Plagiarized. Should I drop with a W?

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nk9420

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Did you cite the student's essay? If not, report yourself immediately and take the W. If you don't, you'll make a terrible doctor.
 
notSureIfsrs.jpeg


Why would you post that here? You're a freshman at CC, are you pre-med? Failing my smell check, this one.
 
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nk9420 said:
I plagiarized the conclusion paragraph of my essay for my English class; I reworded it but it's still similar to the original text that I copied. I turned the paper in and my instructor graded it and gave me an A. I also submitted it to turnitin.com but there was no plagiarism found for the conclusion paragraph that I reworded and copied.
I feel terribly guilty about it and part of me wants to confess to my instructor. I have learned from this mistake and I never want to do it ever again (I hate feeling guilty!) I am a freshman at community college. Should I confess to my instructor or drop the course with a W and retake it this semester? (better safe than sorry?)

If I stay in the course is there a possibility that I would get caught later? Scenario: A year from now my instructor finds the conclusion paragraph that I copied and notices that it sounds similar to a student's essay. Would I get in trouble?
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You will likely be the recipient of Institutional Action for this act, which is asked about on the AMCAS application and then will ask for an explanation. Generally, academic dishonesty is grounds for rejection from medical schools.
 
Couple of things:

One, you have a lot of growing up to do. I mean, really? Was that last paragraph so important that you had to steal it from someone else. Heck, the conclusion paragraphs are the easiet and all you have to do is sum it up.

Two, why are you asking us if YOU are gonna do it again later in life? The human mind does have a way knowing that if it got by with it once, it can do it again. I've had similar scenarios in my life where I did a wrong but never got caught. I look back and thank God I didn't ,because it would of ruined this opportunity but I still learned from it.

In the end that's your monster in the closet you have to deal with.
 
I think you're just being a bit emotional right now, so just breath and calm down. You recognized your mistakes, and you know you won't do it again. Getting a W for that reason is bit silly. Just move on with your life, and seriously, chill. It's not that big of a deal. I highly doubt your English professor is going to sit around a year from now and go through your essays. (trust me you're not that special)
 
So you have a moral dilemma, with some truly serious consequences for choosing the wrong direction. Your heart is pointing you in what feels like the right direction (not sure where it was when you were doing said act of plagiarism, but that's for another day.) To resolve this epic conflict of ego vs. super-ego, you turn to your trusted friend-in-morality...the anonymous hive of neuroticsm that is the premed allo forum on SDN?
 
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If not, come on, the general ed. English classes are so easy :)love::love::love: to engineers who don't think that way). Organic Chemistry is one thing, but English? I've seen people literally write nothing but bull**** jibber jabber on their tests and still get away with a B. In any case, might as well let it go and move on, as even with a W, you could probably still get "caught".
 
Loveless said:
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If not, come on, the general ed. English classes are so easy :)love::love::love: to engineers who don't think that way). Organic Chemistry is one thing, but English? I've seen people literally write nothing but bull**** jibber jabber on their tests and still get away with a B. In any case, might as well let it go and move on, as even with a W, you could probably still get "caught".
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I'm not trolling! Writing is one of my weaknesses and I needed advice as to what to do. My guilty conscious wants me to confess, but I don't want to get in trouble...
 
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Reworking other people's work is called a dissertation :D
In all seriousness, it passed turn it in. Go to your professor and say you accidentally left a citation out and hand in a new citation page including the essay. If it's reworded enough to pass turn it in its probably good enough for your professor.
I don't really see this as plagiarism if you do this, maybe poor writing, but not plagiarism.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using SDN Mobile
 
nk9420 said:
I'm not trolling! Writing is one of my weaknesses and I needed advice as to what to do. My guilty conscious wants me to confess, but I don't want to get in trouble...
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Keep in mind there's a good chance that confessing will make it impossible for you to get into medical school. Learn from your mistake and never do it again.
 
nk9420 said:
I'm not trolling! Writing is one of my weaknesses and I needed advice as to what to do. My guilty conscious wants me to confess, but I don't want to get in trouble...
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You're really going to put yourself through hell because of a guilty conscience? Instead of purposely shooting yourself in the foot, why not make up for your lapse of ethical judgement by tutoring for free in a subject you're strong in?

It's not like you stabbed your teacher because he gave you a C.
 
I wouldn't say anything. According to your professor and to turnitin.com, you didn't plagiarize. So why turn yourself in and have it marked down on your permanent record that you are a liar and a cheater? Once a liar, always a liar. That's just how people think. Just remember the feeling you have right now and make sure you never do it again. Learn this lesson the easy way, not the hard way. A lot of people in this forum might tell you to confess, but what else would you expect from a bunch of sanctimonious premeds/med students. Just remember, it's you alone who will have to live with decision the rest of your life. A life that will almost assuredly not include medical school (and potentially even transferring out of CC).
 
Loveless said:
You're really going to put yourself through hell because of a guilty conscience? Instead of purposely shooting yourself in the foot, why not make up for your lapse of ethical judgement by tutoring for free in a subject you're strong in?

It's not like you stabbed your teacher because he gave you a C.
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Or a B, like this guy who's now a physician (presumably because 1. this was before the age of Google, and 2. serious nepotism).

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/23/us/student-who-stabbed-teacher-has-a-warning.html
 
nk9420 said:
Sorry, I'm just freaking out right now because I seriously don't know what to do. I'm just worried that someone else might submit same conclusion paragraph that I copied onto turnitin.
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You're scared that someone else will plagiarize the same paragraph? Where did you find the paragraph in the first place?
 
Well this is a different type of thread. Usually people on SDN are trying to figure out ways to sweep IAs under the rug. Typically people are sorry not because they committed a crime, but because they got caught. If this is true, then it's an unexpected departure from the norm.

So if you've learned your lesson, let it slide and never do it again. There's no sense in lighting a fire and ruining your chances. That will make you feel worse than rephrasing one paragraph in the first place. I thought plagiarism is copying word for word, which is not copying and rephrasing. :confused:

If you still feel guilty, even though you didn't technically commit academic dishonesty, you can always speak to youth about not commiting academic dishonesty. Speaking to youth about said issue always seems to solve everything.

Speaking of guilt, wasn't there ONE Full House episode where Stephanie and DJ got away with doing something? I remember them putting a hole in the wall of Danny's bedroom. They moved all the furniture so he wouldn't notice. I believe they got away with it in the end and nothing happened going forward. What does this teach us?
 
Planes2Doc said:
Well this is a different type of thread. Usually people on SDN are trying to figure out ways to sweep IAs under the rug. Typically people are sorry not because they committed a crime, but because they got caught. If this is true, then it's an unexpected departure from the norm.

So if you've learned your lesson, let it slide and never do it again. There's no sense in lighting a fire and ruining your chances. That will make you feel worse than rephrasing one paragraph in the first place. I thought plagiarism is copying word for word, which is not copying and rephrasing. :confused:

If you still feel guilty, even though you didn't technically commit academic dishonesty, you can always speak to youth about not commiting academic dishonesty. Speaking to youth about said issue always seems to solve everything.

Speaking of guilt, wasn't there ONE Full House episode where Stephanie and DJ got away with doing something? I remember them putting a hole in the wall of Danny's bedroom. They moved all the furniture so he wouldn't notice. I believe they got away with it in the end and nothing happened going forward. What does this teach us?
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That if you expect to gain life lessons from sitcoms, you're gonna have a bad time :p
 
You reworded it. You know you should have written it on your own. Youre a freshman. Move on knowing you dodged a bullet. Never forget this feeling of OH Sh*% I just blew it!

Also, if you're a Troll I hate your face!
 
Planes2Doc said:
Well this is a different type of thread. Usually people on SDN are trying to figure out ways to sweep IAs under the rug. Typically people are sorry not because they committed a crime, but because they got caught. If this is true, then it's an unexpected departure from the norm.

So if you've learned your lesson, let it slide and never do it again. There's no sense in lighting a fire and ruining your chances. That will make you feel worse than rephrasing one paragraph in the first place. I thought plagiarism is copying word for word, which is not copying and rephrasing. :confused:

If you still feel guilty, even though you didn't technically commit academic dishonesty, you can always speak to youth about not commiting academic dishonesty. Speaking to youth about said issue always seems to solve everything.

Speaking of guilt, wasn't there ONE Full House episode where Stephanie and DJ got away with doing something? I remember them putting a hole in the wall of Danny's bedroom. They moved all the furniture so he wouldn't notice. I believe they got away with it in the end and nothing happened going forward. What does this teach us?
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...
 
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nk9420 said:
I definitely learned my lesson and I really don't want to ruin my chances of getting into med school. I think if I stay in the class my guilty conscious will stay with me throughout the whole semester, that is why I'm considering dropping the course with a W. If I stay in the course, I will still feel guilty but I would probably end up with a B or an A. I do not want to get caught.
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Uh oh? Ending up with a B in the course can be pretty bad according to those on SDN. I don't know what's worse, getting a B or getting an institutional action? :(

Not srs.
 
Planes2Doc said:
Say what?! Every life lesson I learned was from Full House! :eek:

Since when do we learn things from parents, teachers, and other supposed role models? :laugh:
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Good point...I gained my life lessons from watching Sonic Says ;)
 
nk9420 said:
I definitely learned my lesson and I really don't want to ruin my chances of getting into med school. I think if I stay in the class my guilty conscious will stay with me throughout the whole semester, that is why I'm considering dropping the course with a W. If I stay in the course, I will still feel guilty but I would probably end up with a B or an A. I do not want to get caught.
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Gonna be real dood, if rewording a final paragraph in an essay and getting away with it gives you such a guilty conscience that you need to drop the course, you're gonna have a hard time with this whole life thing in general, not just getting into med school.
 
zwander said:
Gonna be real dood, if rewording a final paragraph in an essay and getting away with it gives you such a guilty conscience that you need to drop the course, you're gonna have a hard time with this whole life thing in general, not just getting into med school.
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lolwut
 
nk9420 said:
I definitely learned my lesson and I really don't want to ruin my chances of getting into med school. I think if I stay in the class my guilty conscious will stay with me throughout the whole semester, that is why I'm considering dropping the course with a W. If I stay in the course, I will still feel guilty but I would probably end up with a B or an A. I do not want to get caught.
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Yes but dude, what if you get to med school interviews.. hypothetically speaking... and the question comes up "why did you receive a W in English and retake it"

What's worse, feeling bad in front of you professor (which will subside after awhile, I'm sure) or in front of a medical school admissions committee?
 
zwander said:
Gonna be real dood, if rewording a final paragraph in an essay and getting away with it gives you such a guilty conscience that you need to drop the course, you're gonna have a hard time with this whole life thing in general, not just getting into med school.
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OP is going to have a difficult time when it comes time to do that preop pelvic on the intubated bariatric patient just prior to incision time "for education purposes." Happens. Build a moral framework that can handle life amongst the morally ambiguous.
 
pathologyDO said:
Yes but dude, what if you get to med school interviews.. hypothetically speaking... and the question comes up "why did you receive a W in English and retake it"

What's worse, feeling bad in front of you professor (which will subside after awhile, I'm sure) or in front of a medical school admissions committee?
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True.. but I'm just worried that there's a possibility of getting caught after I finish the course with a grade. :(
 
zwander said:
Gonna be real dood, if rewording a final paragraph in an essay and getting away with it gives you such a guilty conscience that you need to drop the course, you're gonna have a hard time with this whole life thing in general, not just getting into med school.
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Yeah. Have you ever been guilty of copying homework answers? It's the same way.

Honestly, I think that if you are so guilt-ridden because of this, you'll have some unwelcome surprises in the future. I once had an issue that used to eat me up inside for a long time. I eventually went to my Rabbi, and he gave me some excellent advice. He told me that some things we just need to let go of, because there will be far important things. In your case, as a future physician, you'll be handling life and death issues. These are far more serious than rewording a paragraph from someone's essay into your own.

Also, in my opinion, you technically didn't commit plagiarism. Therefore, while your professor might be disappointed, I don't think he or she can do anything since you didn't copy and paste word-for-word. But if you are charged with plagiarism, it can have severe consequences. Depending on your school, expulsion might be on the table. Is it worth possibly sacrificing the rest of your life over something this small (in the grand scheme of things)?

You admit that you've learned your lesson. Don't do it again. Move on. Remember, we're all humans and make mistakes. ADCOMs however, like to see people as supernatural beings. So admitting any form of academic dishonesty will likely sink you unless you have killer stats and ECs.
 
you got away with it. life goes on. I seriously doubt your underpaid/overworked instructor is going to care if the robot (turnitin) passed you.

besides copy/paste/reword is how probably 85% of students do college writing now. dont know why you had to throw in the tidbit about it being cc (troll sense tingling).
 
nk9420 said:
True.. but I'm just worried that there's a possibility of getting caught after I finish the course with a grade. :(
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So I guess you're aren't as naive and dumb as you lead on in your first post. You are scared of getting caught, not about the potential irreparable damage you will do to your moral conscience.

I say let it be. How could you possibly be caught, what through turnitin.com? And it's the general conclusion area, and I'm sure your analysis is no that unique or insightful (it will not be remembered). And assuming you haven't cheated/will cheat on other assignments, you have a body of work that's good and honest.

On the outside, you appear to be a totally innocent and honest person (which I must say you pretty much are). Just stop thinking like a thief, because if anything, that's what will ultimately get you caught.
 
Turning yourself in is self-sabotage. Understand your mistake, feel real real bad about it, hug your puppy and promise it you'll never plagiarize again.
 
nk9420 said:
I plagiarized the conclusion paragraph of my essay for my English class; I reworded it but it's still similar to the original text that I copied. I turned the paper in and my instructor graded it and gave me an A. I also submitted it to turnitin.com but there was no plagiarism found for the conclusion paragraph that I reworded and copied.
I feel terribly guilty about it and part of me wants to confess to my instructor. I have learned from this mistake and I never want to do it ever again (I hate feeling guilty!) I am a freshman at community college. Should I confess to my instructor or drop the course with a W and retake it this semester? (better safe than sorry?)

If I stay in the course is there a possibility that I would get caught later? Scenario: A year from now my instructor finds the conclusion paragraph that I copied and notices that it sounds similar to a student's essay. Would I get in trouble?
Click to expand...

Move on. You reworded what was written: did you still think you were plagiarizing at the time, or was it an innocent mistake? If it's an innocent mistake, you're in a freshman writing class. Working out how to use sources without plagiarizing is part of what you're there for. If it wasn't innocent, you dodged a bullet at least. Move on and don't do it again.

My undergrad (and I think my high school) had a program to feed all our papers into to check online for plagiarism. They did this when you first handed it in, not years later. If you passed that test, plus one on the website you chose, you either didn't plagiarize, or you got away with it and don't have much of anything to worry about.

It would be a shame to confess for an innocent mistake and have a professor write it up as academic dishonesty. That's the kind of thing that could potentially keep you out of medical school. Do you want to risk that?
 
Calm down. If you feel so inclined, tell the professor you didn't cite correctly and re-submit your paper. Most professors will reward this level of honesty. If you did it purposely with bad intentions, that's another story.
 
TriagePreMed said:
Calm down. If you feel so inclined, tell the professor you didn't cite correctly and re-submit your paper. Most professors will reward this level of honesty. If you did it purposely with bad intentions, that's another story.
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Exactly. Also, if someone does this purposely with bad intentions, I don't see how they will suddenly feel guilty. I thought that getting away with cheating assuming you have bad intentions is supposed to give a sense of accomplishment. I agree with re-submitting a modified paper. You should be in the clear since it passed the turnitin.com test anyway. :thumbup:
 
Honestly OP, even if down the road turnitin.com picks something up from another submission it's not likely to make your professor go aha! You cheated last year!

I wrote a paper on perception (psych) for a class that matched somewhere upwards of 60% to this paper some psychologist wrote and I had never even read the guys work. In fact I wrote the entire paper from my understanding, my professor called me in to talk about it and basically had me reiterate all my thoughts, conclusions, predictions, without my paper we had almost an hour long convo. Then she told me well "I need to be honest with you, I thought you plagiarized bla bla, but I was wrong this is definitely your work." Plagiarizing software is not perfect, and since you wrote the majority of your paper besides a conclusion, it would not be hard to prove it was your own work if it ever came into question.

Besides that, there is not much variation in concepts and writing at a 100-level, after all the papers your teacher will read in the future they will probably all sound the same.
 
You could drop the course and still be tagged with an institutional action for plagiarism.

So, dropping the course makes no sense at all.

If the teacher did not cite you for plagiarism and you got a clean scan through turn it in then you should forgive yourself, sleep well at night and resolve to be original (not a copier) from here on out.
 
Planes2Doc said:
Exactly. Also, if someone does this purposely with bad intentions, I don't see how they will suddenly feel guilty. I thought that getting away with cheating assuming you have bad intentions is supposed to give a sense of accomplishment. I agree with re-submitting a modified paper. You should be in the clear since it passed the turnitin.com test anyway. :thumbup:
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thanks for all the great advice!
 
nk9420 said:
I plagiarized the conclusion paragraph of my essay for my English class; I reworded it but it's still similar to the original text that I copied. I turned the paper in and my instructor graded it and gave me an A. I also submitted it to turnitin.com but there was no plagiarism found for the conclusion paragraph that I reworded and copied.
I feel terribly guilty about it and part of me wants to confess to my instructor. I have learned from this mistake and I never want to do it ever again (I hate feeling guilty!) I am a freshman at community college. Should I confess to my instructor or drop the course with a W and retake it this semester? (better safe than sorry?)

If I stay in the course is there a possibility that I would get caught later? Scenario: A year from now my instructor finds the conclusion paragraph that I copied and notices that it sounds similar to a student's essay. Would I get in trouble?
Click to expand...

How did you only plagiarize the conclusion, but write everything else yourself? Usually conclusions summarize, or at least touch upon, the rest of the paper... :confused:
 
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