If you saw someone cheating on an exam......

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supraman

supraman

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would you tell?

I saw this kid cheating beyond limits, took out a superb cheat paper with all mechanisms during my organic exam. I did not want to destroy his life. What would you guys do? Tell or just keep your own buz.
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it depends if this is his first time or not and if he's a jerk
 
let it go...it'll catch up to him at some point.

btw, if you did decide to tell...who would you tell?

the ta during the exam? you going to blatantly point the kid out?

the prof after the exam? it's your word against his.

jb!
 
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Tsk, tsk. In dental school, we'll all learn about professionalism. This includes telling on someone who cheats.

Seriously though, this is a tough call. . . even after learning about "professionalism"
 
It's hard not to be bothered by someone like this, most notably when you've studied really hard to learn all the material.

I would ask myself it were going to affect my personal mark at all if he/she were to score higher than me, but I most likely would say anything.
 
Stay out of it. I might make some snide comment to said cheater, but beyond that, don't snitch on the kid.

That said, I'd have been pissed, too.
 
DDSY said:
Seriously though, this is a tough call. . . even after learning about "professionalism"
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It's not our "call" to make. I'm sure every student in undergrad has to read the student code of conduct their freshman year and sign a form agreeing to abide by those rules (which includes telling the professor when a student sees someone cheating). At least at my undergrad, they made us do that, and even in dental school as well. Once the professor gets a hold of the info, they can decide whether or not to confront the student. It's pretty hard to prove a student cheated unless the professor or TA caught the student red-handed, so most likely the student will get away with it. But once the professor finds out, he can watch that student a little more closely so he wont get away with it a second time.
 
I actually had this question come up in one of my interviews this year. It's a tough call. In real life I would probably let it go, but I told them what they wanted to hear in my interview
 
DakotaDentist said:
I actually had this question come up in one of my interviews this year. It's a tough call. In real life I would probably let it go, but I told them what they wanted to hear in my interview
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What did they want to hear?



What Would Hotty Do?
 
This happened to me and I took it into my own hands.

After the test I went up to the person and used a select choice of words and made the person feel like dirt.

They wouldn't even make eye contact with me the rest of the semester. The guy was a jerk, I thought it was awesome I put him in his place.

But yeah, tough call...you don't want to be a narc and alienate yourself from the class.
 
well what i told them, and what i thought they wanted to hear, was to confront the person and tell them this isn't very professional to be cheating on an exam in professional school...blah blah...we need to start acting professional now for when we are dentists later
 
I would definitely tell. I had one kid try to cheat off of me and it took me two weeks to build up the courage to tell. But still, imagine that he doesn't get caught and then he goes on to medical, dental, pharm, vet anything like that having never learned the consequences. And then a patient somewhere walks away without having received the treatment they deserved and paid for or maybe even dies. Its an extreme thought and the kid would PROBABLY never get that far but at least some proportion of habitual cheaters do get pretty far in their career. It's only not your problem to an extent. And I can't believe I'm the only one so far who is encouraging you to tell on him. What I would do ( and did do in my situation) is print out a letter to my professor so that it would be anonymous and leave it in his post box in the department. I included in the letter as much information I could about what I saw, where he was sitting, and made sure to mention that I would much prefer not to become overly involved in the situation and hoped he could gather enough information without my testimony to pursue the student. I told the professor that if he absolutely needed me to come forth, that he could announce that he needed to speak to the person who wrote the note in class and I would come see him during office hours.

I never did have to get involved and it turned out that the prof just asked the student some of the same questions that were on the test verbally and th student couldnt answer them.Call me a snitch but I think its very important for us to uphold the quality of our classes and institution for our own good. If you don't want the student to get expelled, you need to remember that its not your call and that in most schools, the student will go through a long process among student and faculty honor councils and have every chance to defend himself before anything happens. He definitely knew the risks of what he was getting into. And if he's such a good cheater, he'll be able to lie his way through honor court. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, most students in our honor system only end up dropping or failing the class and don't actually get expelled.

It's not like this was an art class or even history. Its one of his core classes and nobody takes orgo for fun so he must be taking as a requisite for something. And you say he hadn't written one or two things on his hand but had a whole crib sheet. That kind of cheating takes practice and indicates that he'll probably do it again. At the very least you should submit an anonymous note and if you're asked to step forward and surrender your anonymity, I don't think its a big deal if you decide not to.

Sorry for such a length and strongly opinionated post but I really think that if we each did a little more quality control among ourselves, we wouldn't have to go through as many headaches in trying to deal with the aftermath. It wouldn't take you long to word process what you saw and drop it in his box and I think you'd feel less preoccupied about it afterwards. Write a letter and let it go.

Yeah, I'm gonna try to find a more lighthearted thread to post to.

Good luck!
 
if you tell the other guy might claim you were in on it too and then you might get screwed
 
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let it go, dont be that guy.
 
Tell!!
Tell now!!
I can't believe you're even hesitating!

What if that person is also applying to dental school and he gets in and you don't because he had a higher grade in orgo, and a higher science GPA. Is that fair to you? Is that fair to ME? Is that fair to all of the non-cheaters out there?? NO! Of course not!
 
Do what you feel compelled to do. If you want to tell, tell. If you don't, don't. I personally have never told on anyone who has cheated, b/c usually those who revert to such means in school seldom get very far in life anyway. Now, if I were in dental school and I witnessed a fellow classmate cheating....it would be different story. And don't worry about that person possibly beating you out of a spot in dental school - it will never happen. Consequences are inevitable and their cheating habits will bite them in the butt when they take the DAT. But like I said earlier, do what you feel you should do. That's a personal decision.
 
DMD to Be said:
Do what you feel compelled to do. If you want to tell, tell. If you don't, don't. I personally have never told on anyone who has cheated, b/c usually those who revert to such means in school seldom get very far in life anyway. Now, if I were in dental school and I witnessed a fellow classmate cheating....it would be different story. And don't worry about that person possibly beating you out of a spot in dental school - it will never happen. Consequences are inevitable and their cheating habits will bite them in the butt when they take the DAT. But like I said earlier, do what you feel you should do. That's a personal decision.
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Liers go a long way in life actually. The purpose of a business in the minds of most executives is to make money. You think that means telling the truth all the time? Nope, and they sure get paid alot of money learning how to lie and not get caught.

Something I've learned in college is I can't trust everyone around me like I thought I could when I was younger...
 
wizziefiend said:
Liers go a long way in life actually. The purpose of a business in the minds of most executives is to make money. You think that means telling the truth all the time? Nope, and they sure get paid alot of money learning how to lie and not get caught.

Something I've learned in college is I can't trust everyone around me like I thought I could when I was younger...
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Never did I say that I, or anyone for that matter, should trust everyone. I simply stated that those who are dishonest/cheaters will suffer the consequences of their actions. Whether it be doing poorly on a standardized test, getting kicked out of school, or spending 20 years in jail for fraud - there will be a consequence. And in my personal opinion(which I do have the right to share) - No, 'liars' do not go a long way in life. It may appear that way on the surface, but trust me...their lives are empty.
 
supraman said:
would you tell?

I saw this kid cheating beyond limits, took out a superb cheat paper with all mechanisms during my organic exam. I did not want to destroy his life. What would you guys do? Tell or just keep your own buz.
Click to expand...

If he took the time to make a "superb cheat sheet," then you need to bust his a**!! That's so well thought out before hand, he knew he was going to cheat before he even entered the room.

I had a similar question to write about right before an interview, these questions suck!!
 
DMD to Be said:
Never did I say that I, or anyone for that matter, should trust everyone. I simply stated that those who are dishonest/cheaters will suffer the consequences of their actions. Whether it be doing poorly on a standardized test, getting kicked out of school, or spending 20 years in jail for fraud - there will be a consequence. And in my personal opinion(which I do have the right to share) - No, 'liars' do not go a long way in life. It may appear that way on the surface, but trust me...their lives are empty.
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Yup, to us, their lives are empty. But for some folks, money drives all. They are therefor very happy with their material objects and money.

I have lots of friends who are business majors and you should hear the way they talk. All they want is money and women and fast cars. That's what drives them and if they could not have that some day, they would think their life was empty. Sad I'd say, but it's the truth because I hear their crap every day.

I sense by your tone that you took offense to my earlier comment...no need for that! I don't always go back and read over what I write before I post and something I said must have ticked you off. Of course you get to say your opinion.
 
Ill be honest, I do not want to tell on him. You never know his deal, maybe he did it out of desperation.

Like others said, he will be screwed if he is a predental, with the DAT and all. He may even screw up the orgo curve, but oh well haha
 
I had to cover up my papers in a lot of classes during my exams because all eyes were on my paper. I think it has a lot to do with the asian stereotypes. I cover up my papers because I want the game to be a fair game. In your case, I would think really hard before I go and tell on the TA. Maybe, he did it because there's a lot of pressure to succeed at home. Maybe he's still young and didn't have enough confidence. On the other hand, you can also say he's lazy and he is just a cheater. I guess, it's really up to you.
 
You think desparation is a valid reason to cheat? That is such the wrong mindset and just starts a slippery slope I don't even want to go down. If you're pressured to succeed, then you either study your a** off and succeed or you fold; were all pressured and I sure hope we don't all cheat.

And sure the DAT will normal his application to an extent but plenty of people get in with High GPAs and mediocre DATs. And what if he isn't one of us? Do you really only care about this to the extent that it will affect your status as an applicant?

As far as him declaring that you're in on the cheating scam, thats nonsense. Your grades will reflect your knowledge and a professor can easily determine whether a student knows as much as their tests show they do face to face.

If you don't want to just because you don't want to...well thats another story. But you've asked us if you should, and I still think the answer is glaringly yes. You know its the right thing to do or you never would have posted this thread (you would've shrugged and walked away like some of the other posts suggests).

Everybody says he's going to get whats coming to him even if you choose not to report him. How? Is some giant hand going to come down and point an accusing finger at him in the magic moment before he robs another deserving person of some position, dental related or not? No, somebody at some point is going to have to call him on his mistake. What makes you think somebody else should or will be the one to report him when you won't?

Want him to learn a lesson but not get expelled? Submit a letter, don't follow up on it. If they don't have enough evidence to get him now, it will go on his record as strike one. If he learns from his mistake, he can easily explain it off as a misunderstanding that was never validated. If he has a history of cheating, even if its other people who just left little blips on his record, then the small negative points will add up and he'll dig himself even deeper. Its so easy to do your part, a very small part that will hardly inconvenience you let alone hurt you.

My liberal, secular heart is preaching like a zealot. I'll do my best not to post here again.

Best of Luck
 
I'm with jb on this one.

"My momma told me
Be careful who you do cuz karma comes back around"
-Usher

I think that sorta applies to any kind of cheating, academic or otherwise.
 
xxxTheDonxxx said:
I had to cover up my papers in a lot of classes during my exams because all eyes were on my paper. I think it has a lot to do with the asian stereotypes. I cover up my papers because I want the game to be a fair game. In your case, I would think really hard before I go and tell on the TA. Maybe, he did it because there's a lot of pressure to succeed at home. Maybe he's still young and didn't have enough confidence. On the other hand, you can also say he's lazy and he is just a cheater. I guess, it's really up to you.
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Some people take that too far. Last semester, I sat next to this old guy in one of my classes, and for some reason he kept glaring at me and covering his paper during tests whenever i looked up from my test. I was kind of worried that he'd go to the prof and accuse me of stealing his answers or something... it was kind of stupid though, because the guy consistently got C's and low B's while I got A's. It could be because i look/dress/act like a bum. (i didnt look at his exam, btw)
 
supraman said:
would you tell?

I saw this kid cheating beyond limits, took out a superb cheat paper with all mechanisms during my organic exam. I did not want to destroy his life. What would you guys do? Tell or just keep your own buz.
Click to expand...

That depends - do you think you can get any money out of him?
 
Here I am sitting back and enjoying my acceptances, and bam, I get brought up.

I will have you know that I would still do what I did. No regrets. 😀
 
Some ppl write comments that are longer than the essay I just wrote for my English class lol
😎
 
a few distinctions that other people have already stated:

1.) There is a difference between a "moment of weakness" (ie, glancing at someone elses paper for a second) and BLATANT cheating (ie, a whole page of notes)

2.) The orgo section of the DAT is written in a way that makes it very easy for someone to just STUDY for it and do okay. Many students at my school havent even taken oCHEM before they take the DAT (they are 2+3 pacific students) and they still score high. Its just a matter of memorizing the kaplan book or whatever. So don't expect this to come bite him in the butt for the DAT. Many people with low GPA's score high on their DAT's because its a very studyable test.

3.) If people keep letting stuff like this go and saying that cheating is gonna get the better of him, he is never going to get caught. Passive attitudes are what cheaters DEPEND on.
 
Interesting points my friends, I will just pretend I didn't see anything because quite frankly, I don't really have the time
 
xxxTheDonxxx said:
I had to cover up my papers in a lot of classes during my exams because all eyes were on my paper. I think it has a lot to do with the asian stereotypes. I cover up my papers because I want the game to be a fair game. In your case, I would think really hard before I go and tell on the TA. Maybe, he did it because there's a lot of pressure to succeed at home. Maybe he's still young and didn't have enough confidence. On the other hand, you can also say he's lazy and he is just a cheater. I guess, it's really up to you.
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thats ironic, the only person I ever noticed trying to cheat off of me was an asian girl in my biochem class....how do i know? she simply asked me what the correct answer was:laugh: ......whats my point? stereotypes are stereotypes, nothing more😎

and......just let it go
 
befriend him and next test both of you guys will be cheating together team work = good grades lol.
 
mmasurf said:
befriend him and next test both of you guys will be cheating together team work = good grades lol.
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Whoa ... since when the exam has turned into an open book test!😱
 
SirShagaLot said:
thats ironic, the only person I ever noticed trying to cheat off of me was an asian girl in my biochem class....how do i know? she simply asked me what the correct answer was:laugh: ......whats my point? stereotypes are stereotypes, nothing more😎

and......just let it go
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oh i put that in there as a comic relief...nothing more bro. The irony here is i'm a quarter hawaiian, a quarter eskimo, a quarter indian, and a quater irish, and I look like an asian dude. Too bad they copied off the wrong guy 😀

~By the way, how do you know the girl who cheated off you was asian, she could be like me.
 
xxxTheDonxxx said:
oh i put that in there as a comic relief...nothing more bro. The irony here is i'm a quarter hawaiian, a quarter eskimo, a quarter indian, and a quater irish, and I look like an asian dude. Too bad they copied off the wrong guy 😀
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do u like scotch?
 
That cheating bum is just blatantly crying out for someone to report him. Do him a favor and snitch!

I would! this is not grade school anymore. It's ok to snitch. It seems unrelated, but look at it this way-heating is wrong. Period. wrong. Cheating hurts the cheater, you, and many other people. Something similar happened in one of my classes. The situation was a little different. During one of my exams, when I was walking up to turn in my test I saw two students cheating and the thing is I know one of the TA saw it but he totally pretended he didn't. The cheaters were really loudly sharing answers. You have to be deaf to not hear it. I was shocked to see how the TA responded. He looked at the cheaters and then turn around completely!

AT the time I thought maybe amidst the commotion with everyone running up to turn in the tests that maybe he didn't see anything. That is, until I see the TA and those two having lunch together in the Bio building.

I wrote a letter to my professor about it. Normally, my professor give the test and leave the TAs to supervise and collect the tests.. but after i sent in the note.. he stayed from the beginning to the end.
 
I always deal with these situations indirectly if possible. What I'd do, since I could see that there's a person cheating in my vicinity, would raising a hand so that the professor comes up to me. If fate has it, the cheater won't see me raising my hand discreetly and get caught. Otherwise, I'd ask for extra pencil and bring the professor to me again as soon as I see the cheater get on with his cheating. If I don't pursue it later and he/she doesn't get caught, still this exam he'd be hindered from cheating.
Sorry if someone said this already😍
 
Today during my Ecology final exam, this girl busted out her cheat sheet. The class is of approximately 80 students in a small auditorium. She did not get caught initially, but when she left, the TA came by where she was sitting and picked what appeared to be scrap sheet...wrong, can you believe this girl actually dropped her cheat sheets, yes sheets, they were small about 3" X 3" , I seriously don't know if she could have seen that small text .
But wait....
Oh, it is not over yet, there is still more, a girl who I have never seen in class, sat next to me right before the exam began. As the exam started, I saw her from my perif glancing at my paper. She continued throughout the exam copying disgustingly from my paper! She burned a hole through my paper, and she was lucky enough not to be caught. I was too focused on my stuff to rat her ought.

The test was not multiple choices, but a lot of explaining your answers, I seriously wrote paragraphs for answer. My handwriting is not legible, and I tend to write tiny and slanted.

What was running through my mind was this thread; I had been reading it the past days. Its weird, when I first read this thread, I thought if I were faced with this situation, I would inform the professor because it is the right thing to do. Poor girl, I felt sorry for her, she must have had a tough time trying to see what I was writing. I felt like telling the professor or the TA, but I thought, this would end this girl's academic career forever! Do I really want to ever know that I told on someone and destroyed there life? Yes, she is the one in the wrong, but I thought it was in my best interest to finish my test keep my eyes on my paper.

What do you people think, should I tell my professor, do they think that I conspired to help her?
 
collegeboy30000 said:
Today during my Ecology final exam, this girl busted out her cheat sheet. . . . . but I thought, this would end this girl's academic career forever! Do I really want to ever know that I told on someone and destroyed there life? . . .
Click to expand...

**sigh***
 
collegeboy30000 said:
Today during my Ecology final exam, this girl busted out her cheat sheet. The class is of approximately 80 students in a small auditorium. She did not get caught initially, but when she left, the TA came by where she was sitting and picked what appeared to be scrap sheet...wrong, can you believe this girl actually dropped her cheat sheets, yes sheets, they were small about 3" X 3" , I seriously don't know if she could have seen that small text .
But wait....
Oh, it is not over yet, there is still more, a girl who I have never seen in class, sat next to me right before the exam began. As the exam started, I saw her from my perif glancing at my paper. She continued throughout the exam copying disgustingly from my paper! She burned a hole through my paper, and she was lucky enough not to be caught. I was too focused on my stuff to rat her ought.

The test was not multiple choices, but a lot of explaining your answers, I seriously wrote paragraphs for answer. My handwriting is not legible, and I tend to write tiny and slanted.

What was running through my mind was this thread; I had been reading it the past days. Its weird, when I first read this thread, I thought if I were faced with this situation, I would inform the professor because it is the right thing to do. Poor girl, I felt sorry for her, she must have had a tough time trying to see what I was writing. I felt like telling the professor or the TA, but I thought, this would end this girl's academic career forever! Do I really want to ever know that I told on someone and destroyed there life? Yes, she is the one in the wrong, but I thought it was in my best interest to finish my test keep my eyes on my paper.

What do you people think, should I tell my professor, do they think that I conspired to help her?
Click to expand...


HA HAA!! Both of those cheaters you wrote about can't even CHEAT right!

Tell. I would, but I'm a teller. I've told on cheaters before.
 
Depends on the class---if that person cheating could f up the curve thereby f'ing up my grade,then yes. If not,then whatever--not my problem,doesnt directly affect me.
 
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