Academic Dishonesty Forum

[hamilton1776]

So I recently got a file on my student record for committing academic dishonesty. I showed my friend my short written assignment as she was having some trouble writing hers. Both of us now have a record on our file and we also got penalized for our mistake, her worse than mine because I did not consent to her plagiarizing my work. Our prof. did say that this will not be going on our transcript, but I am still wondering how this situation will affect my future in getting into Law school. This is the only academic dishonesty record in my student file and I have learned from this mistake. Will this be a huge issue that will never let me achieve my dreams of becoming a lawyer????

[KunAgnis]

So I recently got a file on my student record for committing academic dishonesty. I showed my friend my short written assignment as she was having some trouble writing hers. Both of us now have a record on our file and we also got penalized for our mistake, her worse than mine because I did not consent to her plagiarizing my work. Our prof. did say that this will not be going on our transcript, but I am still wondering how this situation will affect my future in getting into Law school. This is the only academic dishonesty record in my student file and I have learned from this mistake. Will this be a huge issue that will never let me achieve my dreams of becoming a lawyer????

Sounds to me like as long as you disclose it properly during law school application processes and the bar application, it might not be a huge problem. Of course I'm not an ethics attorney, but I think as long as you explain how it occurred, how you haven't repeated this mistake, and how you'll treat similar situations going forward, I don't think law schools will treat this as a scarlet letter.

[LSATWiz.com]

The difficult thing that you're going to run into is that even if it is not on your transcript or on the record, the dean is not going to lie so on any dean certification, it will come out. For this reason, the distinction is pretty arbitrary and you will have to disclose it. If the facts are as you say, then you are a victim in this situation and it seems like more of a mistake than it seems like calculated dishonesty. If the dean tells you how they'll answer if asked, you may be able to obtain their consent to have law schools reach out to them. You could then state the dean has agreed to make him/herself available to answer any questions you may have about this incident. He/her can be reached at ______. I think this would do the most to mitigate its impact on your cycle.

[Npret]

So I recently got a file on my student record for committing academic dishonesty. I showed my friend my short written assignment as she was having some trouble writing hers. Both of us now have a record on our file and we also got penalized for our mistake, her worse than mine because I did not consent to her plagiarizing my work. Our prof. did say that this will not be going on our transcript, but I am still wondering how this situation will affect my future in getting into Law school. This is the only academic dishonesty record in my student file and I have learned from this mistake. Will this be a huge issue that will never let me achieve my dreams of becoming a lawyer????

Can you explain more fully? How did just showing your work to a friend end up in plagiarism? Was sharing your work itself a violation of the honor code?
You’re going to have to disclose and write addendums. It’s difficult to quantify how much this will hurt you. It shouldn’t destroy your dream of being a lawyer.

[albanach]

The difficult thing that you're going to run into is that even if it is not on your transcript or on the record, the dean is not going to lie so on any dean certification, it will come out. For this reason, the distinction is pretty arbitrary and you will have to disclose it. If the facts are as you say, then you are a victim in this situation and it seems like more of a mistake than it seems like calculated dishonesty. If the dean tells you how they'll answer if asked, you may be able to obtain their consent to have law schools reach out to them. You could then state the dean has agreed to make him/herself available to answer any questions you may have about this incident. He/her can be reached at ______. I think this would do the most to mitigate its impact on your cycle.

I'm thinking that it might be worth trying to get a letter from the professor that confirms what happened. My concern would be that, particularly come C&F, all memory and records may be lost yet OP still has to disclose. Let alone possibly disclosing again years later if OP changes state. Having something in writing now would make the process easier in the future - even if it's only to aid the school in its reply.

[hamilton1776]

So I recently got a file on my student record for committing academic dishonesty. I showed my friend my short written assignment as she was having some trouble writing hers. Both of us now have a record on our file and we also got penalized for our mistake, her worse than mine because I did not consent to her plagiarizing my work. Our prof. did say that this will not be going on our transcript, but I am still wondering how this situation will affect my future in getting into Law school. This is the only academic dishonesty record in my student file and I have learned from this mistake. Will this be a huge issue that will never let me achieve my dreams of becoming a lawyer????

Can you explain more fully? How did just showing your work to a friend end up in plagiarism? Was sharing your work itself a violation of the honor code?
You’re going to have to disclose and write addendums. It’s difficult to quantify how much this will hurt you. It shouldn’t destroy your dream of being a lawyer.

So what happened was my friend asked me the day before it was due on how to write the assignment. I first gave her general advise but she still didn’t know how to write it and she told me that she has already looked at the examples given to us by the prof. It was getting late and I was tired, so I sent her my work and told her you should do something like this and then she wrote hers but it was just mine but slightly rephrased. So showing my work to her was enabling her to plagiarize and that is why I also got penalized for it.

[QContinuum]

Was sharing your work itself a violation of the honor code?

I feel like this is the nub of the matter. If OP violated their school's code/regulations/whatever by showing their friend their work, then OP must disclose. If, OTOH, there was technically no violation of the school's code/regulations/etc. by OP, even though what OP did was ill-advised, then OP may not need to disclose. OP did not encourage or intend for their friend to copy their work, so it boils down to whether OP's school has a strict regulation in place re: showing your classmates your own work.

[Npret]

You didn’t just show her your work. You sent her your work to copy. When you are writing an addendum about this, I would not use the verb “showed” when you emailed your work to her which she copied. I feel you are lucky they believed you didn’t intend to cheat.

I’m assuming that’s a breach of the honor code because it wouldn’t necessarily be a breach in other circumstances. (People proofread each other’s work all the time for example.)

Did you get any punishment besides the warning?
Can you have it reviewed in any way by an academic council?

[QContinuum]

You didn’t just show her your work. You sent her your work to copy. When you are writing an addendum about this, I would not use the verb “showed” when you emailed your work to her which she copied. I feel you are lucky they believed you didn’t intend to cheat.

OP says they didn't have that intent, and (at least per OP) their school has apparently accepted that OP did not have that intent. I don't think we're in a position to second-guess that determination. I think we have to defer to OP's school's finding.

Given that finding (again assuming OP is accurately describing what their school concluded), the only remaining question is whether there was a strict prohibition against showing your classmates your own work. If no, then OP did not violate any ethical duties (even if their judgment was bad). Of course, OP may still have to disclose the discipline, but it would then be merely a "disciplined for bad judgment" issue and not a "disciplined for academic dishonesty" issue.

[Npret]

You didn’t just show her your work. You sent her your work to copy. When you are writing an addendum about this, I would not use the verb “showed” when you emailed your work to her which she copied. I feel you are lucky they believed you didn’t intend to cheat.

OP says they didn't have that intent, and (at least per OP) their school has apparently accepted that OP did not have that intent. I don't think we're in a position to second-guess that determination. I think we have to defer to OP's school's finding.

Given that finding (again assuming OP is accurately describing what their school concluded), the only remaining question is whether there was a strict prohibition against showing your classmates your own work. If no, then OP did not violate any ethical duties (even if their judgment was bad). Of course, OP may still have to disclose the discipline, but it would then be merely a "disciplined for bad judgment" issue and not a "disciplined for academic dishonesty" issue.

I’m not intending to second guess. I have heard of schools not believing the story relating to academic dishonesty. I just see a discrepancy between saying “I showed” and “I emailed” my work. Just my view.

OP still hasn’t said what exactly they violated in the honor code. It’s a little puzzling.

[QContinuum]

You didn’t just show her your work. You sent her your work to copy. When you are writing an addendum about this, I would not use the verb “showed” when you emailed your work to her which she copied. I feel you are lucky they believed you didn’t intend to cheat.

OP says they didn't have that intent, and (at least per OP) their school has apparently accepted that OP did not have that intent. I don't think we're in a position to second-guess that determination. I think we have to defer to OP's school's finding.

Given that finding (again assuming OP is accurately describing what their school concluded), the only remaining question is whether there was a strict prohibition against showing your classmates your own work. If no, then OP did not violate any ethical duties (even if their judgment was bad). Of course, OP may still have to disclose the discipline, but it would then be merely a "disciplined for bad judgment" issue and not a "disciplined for academic dishonesty" issue.

I’m not u tending to second guess. I have heard of schools not believing the story relating to academic dishonesty. I just see a discrepancy between saying “I showed” and “I emailed” my work. Just my view.

OP still hasn’t said what exactly they violated in the honor code. It’s a little puzzling.

That's what I'm trying to find out. It's not clear to me whether OP violated any school regs. It's clear to me that OP was "penalized" somehow, but professors can penalize/discipline students for bad judgment (as OP exercised) without finding an honor code violation. The penalty could have been as simple as the professor deciding to bust OP down a letter grade to teach them a lesson about facilitating (even if unintentionally) others' plagiarism.

[hamilton1776]

You didn’t just show her your work. You sent her your work to copy. When you are writing an addendum about this, I would not use the verb “showed” when you emailed your work to her which she copied. I feel you are lucky they believed you didn’t intend to cheat.

OP says they didn't have that intent, and (at least per OP) their school has apparently accepted that OP did not have that intent. I don't think we're in a position to second-guess that determination. I think we have to defer to OP's school's finding.

Given that finding (again assuming OP is accurately describing what their school concluded), the only remaining question is whether there was a strict prohibition against showing your classmates your own work. If no, then OP did not violate any ethical duties (even if their judgment was bad). Of course, OP may still have to disclose the discipline, but it would then be merely a "disciplined for bad judgment" issue and not a "disciplined for academic dishonesty" issue.

I’m not u tending to second guess. I have heard of schools not believing the story relating to academic dishonesty. I just see a discrepancy between saying “I showed” and “I emailed” my work. Just my view.

OP still hasn’t said what exactly they violated in the honor code. It’s a little puzzling.

That's what I'm trying to find out. It's not clear to me whether OP violated any school regs. It's clear to me that OP was "penalized" somehow, but professors can penalize/discipline students for bad judgment (as OP exercised) without finding an honor code violation. The penalty could have been as simple as the professor deciding to bust OP down a letter grade to teach them a lesson about facilitating (even if unintentionally) others' plagiarism.

According to my school I did commit academic dishonesty because I sent my friend my work, giving her the opportunity to copy my work even though I did not intend for her to do so. My friend has taken full responsibilty for her copying my work and I have also taken full responsibilty for sending my work to my friend. I was penalized for academic dishonesty and it is in my student record. So I know I have to mention this incident in my law school application and for any other times I have to disclose this. But given the facts will this hugely decrease my chance of getting into law school?

[Npret]

I don’t think it will hugely decrease your chances at going to law school. Make sure you have high numbers and write a clear explanation. As mentioned in the thread, a letter from the professor or whoever is involved in deciding this is academic dishonesty is a smart idea. Records get lost and this could easily be forgotten by the time you apply for the bar exam.

[QContinuum]

Thanks for clarifying, OP. In that case it sounds like your plan is reasonable. Definitely write an addendum and take full responsibility for what you did. You can (and should) mention that you did not intend for your friend to plagiarize your work, but you should emphasize that you fully recognize and accept the folly of what you did - you don't want to give any impression that you are trying to excuse or justify what you did.

Obviously you will probably underperform your GPA/LSAT somewhat, but I don't see this categorically locking you out of law school (or even locking you out of the T13/T20, if your numbers are otherwise high enough). Apply broadly.

[LSATWiz.com]

The difficult thing that you're going to run into is that even if it is not on your transcript or on the record, the dean is not going to lie so on any dean certification, it will come out. For this reason, the distinction is pretty arbitrary and you will have to disclose it. If the facts are as you say, then you are a victim in this situation and it seems like more of a mistake than it seems like calculated dishonesty. If the dean tells you how they'll answer if asked, you may be able to obtain their consent to have law schools reach out to them. You could then state the dean has agreed to make him/herself available to answer any questions you may have about this incident. He/her can be reached at ______. I think this would do the most to mitigate its impact on your cycle.

I'm thinking that it might be worth trying to get a letter from the professor that confirms what happened. My concern would be that, particularly come C&F, all memory and records may be lost yet OP still has to disclose. Let alone possibly disclosing again years later if OP changes state. Having something in writing now would make the process easier in the future - even if it's only to aid the school in its reply.

Yeah, I think if this is what happened and OP has documentation this is what happened, it's the kind of thing that C&F probably won't even bring up at an interview. Without it, he may need a C&F lawyer, which isn't to say it will delay his admission but that it will be a source of stress that can be avoided by lining up his ducks now when he has time vs. when he is overwhelmed with work in 4 years from now.