<p>First time posting here. I am a senior interested in applying to Duke as an economics major. I heard that the major is very competitive with a difficult curve. I have also heard that cheating is very rampant at many colleges.</p>
<p>My question is if Duke has a method to prevent cheaters, especially on tests. A friend from USC told me that TAs grade the tests there and students will often change their answers and go complain to teachers for higher scores. Does the Duke economics department have any preventative measures for this kind of stuff and are there consequences for caught cheaters?</p>
<p>I know several Econ majors here. Besides the fact that it is incredibly difficult and the intro classes are a weed out process, the exams are graded by the TAs and the Professor oversees them. </p>
<p>That’s good to hear but I still feel like it’d be easy to get away with stuff, especially the scenario that my USC friend told me about changing answers after getting their tests back and appealing to teachers. Or something as simple as copying answers. I feel like having a stringent policy isn’t enough of a deterrent to prevent cheating.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about it. Most students at Duke and its peers value integrity. If you are still concerned, just max the tests so that you don’t have to rely on the curve
Out of curiosity, what makes you think that instructors will blindly agree with the students who ‘appeal’ to them for marks.</p>
<p>@Kenyanpride: thanks for the reassurance. I guess my concern would be that because someone else besides the professor graded the exams, a student who got them back can simply change their answer and argue that it was a mistake on the grading or something. I’m sure it doesn’t happen often but I don’t see a way in which professors can stop this from happening.</p>
<p>I have heard of some professors who scan tests so that they can prevent that kind of scenario. Whether that happens or not, I do not know. It seems like a lot of work to me…</p>
<p>I remember having to take tests in pen and crossing out stuff instead of erasing when taking tests. I believe in some classes your test won’t be graded if it’s not in pen. I also know that some teachers will photocopy or scan tests for comparison when you submit an exam regrade/challenge. Other teachers institute policies such as limiting 1 regrade per student and requiring regrading of the entire test. I know instances where the teacher gave back points only to take it off somewhere else for answers that he let slide and the grade was actually lower. Many profs know these tricks and if it gets egregious will take appropriate action. </p>
<p>Of course that doesn’t compare with the level of security at my med school where all tests are taken in an auditorium with people seated every other seat in alternate rows patrolled by proctors. All students leave backpacks at the front and must display photo ID face up on desk. Visits to bathrooms are escorted and require color coded bathroom passes. Tests are scantrons and answer sheets are not returned. Actual tests can only be reviewed at designated times under supervision and challenges are submitted through a student committee which vets submissions on behalf of the entire class and only submit the most promising ones to the faculty. The only time I’ve had better security is when taking the MCAT which involved a locked down computer, security cams over every stall, ID checking, photo-taking, and fingerprinting for every bathroom break. </p>
<p>In any case, this stuff can be taken to the extremes but in my personal opinion, I’ve grown to trust and respect my peers and I have faith that as future doctors we have the necessary integrity to not cheat. But that’s just MHO.</p>
<p>SBR, wow. Part of me is happy that those measures are taken to ensure the highest standards of ethics but at the same time it’s very intimidating. </p>
<p>I know some people actually resort to cheating because of circumstances that are out of their control (i.e family problems, illness etc.) I’m not condoning it but there are actually merciless professors out there that don’t consider these circumstances.</p>
<p>But anyway, </p>
<p>I’m taking a Markets & Management exam this Friday and we are told to skip seats as well and are only allowed to bring the simplest of calculators. Supposedly students tend to use their iphones/ipods as calculators and end up wandering through safari to google the answers.</p>
<p>I guess my problem is that it doesn’t seem like professors really have the resources to have people patrolling up and down the hallways or using security cameras. </p>
<p>The scanning of tests seems like a good idea but is there really a way for a professor to scan all the pages in every single test? Sounds like a lot of busy work that they don’t have time for, even if they have an army of TAs to help them.</p>
<p>You seem a little too concerned about this. Strange. Just don’t worry about whether others are cheating. It will almost certainly come back to bite in the long run.</p>
<p>Sorry, I’m just worried about the potential cutthroat environment. I have heard stories of similar instances at Berkeley and also stories about kids destroying other students’ labs. That kind of competitively is partly why I am not planning on applying there.</p>
<p>Totally understand. I’ve actually heard of similar and worse stories at Berkeley. Oddly the person who shared these stories with me transferred to Cornell–a similarly cutthroat school. But don’t worry, Duke is known for having a competitive but relaxed student body and I can attest to that. The most you’ll experience is being psyched out by your peers over an exam.</p>
<p>I didn’t feel that Duke had a very cutthroat environment and I was in BME, a pretty tough major. There were a lot of bright people and there was competition but it wasn’t malicious and no one made a huge deal out of it. However, that being said, Duke (or at least BME) isn’t very collaborative either IMHO. I felt very much on my own and that was fine by me but just be aware if you are into that sort of thing. </p>
<p>What was probably more intimidating as hauteStandard alluded to was how driven and motivated your classmates are. I like to procrastinate and it’s scary how prepared and dedicated some people are about staying on top of things and reviewing for exams. But w/e. If you don’t let it get to you then you will be just fine.</p>
<p>@hauteStandard, yeah the whole thing at my school is pretty intimidating initially but you get used to it when you are taking a couple exams every month. I’ve come to realize that my school is a pretty traditional/conservative school which I really shouldn’t be surprised about given its location.</p>
<p>Anyone looking for a collaborative atmosphere should look into liberal arts colleges (Reed, Amherst, Pomona etc.) as opposed to National Universities as most tend to be less hand-holding.</p>
<p>If you’re really concerned about these issues, I’d check out Davidson. They take their honor code so seriously that the supplemental requires all students to write about it. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t characterize an expectation of collaboration and ethical behavior from one’s fellow students as a need for “hand holding.” That’s just decency.</p>
