suspension due to academic dishonesty

<p>In the beginning of junior year, I stole an English quiz from the teacher's desk, and received a 3-day suspension. I understand that I have to report this incident on the common app, and I am going to tell them about my bad judgment and great lessons learned from this mistake, as suggested by my guidance counselor.
Here are my stats:
GPA: 3.7/4.0, 4.5/5.0
SAT: CR- 640, Math- 740, Writing- 760 (1st time)
Varsity track for 2 yrs
Governor school, NHS, science fair awards, district and regional band, county orchestra, numerous writing publications, 80 hours of volunteer etc.
I fully understand that the suspension will hurt me, but I was wondering if you could tell me what is my chance of getting into the following schools that I am considering to apply:
Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, Wake Forest, NYU, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Case Western</p>

<p>Bad judgment, or flaw in character?</p>

<p>bad judgment, i was so frustrated because I had a musical audition, track practice, and 2 major tests the following day. The quiz was on a long reading assignment. My brain literally froze, and I did not know how to handle the stress.</p>

<p>flaw in character. whatever you had is no excuse unless your parents died recently or something of that gravity. varsity track meet and few other tests...</p>

<p>At least your overloaded schedule shows that you have lots of ECs and a demanding courseload! :] to look on the bright side. I'd say explain yourself thoroughly in your essays [or an interview to make it more believable] and hopefully they'll overlook your bad judgment and let you in :] Your stats look good other than that!</p>

<p>3365 - I disagree. I really don't think you can say someone has a "flaw in character" based on one bad decision. Obviously they learned their lesson [since they haven't had multiple incidents of this nature, lol] and have moved on.</p>

<p>
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My brain literally froze, and I did not know how to handle the stress.

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</p>

<p>This isn't personal or anything, but this is an excuse that is seen all the time. My belief is that in order to redeem oneself from a cheating incident, one has to go through a fundamental change in character. Do you call it bad judgment because you got caught, or because it went against your principles?</p>

<p>Beginning of junior year is roughly in the middle of your high school career. Personally as an adcom I would be convinced by nothing less than a full supplementary essay. It still sounds like you're in an excuse mode. I'm being harsh, but an adcom officer will be harsher.</p>

<p>And in the future, you could always ask for an extension you know. How has your relationship with the teacher who you stole the quiz from fared? If you worked hard to make restitution for the teacher you wronged, then a "letter of redemption" -- a supportive letter from that teacher one and a half years after the fact -- would work.</p>

<p>They didn't kick you out of NHS?</p>

<p>
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3365 - I disagree. I really don't think you can say someone has a "flaw in character" based on one bad decision.

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<p>Man, that guy raped someone. Bad judgment.</p>

<p>You have to overcome a lot of ethical barriers to even put your hand out to steal a quiz.</p>

<p>I have been tempted before. I will tell you that I was so stressed out by an exam that was so extraordinarily difficult that I seriously contemplated violating my teacher's trust. But my conscience always pulled me back. (The context was that I was making up a a test in the library and could have easily googled a formula I had neglected to fully memorise. Reaching into the teacher's desk is another whole different ballgame.)</p>

<p>To the OP: the things to impress the adcoms with your incident are remorse and self-questioning of identity ... not excuses like "I had too many activities between that moment and the test."</p>

<p>^ exactly my point.</p>

<p>Yeah, just as a shout-out to everybody:</p>

<p>I am an easily stressed-out person (sorry), and my teachers understand that, and a lot of the time they'll give me extension if I tell them enough in advance.</p>

<p>asking for extensions is better than cheating, I presume lol</p>

<p>oh yeah, and even if you get a 0 on the quiz, it won't affect your gpa enough to make a difference as to which colleges you get into, ya know?</p>

<p>If you were to cheat, you should only do it on something that would actually boost your chances of getting into college.</p>

<p>not that I'd do that, of course</p>

<p>Touche galoisien, but I'm pretty sure there's a big difference between raping and cheating on a quiz. I agree that it's a big mistake to make and it's going to have serious repercussions, but I don't think that coolshadow888z has a character flaw.</p>

<p>Sorry...but on the common app rec letter, they do inquire about a student's integrity. If it's down on the school record or others know about it, your rating for this measure will be reduced dramatically on all rec letters. There are thousands of kids applying to these top schools with unblemished records and stellar grades. Why would they take someone with subpar academic integrity in place of someone who doesn't have such an infraction on their record? It's going to hurt you. Don't waste their time or yours. Take some of them off your list...</p>

<p>Apply to safeties... But, realize they want someone with academic integrity, too. </p>

<p>I could go into the whole "morals" and "conscience" bit. But, I don't need to lecture you. Obviously, you've seen the beginnings of the consequences of your actions. Maybe an essay on the Common App will take away from the sting of this infraction. Or it could worsen the situation and place you into a light you're unwilling to step into. I'm thinking the latter. In college, you could be expelled for what you did. Regardless of the stress/burden on you, little can make it seem less significant. I have to agree with galoisien on this.

[quote]
Do you call it bad judgment because you got caught, or because it went against your principles?

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</p>

<p>There are consequences for your actions including a highly reduced probability you'll get into these institutions.</p>

<p>i seriously dont understand how you can even have the GUTS and even worse the IDEA of STEALING a TEST.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Touche galoisien, but I'm pretty sure there's a big difference between raping and cheating on a quiz. I agree that it's a big mistake to make and it's going to have serious repercussions, but I don't think that coolshadow888z has a character flaw.

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</p>

<p>To me, it's not so much the magnitude of the crime as the ethical barriers of the crime. </p>

<p>To rape someone requires first thinking about it, then approaching the victim, following with assaulting the victim, etc. The rapist must proceed with every minute detail of the plan that will tell the doer: "this is wrong."</p>

<p>To steal a quiz is somewhat analogous. Now, the damage is not as great, but just as many ethical barriers must be jumped.</p>

<p>Excuses of bad judgment should IMO be reserved for "crimes against the self." (Being caught for alcohol experimentation, bad decisions that led to poor academic performance, etc.) </p>

<p>Crimes against others -- like cheating -- show a fundamental character flaw.</p>

<p>From reading what adcoms have told newspaper articles, I know that adcoms (from schools like UChicago and Penn) will seriously consider someone with a black mark. The thing they want to know is -- have you seriously changed, or are you writing your "sorry" letter only because you are sorry for being caught? (This is where I believe Rihanna's "Don't tell me you're sorry [cuz you're not] .... when I know you're only sorry you got caught," line is of some pertinence.)</p>

<p>This is why I believe the OP must demonstrate fundamental character change.</p>

<p>And has the OP redeemed (or even partially redeemed) his/her reputation with the wronged teacher? If so, would the teacher be willing to send a letter of support? Not hearty recommendation, even, but affirmation of the fact that yes, the student has fundamentally changed and has redeemed himself/herself.</p>

<p>I really fail to see the good in this. Yeah.</p>

<p>Brain shut-down --> Steal/cheat.</p>

<p>Realize if the teacher sends a letter of support, their reputation might be tarnished for defending a student who did this. I highly doubt a teacher would be willing to.</p>

<p>Great song reference galoisien. :)</p>

<p>But the thing is, he STOLE a quiz.</p>

<p>I mean, there's a difference between getting help from a friend with a lab when it's not allowed, and stealing a quiz.</p>

<p>In addition, stealing a quiz is just stupid. You could easily take pictures of the quiz with a cell phone camera or make notes of the problems (lol I'm not a cheater).</p>

<p>Adcoms will take into account the levle of stupidity of the action.</p>

<p>no offense to OP.</p>

<p>
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their reputation might be tarnished for defending a student who did this.

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</p>

<p>Hmm. Would it be tarnished for defending a student of genuine change, one and a half years after the fact?</p>

<p>The teacher, who suffered the wrong, and filed the report, IMO would have the greatest authority on the matter.</p>

<p>I would be curious to see if you are admitted to Vandy. They take their honor code very seriously down there. I don't know much about the other schools but I would think that will make things more difficult...</p>