Academic dishonesty issue - advise plz

[missdiana]

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Hello

Long story short

My genetic lab prof. reported me and my lab partner for copying each other's pre-lab assignment (about 10pt/1100pt of the grade so less than 1% of the grade) because we worked together and some of misspellings and grammar issues were same (like where to use The and stuff...both of us are from Korea and Korean don't have the concept of 'the' and 'a')
what happen was we worked together because it was pre -lab which is like read the lab assignment and find the answer IN The lab assignment and write it in different form.

so basically we get together - and discussed how we should rewrite the answered we found verbally then each of us type it in our own word because both of us feel like grammar is weak point of us and i am better in english than my lab partner and such

also my lab partner asked for spelings for some words - such as polymerases and I told her how to spell them


because of some part of the pre lab was similar (obviously..there are limit to rewording things for foreigners) we are in middle of investigation

only problem is that our university policy is that
first timers are supposed to get F int he course if they are found guilty

and that decision will be out by the time I will take the interview at my first choice school

when I am at the interview, should I tell them about this stupid situation?
I mean....seriously......this gotta be wrong..

or should I inform them later???


also, do you think they will give me F for that that kind of situation? they gotta take in that I am foreigner who tries her best! If it was freaking critical thinking questions in first part - we wouldn't have came up with the same answer at all! it was basically "here is the answer...now write it in in different form of english"...and yeah...we both wrote 'Cel' for 'cell' and 'bucet' for 'bucket'

what do you think??

 

[calvzzz]

Every university has their own policies, so you certainly can get an F for copying. Since you are at a university and especially taking an upper division course, you are responsible for writing your own work. I don't think it matters if you are a foreign student or not, everyone is held under the same academic dishonesty codes. If you are found guilty, you certainly need to disclose your situation to the schools that you applied to. In the mean time, I think it's okay to hold off on telling any schools since you are still under investigation.

 

[missdiana]

I did not copy. we worked together because it was a cooperative work...smjust happen to be some sentences were similar (not even same) amd we made stupid grammar mistake together (like we put `a` instead of `the` kind of things)

i am not gonna report to dental school yet..but just asking...do you think it is enough to get F on my gen lab? this is so stupid..

 

[SafetyDog]

Doesn't matter if it's stupid or not. At this point, you can't go back and change things, just let the committee do their review and hope for the best.

Like calvzzz said, I wouldn't disclose anything until the result of the investigation is concluded.

 

[topshelf]

I did not copy. we worked together because it was a cooperative work...smjust happen to be some sentences were similar (not even same) amd we made stupid grammar mistake together (like we put `a` instead of `the` kind of things)

i am not gonna report to dental school yet..but just asking...do you think it is enough to get F on my gen lab? this is so stupid..

Were you allowed to work together on the pre-lab??
But anyway, I do think it's pretty unfair if they give you an F for the course if cooperation was allowed and just not copying... You should explain what happened honestly to the review committee and hope for the best. Good luck!

 

[missdiana]

Everything is cooperarive work...and person who is accused with me is myblab partner....
It is obvious we work together and we were supposed to work together as well!

I hope they understand this :/

 

[sjv]

Depends on the outcome, wait until then.

 

[LaughingGas]

As others said, don't mention until it actually shows on your transcript. Do I think it's unfair? Yes. Hope you take this opportunity to improve your grammar..Now, I would do everything in my power to explain and avoid that F (You could even send an e-mail or talk to the Dean directly about the issue as last resort).

힘내요.

 

[steiner2]

Why shoot yourself on the foot before the university shoots you on the foot? If you haven't been charged then you havent really committed it. It's alleged, as any lawyer will tell you.
Anyway, you can always appeal to the student body council or whoever is in charge. I suggest you hire a lawyer if it's really that serious. Some idiots in my genetics class cheated and got caught red-handed, and still got off. They worked together on a take home. We didnt know we all had different numbers in our calculations. 7-9 of the fools copied each other without actually doing the problems.We had to show our work too, so the only way to come out with the same answer is if you copied someone blindly. I think the ones without lawyers got suspended. No one got kicked out as the policy was written.

As a side note, I also used to teach undergrad lab. There were some Korean students who used their translators but would look up formulas or notes while on them. It's hard to believe one can speak in broken English but write lab reports near perfect. I did not see it but the students next to them did and turned them in. So, the professor probably had good reason from previous experience to be mad. My professor warned us to be on the look out during exams for the foreign students using translators even though she was the nicest person you can meet.

 

[wb1]

I am not hating on the eagerly enthusiastic TA and graduated students who are teaching labs.

Was your lab instructor a graduate student? This sort of things happen in student taught labs. I have witness at least one incident per lab.

 

[Luna724]

똥 제대로 밟으셨네요... Like everyone else said, you don't need to actively disclose anything at this point since no decision has been made by the university at this point. However, it would be of your best interest to prepare an adequate explanation about the situation if any question were to turn up in future interviews.