Academic Dishonesty Advice

[tigerlily112]

I'd like to begin by saying sorry if this has been answered before or isn't appropriate for this board. At the beginning of this semester I was unable to access the entirety of a recorded lecture and missed crucial information for an assignment. Instead of reaching out the professor to ask why I couldnt find the information I went to wikipedia and based my assignment off the information presented there. My professor recognized this immediately and reached out to me. She said the assignment wasn't a cut and paste of the wikipedia document but that there were questionable phrases. I've taken full responsibility, apologized, and accepted all penalties. Tomorrow I meet with the Student Conduct Services to address this issue. I intend to be accountable for my actions and accept any sanctions.

This is the first time in my academic career that I've been faced with this issue and its on my last semester at this university. This leads me to my three questions:

My professor said she doesn't consider this case severe so-to-speak and I'm wondering how graduate programs review and make considerations on instances of academic dishonesty?

I'm currently in the process of applying for Fall 2021. Should I hold off or move forward with my application and address the concerns of the insitution I'm applying to as they arise?

I've requested a LoR from a former professor and I've been wondering why she hasn't responded since we had a strong relationship. Well, she is the program chair and deifinitely has received a report of this incident. I'm concerned that my actions may have soured the relationship. Should I just forget about using her as a reference now or reach out to see if she'd be willing to discuss the situation further?

*Side note: I'm deeply remorseful for my actions. It was a foolish mistake that could've been easily addressed if i reached out to my professor. A one paragraph assignment may have jeopardized my academic career, I've definitely learned my lesson.

Edited September 30, 2020 by tigerlily112
additional information

[RyanS]

I tell my students that I don't expect them to be perfect.  Rather, I expect them to be capable of growth.  That means learning from mistakes and taking advantage of opportunities to demonstrate growth or further challenging yourself above and beyond what might be expected from your faculty.  

It sounds like you're taking a professional approach to the situation now: no excuses, no minimizing, and no blaming.  To me personally, that means something, and I would imagine this would also mean something to your former professor if it were communicated.  The request for letter would be such, "I would like your support but I fully understand that I do not deserve it."   

While plagiarism is egregious (because intent can never be proven), I don't think it will ruin all of your chances.  It will probably make it more difficult, though.  

[GradSchoolGrad]

On 9/30/2020 at 6:51 PM, tigerlily112 said:

I'd like to begin by saying sorry if this has been answered before or isn't appropriate for this board. At the beginning of this semester I was unable to access the entirety of a recorded lecture and missed crucial information for an assignment. Instead of reaching out the professor to ask why I couldnt find the information I went to wikipedia and based my assignment off the information presented there. My professor recognized this immediately and reached out to me. She said the assignment wasn't a cut and paste of the wikipedia document but that there were questionable phrases. I've taken full responsibility, apologized, and accepted all penalties. Tomorrow I meet with the Student Conduct Services to address this issue. I intend to be accountable for my actions and accept any sanctions.

This is the first time in my academic career that I've been faced with this issue and its on my last semester at this university. This leads me to my three questions:

My professor said she doesn't consider this case severe so-to-speak and I'm wondering how graduate programs review and make considerations on instances of academic dishonesty?

I'm currently in the process of applying for Fall 2021. Should I hold off or move forward with my application and address the concerns of the insitution I'm applying to as they arise?

I've requested a LoR from a former professor and I've been wondering why she hasn't responded since we had a strong relationship. Well, she is the program chair and deifinitely has received a report of this incident. I'm concerned that my actions may have soured the relationship. Should I just forget about using her as a reference now or reach out to see if she'd be willing to discuss the situation further?

*Side note: I'm deeply remorseful for my actions. It was a foolish mistake that could've been easily addressed if i reached out to my professor. A one paragraph assignment may have jeopardized my academic career, I've definitely learned my lesson.

So the honest answer is that it depends on school. I highly doubt a more competitive school willing to take a risk on your especially given how this year is expected to have a surge of applicants across most programs. What makes this more troublesome from an admissions perspective is that this happened in the fall rather than your freshman year (then you may have a more plausible excuse of immaturity and etc.). 

If I were you, I would go into the workforce, built up your reputation and then go to grad school in a less competitive graduate cycle and highlight the honor issue as a indiscretion of youth that you have grown beyond. 

I used to be in an honors and ethics board at my University and we fully acknowledged that when there is notation on someone's personal record for honor violation/cheating, be it via the registrar's office or some sort of back office means, it likely limits the student's graduate school opportunities moving forward as a realistic consequence of future career trajectory. I don't now what you student conduct services will issue you, but at my University, at a minimum you would get some sort of notation that follows you for least a little bit.

[drunkenduck]

Personally, I was accused of academic dishonesty in undergrad, it was ruled a simple misunderstanding, and is not on my record. So, I would wait to see what actually becomes of it before making the decision to stop applying to grad school or discussing it with your potential letter writer.