I’m probably the only person who knows about this so I feel the burden that if I don’t do anything, it’ll supposedly be my fault…
Will his colleges have a database in which they can track down if he similarly copied the original writer’s essay?
I’m stuck in this “friendship-binding-situation”…

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the same people who read his essay also read the original-- adcoms tend to deal with the same geographic areas.

Wouldn’t it be a shame if the adcom either recognized it or realized that it was a familiar theme?? Or if it was run though a program that picked up on an overwhelming percentage of similarities?

At the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do about another person’s poor choices. You’re not Jiminy Cricket, sitting on his shoulder telling him that his conscience should be his guide.

Let it go. It’s not your issue, it’s his. If he’s old enough to apply to college, then he’s old enough to know right from wrong. You can voice your concerns, but it’s not going to help; you won’t be telling him anything he doesn’t already know.

You’re taking the short term view. I see it differently. I 100%, fingers crossed, rubbing the rabbit’s foot HOPE that he gets rejected by every school that gets his plagiarized essay.

If his ethics and morals don’t match his academic ability (I assume this b/c you think he has an otherwise decent chance of getting accepted), then I want him to learn the lesson now.

If he’s indeed that academically qualified, he’ll won’t get shut out from colleges.

Your fault? How is that? Does he have no moral compass of his own? Does he ask your permission to do right and wrong? He already knows it’s wrong. As a friend, you SHOULD blankly tell him it’s stupid, he can get caught, and that it demonstrates his moral bankruptcy. And then you’re free of it as far as your friendship goes.

Frankly, one could question your moral fiber. Why would you stand aside and allow wrong to progress. Tell him: you didn’t invite his confessional but if he intends to proceed, that you’ll spk w/the HS guidance counselor.

Unless the high school has an honor code the OP has no obligation to report him. Not his circus; not his monkeys. It would be different morally if it were a crime of violence but this is not.

Retribution could result if this friend is angered. Best to leave it alone. See other threads on this topic that have said this same thing.

I disagree that OP should look the other way. Why complain about cheating at all if we’re going to encourage children to ignore it? If OP speaks privately with the school guidance counselor, the guidance counselor can speak privately with the schools. S/he knows whose essay was used and what college it was submitted to, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for the GC to track down. I agree with T26E4; I hope s/he’s successful.

OP, if you told your friend that this was unethical and stupid and that you respect him less as a result, then you have done your duty. If he respects your opinion at all, then hopefully he is embarrassed and is looking to you to absolve him for doing this - and you shouldn’t. If he doesn’t respect you and your good opinion of him doesn’t count for anything, then you are not friends anyway. Time to walk away. Hopefully, that will be sufficient punishment and he will have to live with the knowledge that he lost a friend’s respect by being an unethical jerk.

An no, the colleges probably won’t notice unless it’s a much better essay than his writing score and grades would suggest - and over-edited essays are nothing new in college admissions. The sticky fingerprints of parents and college counselors are everywhere on those thing in too many cases. It just isn’t going to make that big a different. But if it did, then he also has to live with the knowledge that he got into a school based on someone else’s merits rather than his own.

Interesting theory. I wonder if it is correct.

I would raise your moral and ethical objections to your friend and appeal to his conscience. If he’s unmoved, I’d walk away and find other friends.

Also, an essay that worked three years ago might not work now. What colleges and universities seek changes all of the time. Perhaps the theme he developed has become stale and trite.

It is also possible, as suggested above ˆ, that being admitted on the strength of somebody else’s work, will make him feel inadequate and like a fraud and will taint his experience. Is that really worth it?

I would not get involved but I’d think hard about if I want this person as a friend.

I think common app uses turnitin.com don’t they? I thought this was a new thing this year? Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought I read that somewhere.

Nevertheless, it’s his business, not yours. Too bad that kids are so stressed out about getting into HYPS that they 1) think someone else’s essay can get them admitted and 2) can’t even write an essay in their original voice, which is what adcoms want anyway. Sad.

You are correct, @TiggyB62. Colleges have been using [turnitin[/url] for several years. The [url=<a href=“http://columbiaspectator.com/2011/03/03/common-app-may-use-plagiarism-website-check-essays%5Dcommon”>http://columbiaspectator.com/2011/03/03/common-app-may-use-plagiarism-website-check-essays]common app](When college applicants plagiarize, Turnitin can spot them) was in talks to begin using it a couple of admission cycles ago. Students who are rejected because of their essays will probably never know that was the reason for the rejection.

@austinmshauri But he obviously reworded/rephrased and tweaked some of it cause turnitin only recognizes if you “copied” something if there are atleast 3 or more consecutive words in the same order as the original’s, right?

With hundreds of thousands of common app essays on only a few subjects, I would be surprised if there wasn’t a lot of similarity between essays.

At the end of the day, I have to believe that cheaters get caught.

Anyone who cheats, an any capacity, in this arena, runs the risk of actually getting into a school that he/she should not have been accepted into, one where he/she is below the level of the other students.

OK, great. They get in.

Then what???

I’d suggest sticking to your own knitting. Make sure that your app is the best it can be, and do it in honest terms. Make sure you don’t take any short cuts that can catch up with you later or that would weigh on your conscience yourself. Don’t worry about the other guy. People who lack integrity usually get caught out eventually. Getting into a college one notch higher in the rankings really won’t make much difference in the long run, although a lot of ambitious young applicants can’t see that.