Hi everybody,
First off, I would like to say that I do know that I messed up. I made the mistakes, I acknowledge the mistakes, regret them, but am working to make up for the mistakes.
That being said, I to Michigan as an out-of-state student to study Electrical Engineering.
One of the problems was that I had no interest in Engineering what-so-ever. My sophomore year, I was very behind in a programming course, and worked ‘together’ on a final exam with my friends. We got caught, went through the honor code process, etc.
I gained more interest in programming my Junior year, and decided to take another programming course the summer before my Senior year (Fall 2014). Most kids had groups of friends who worked on programs together. How they never got caught cheating, I don’t know, since I’ve seen kids looking at each others’ codes. I didn’t have the liberty of having friends to help me, I went onto a forum and found an algorithm someone used on a project similar to mine. I had an hour left before the deadline, and I just wanted a correct solution so i could study it for the exam, so I submitted their algorithm, and then missed the deadline to submit my own file, so someone else’s algorithm was submitted for my grade, which is plagiarism. The honor council was notified, and I was supposed to talk to someone about it this semester.
Again, I’d just like to state: yes. I know I messed up. Honestly, the programming courses were the only courses I considered/did cheat in. I shouldn’t have. I was a good student, I had a 3.5+ GPA in all my other courses…
According to umich’s College of Engineering Honor Code, multiple honor code infractions usually result in suspensions and/or expulsions. This got me extremely scared since an academic suspension remains on a student’s transcript. I also hated engineering a ton at this point. Because of that, I decided to withdraw from the university (the course grade remains an “I” on my transcript) and have transferred to a university in Texas and am studying accounting, which I’m actually a lot more interested in and am enjoying studying. I had a couple software engineering internships and I wasn’t too “in love” with them.
My question is this: how much does a suspension on a student’s transcript affect his/her jobs? Did I mess up by leaving a prestigious public university and coming to a less prestigious university?
I know it comes down to my preference, and I am enjoying accounting and am looking forward to my future, but the regret of not obtaining a Michigan degree after spending 3+ years will always gnaw at me.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.