Accused of Cheating in Dual Credit High School Course - Long Term Affects?

[billybobjoe65]

Asking for a sibling.

My brother was accused of cheating in a Calculus II final in a dual credit course. He just finished junior year of high school (he is 16 and not in university yet just to clarify). He has upheld that he did NOT cheat. He got frozen out of his online testing portal on the final and did not communicate with his professor properly. His professor picked out parts of his submission as “evidence” he used Wolfram Alpha or some online calculator, but IMO it’s a stretch. As a result, he received an F in the course. The entire process was clearly unfair and a “guilty until proven innocent” approach. As a high school student, he also did not understand the appeal policy well and panicked. He immediately submitted a poorly written appeal without asking anyone for help which was promptly rejected.

My parents have been considering hiring a lawyer to see what can be done at this point.

My question is how bad does this affect him later on for med school apps in undergrad? The F shows up on his transcript from the school, but I don’t see any mention of cheating or academic integrity on his official transcript. But I would assume the university has a record of it. I know cheating IA’s are treated very seriously for premed applicants, and I wasn’t sure how much this could come back to screw him later on.

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[Goro]

What happens in high school stays in high school. You brother is still a child.

A lawyer? Really? Tell your parents to chill.

 

[KnightDoc]

What happens in high school stays in high school. You brother is still a child.

A lawyer? Really? Tell your parents to chill.

Really? Even in a dual credit course that will be reported to AMCAS on a college transcript??????????????

Assuming he actually did cheat, it's okay because a 16 year old child taking college courses is not expected to know better, while a 17 year old child freshman in college is? Or, is any sort of cheating acceptable by a child who is under 21 years old?

 

[Banco]

Really? Even in a dual credit course that will be reported to AMCAS on a college transcript??????????????

Assuming he actually did cheat, it's okay because a 16 year old child taking college courses is not expected to know better, while a 17 year old child freshman in college is? Or, is any sort of cheating acceptable by a child who is under 21 years old?

Not sure, add more question marks next time.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

By the time he applies he will be 5+ years from the incident. Explaining it away as a foolish error that was never repeated won’t scare away any med schools.

 

[KnightDoc]

Not sure, add more question marks next time.

Yeah, well, that's how puzzled I was that he would actually suggest that cheating that occurred in a college class taken in HS that will be reported to AMCAS on a college transcript would stay in HS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[billybobjoe65]

What happens in high school stays in high school. You brother is still a child.

A lawyer? Really? Tell your parents to chill.

This was through a program that allows students to take courses at a nearby public university though. I thought all grades for these dual credit type courses taken at universities (and thus also any IA) need to be reported to med school. I know of other friends who went through this program and had messed up grades that they needed to report for med school apps (that lowered their GPA).

Assuming my brother would need to not only count the F towards med school GPA but also possibly have to explain an IA involving cheating, I feel like it would be worth fighting now for maybe a few thousand instead of putting a lot more on the line potentially later on (especially if we don’t believe my brother really cheated in the first place and believe we have evidence to argue against it).

 

[Goro]

This was through a program that allows students to take courses at a nearby public university though. I thought all grades for these dual credit type courses taken at universities (and thus also any IA) need to be reported to med school. I know of other friends who went through this program and had messed up grades that they needed to report for med school apps (that lowered their GPA).

Assuming my brother would need to not only count the F towards med school GPA but also possibly have to explain an IA involving cheating, I feel like it would be worth fighting now for maybe a few thousand instead of putting a lot more on the line potentially later on (especially if we don’t believe my brother really cheated in the first place and believe we have evidence to argue against it).

The F and the IA aren't lethal if your brother does well academically from now on.

 

[Osminog]

If the college has an IA on your brother's file, then it's serious and worth fighting, period. If it stays on his record, it will have to reported on graduate school applications, regardless of what path he ultimately chooses to take.

In my opinion, your brother and your parents should meet with the dean of the college's math department. The implications of the F and IA have to be carefully and fully explained to him—that the F can seriously damage your brother's GPA even before his freshman year of college and, even more importantly, that the IA can cause him to be instantly rejected by some graduate school admission committees and can limit his academic/career opportunities in 6+ years. Also, potential remedies should be discussed (e.g., "incomplete" instead of F/IA, or retaking the course with proctored exams).

 

[deleted936268]

The F and the IA aren't lethal if your brother does well academically from now on.

Surely, getting rid of an IA and an F is worth a lawyer if the student's case is strong as OP mentions...

 

[DNAJB6]

Surely, getting rid of an IA and an F is worth a lawyer if the student's case is strong as OP mentions...

Agreed.