<p>I need some advice. </p>
<p>My son is the #1 student in a class of 700 at his high school. He is a junior this year. Recently he was working on a project for an online advanced math class and was asked by another "A" student, who is a friend, to help with formatting. Unfortunately, he sent her his paper as an example of formatting without thinking of it as doing anything wrong. The student ended up using his work in her own paper. The teacher realized immediately that my son was the person who sent the work (he had additional solutions in his paper). The school has now charged both students with an ethics violation; my son for sending the paper and the other student for copying. We appealed the decision, and the violation was upheld. The school did back off on some of the consequences, but he will still be kicked out of National Honor Society and California Federation of Scholars.</p>
<p>We are very concerned this will affect his ability to get into the universities he will be applying to next year. Will they know? The school is saying it will not show up on any transcripts or documents, but I am concerned it will come out somehow.</p>
<p>Any feedback or advice?</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear your son’s classmate took advantage of him like that. As for consequences, on the Common App, they do ask you to describe any incidents that resulted in discipline (such as a suspension); I’m not sure if this covers being kicked out of NHS and the California Federation of Scholars, so you should double-check that with his guidance counselor. </p>
<p>If in fact he still has to report it, then all hope is not lost. On the Additional Information section, he will be able to explain the incident. He has to be careful not to make it sound like he’s excusing himself, but rather just explain what he did and what he learned from it. Since in this case he was the one supplying the paper instead of actually cheating, even though it’s still counts as cheating on his part, it looks better than being the one copying the work. </p>
<p>If his guidance counselor says he doesn’t have to report it, then he should be fine.</p>
<p>I think that your son will probably be fine as long as he didn’t get any form of suspension for it. Suspensions are the only kind of discipline that gets reported to colleges. At least that’s how it is for my school… So he probably doesn’t need to say anything and his chances of being accepted to the universities of his choice should not be affected. (:</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! He did not get any suspensions and in fact they determined it was not a major test, so he didn’t “qualify” for many of the punishments. The NHS and CSF are part of those organizations by-laws, not the school punishment.</p>