Pertaining to IA investigation - how should I mark this on secondary?

[ednamed]

My senior year, my professor reported me to our schools student conduct office under a cheating allegation in a computer science class. All of our assignments were coding and we turned them in with a software that checked for similarities (like TurnItIn for code) and me and my friend were flagged for having too high of a degree of similarity, so the professor automatically reported everyone past this certain threshold. The professor explicitly encourage collaboration on homework (it was even stated in the syllabus) and we really didn't cheat or copy each other, it was just similar because we had worked on the assignment together. We both had interviews with the student conduct office and all charges were immediately dropped because of the reasons I just listed -- collaboration on homework was encouraged and as soon as an actual person looked at our assignments (versus just automatic software screening) it was clear that we didn't cheat/copy.

That said, AMCAS asks "were you ever the recipient of any institutional action" so I marked no because I wasn't, I was only reported and then was found not guilty after investigation. Now one of my secondaries is asking "have you ever been subject to any investigations" -- how should I answer this? I want to be honest because I don't have anything to hide but I'm worried that either 1) the school will screen me for selecting "yes" or still have bias against me and 2) that they'll see that I marked "no" to the IA question on AMCAS and maybe tell AMCAS and then I'll be put under investigation with them??? Please help

*note - for all other secondaries asking if I've received an IA i also put no. This is the first school that asks specifically about an "investigation" so again I don't know what to do because I don't want the discrepancy to make it seem like I'm lying and cause issues with my entire AMCAS

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[LizzyM]

You should write, "During my senior year, I was automatically reported to our school's academic affairs office for an allegation of cheating in a computer science class. All of our assignments were coding and we turned them in with a software that checked for similarities. My friend and I were flagged for having too high of a degree of similarity. The professor explicitly encourage collaboration on homework (it was even stated in the syllabus) and we really didn't cheat or copy each other, it was just similar because we had worked on the assignment together. We both had interviews with the academic affairs office and all charges were immediately dropped because - collaboration on homework was encouraged and as soon as an actual person looked at our assignments (versus just automatic software screening) it was clear that we didn't cheat/copy."

Aside from being questioned, you were not the subject of an institutional ACTION but you were subject to an INVESTIGATION. Just explain as you did here (I just tightened up a bit of grammar) and go in peace.

 

[ednamed]

You should write, "During my senior year, I was automatically reported to our school's academic affairs office for an allegation of cheating in a computer science class. All of our assignments were coding and we turned them in with a software that checked for similarities. My friend and I were flagged for having too high of a degree of similarity. The professor explicitly encourage collaboration on homework (it was even stated in the syllabus) and we really didn't cheat or copy each other, it was just similar because we had worked on the assignment together. We both had interviews with the academic affairs office and all charges were immediately dropped because - collaboration on homework was encouraged and as soon as an actual person looked at our assignments (versus just automatic software screening) it was clear that we didn't cheat/copy."

Aside from being questioned, you were not the subject of an institutional ACTION but you were subject to an INVESTIGATION. Just explain as you did here (I just tightened up a bit of grammar) and go in peace.

Thank you so much for your reply! That makes me feel better. Given the AMCAS wording, I am okay with not having reported it on my AMCAS application correct? Even if there is record of the investigation and the subsequent dropping of charges? Now I am worried that schools will think I was lying/rescind an acceptance I might get if they see a report of the investigation on my record after I answered "no" to the IA question (even though I was never the "recipient" of an IA per AMCAS wording)

 

[LizzyM]

You have answered truthfully. Don't worry about it.

 

[Proudfather94]

My senior year, my professor reported me to our schools student conduct office under a cheating allegation in a computer science class. All of our assignments were coding and we turned them in with a software that checked for similarities (like TurnItIn for code) and me and my friend were flagged for having too high of a degree of similarity, so the professor automatically reported everyone past this certain threshold. The professor explicitly encourage collaboration on homework (it was even stated in the syllabus) and we really didn't cheat or copy each other, it was just similar because we had worked on the assignment together. We both had interviews with the student conduct office and all charges were immediately dropped because of the reasons I just listed -- collaboration on homework was encouraged and as soon as an actual person looked at our assignments (versus just automatic software screening) it was clear that we didn't cheat/copy.

That said, AMCAS asks "were you ever the recipient of any institutional action" so I marked no because I wasn't, I was only reported and then was found not guilty after investigation. Now one of my secondaries is asking "have you ever been subject to any investigations" -- how should I answer this? I want to be honest because I don't have anything to hide but I'm worried that either 1) the school will screen me for selecting "yes" or still have bias against me and 2) that they'll see that I marked "no" to the IA question on AMCAS and maybe tell AMCAS and then I'll be put under investigation with them??? Please help

*note - for all other secondaries asking if I've received an IA i also put no. This is the first school that asks specifically about an "investigation" so again I don't know what to do because I don't want the discrepancy to make it seem like I'm lying and cause issues with my entire AMCAS

That prof is trash. If you are going to encourage collaboration you need to investigate allegations of cheating before reporting people. Did you talk to the dean about that? A letter from them may help you alot if you can get one saying the allegation was not warranted.

 

[KnightDoc]

That prof is trash. If you are going to encourage collaboration you need to investigate allegations of cheating before reporting people. Did you talk to the dean about that? A letter from them may help you alot if you can get one saying the allegation was not warranted.

I think being cleared after an investigation is the same as saying the allegation was not warranted. Expecting the dean to undermine faculty and provide a letter saying the prof was out of line for even making the report is probably expecting too much. I wouldn't go there.

At OP's school, the investigation apparently comes after the report, not before. The system worked exactly the way it was supposed to, and the OP was exonerated. As @LizzyM advised, the OP will be fine. OP does not need "a lot" of help, and is not going to get a letter from the dean basically saying that his system for dealing with alleged academic misconduct is flawed.

 

[ednamed]

That prof is trash. If you are going to encourage collaboration you need to investigate allegations of cheating before reporting people. Did you talk to the dean about that? A letter from them may help you alot if you can get one saying the allegation was not warranted.

Yeah it was pretty frustrating that he didn't even consult us first before escalating it to the conduct office. Especially because now I probably have this report on my record for no reason considering the conduct officer I talked to basically dropped it within 15 minutes of my interview haha

 

[ednamed]

I think being cleared after an investigation is the same as saying the allegation was not warranted. Expecting the dean to undermine faculty and provide a letter saying the prof was out of line for even making the report is probably expecting too much. I wouldn't go there.

At OP's school, the investigation apparently comes after the report, not before. The system worked exactly the way it was supposed to, and the OP was exonerated. As @LizzyM advised, the OP will be fine. OP does not need "a lot" of help, and is not going to get a letter from the dean basically saying that his system for dealing with alleged academic misconduct is flawed.

Thanks for your reply, it makes me feel much better that you don't think this will be an issue! So just to be clear, you think that this school won't raise an eyebrow/report me to AMCAS when they see that I answer "yes" to their IA question and answered "no" on AMCAS, as long as I explain it the way LizzyM suggests? I know I am probably overthinking this whole situation, it just has been causing me so much stress and worry that I wonder if I should even complete this school's secondary.

 

[KnightDoc]

Thanks for your reply, it makes me feel much better that you don't think this will be an issue! So just to be clear, you think that this school won't raise an eyebrow/report me to AMCAS when they see that I answer "yes" to their IA question and answered "no" on AMCAS, as long as I explain it the way LizzyM suggests? I know I am probably overthinking this whole situation, it just has been causing me so much stress and worry that I wonder if I should even complete this school's secondary.

Not at all! Just to be clear, @LizzyM is the expert and I am a mere fellow applicant, but, yes, you do NOT have an IA because you were cleared after an investigation.

A mere allegation is NOT an IA. You only have to disclose in response to the specific question where they ask about investigations. Your answers of yes to an investigation and no to an IA are NOT inconsistent, and will not cause issues with AMCAS or any school.

It sucks that it even happened and is causing you this stress, but you really have nothing to worry about. People are admitted to top schools every year with actual, albeit minor, IAs. This is BS, and you are fine!!