Academic Dishonesty in Application

mercherstudio

Hi everyone,

During my junior year I was caught for plagiarizing. What had happened was that I had copied a few sentences verbatim from a friends study guide that we both put into an assignment. Our professor followed his "policy" (1st yr as a prof btw) and referred both of us to the dean. I took responsibility and was put to deferred suspension. Ultimately I received a B- in the course. Now I'm graduating in June and am applying this year but am losing a lot of sleep over this as the days come closer.

How do you guys think it will affect my chances to schools that I would likely get into with my GPA/LSAT?

Is there something I should do now to better my chances?

I plan on writing a addendum accepting responsibility and showing how I've grown from the incident.

Thank you all your responses will be greatly appreciated.

Cant Get Right

To be honest, yeah man, that's going to hurt. It's the academic equivalent of having a felony on your record. That being said, if you've got strong numbers, that is still the most important factor. I imagine it's going to come into play mostly as a tie breaker. You're a gamble, so if you're right at a school's fiftieth percentile, that might be a deal breaker. If you're on top of their numbers though, I think you'd be fine. You are right to add an addendum and to take responsibility. That will show a maturity that can go a long way towards making up for it.

Your best course of action is to put in the time and work to really max out your LSAT score. Give them numbers that they can't refuse.

Alejandro

agreed with @"Can’t Get Right". There is nothing you can do about it now so don't let that consume you. Just try to get the best score you can possibly get!

MrSamIam

It certainly isn't going to look great on your application. As mentioned prior, it's like having an academic criminal record (not exactly...but you get the point).
No sense in losing sleep over it, unless there is something you can do about it. Right the addendum, accept responsibility, maybe even inform them that you are now more cautious when it comes to writing papers, assignments, etc.

Alejandro

Oh, and don't mention that the professor who wrote you to the dean was a first year professor in your addendum though! While that provides context to us, I don't think admissions would like it. Just and FYI.

mercherstudio

Yeah for sure, just wanted to let y'all know how ridiculous it was. Usually they give warnings and maybe even could've fail me on that particular assignment. He just referred to the dean no questions asked. It was also my first class as a transfer btw.

I don't know it's just that I'm getting mixed responses. Some say it is nothing and can even be used to better sale yourself with the addendum space. Some say that it's a deal breaker. But I do appreciate y'all and what you think about me looking into hiring a consultant solely for this reason?

stepharizona

Maybe @"Mike Spivey" could provide some insight here as to what a consulting person could help with. I think it will be an issue, but the best thing you can do is be honest and explain how you have evolved.

Cant Get Right

If you've got the means to hire a pro, yeah, do it.

And plagiarism is a tricky thing. There's a lot of things that are technically plagiarism that most people wouldn't sweat in an undergrad paper. Like, if you make a mistake in your bibliography/works cited, then everything you used from that source is technically plagiarized. You can even plagiarize your own work, it gets really tricky. I had one teacher with a zero tolerance policy and before we could even set foot in her classroom we had to pass a comprehensive plagiarism test. It seemed excessive, but plagiarism can be so subtle, I think a lot of undergrads probably do it without even realizing it.

That being said, plagiarism is plagiarism and there's not really any shades of grey, even in the case of a mistake. Should your professor have handled it differently? Maybe. But that's not an option for you. You've got to be really careful how you deal with this in your addendum. Even subtle little remarks intended to explain the context of the offense can come across as downplaying the seriousness of it, or worse, your responsibility for it. If you submit an addendum that does that, you are going to really hurt yourself.

mercherstudio

Yes you're right that I should not in any way downgrade my responsibility and the seriousness of it l, but I do think that plagiarism is a grey area. If one plagiarizes an entire paper from an online source or straight up buys a paper from an online source, that I think is a much more of an problem than having a few sentences verbatim with a study buddy you worked on an assignment with.

That's why I wanted to know how my particular case of plagiarism would effect my case but I guess that's almost impossible to know unless there are others that have plagiarized in similar ways or there are adcomms on here that have oversaw applications with similar misconducts.

Alejandro

I think you can totally explain what type of plagiarism it is (you writing those sentences). The consensus here is to not downplay the seriousness of it in any other way (e.g. mentioning that your professor was a first year professor and that he could have just warned you or failed you in that particular assignment).

Anyways, I feel for you and really wish you the best in the application process. That one mistake shouldn't completely destroy your entire professional life. Just follow our advice, hire a consultant and you'll be fine .

mercherstudio

Thanks Alejandro,

What companies or people do y'all think I should look into hiring?

Do you guys know of any that may specialize in cases like mine?

Alejandro

I don't know if any company specializes in your case but Spivey Consulting has a very good rep and their staff is pretty top-class. I think you can start there!

Nicole Hopkins

I would unequivocally reach out to a consultant for a case like this. Sorry you're going through this!

mercherstudio

Thanks guys, I have emailed Spivey consulting!

Btw, any idea when the BR group commences for the September test?

IPmummySF

How is this plagiarism episode reflected in your official records? Is the deferred suspension recorded in your transcripts?

mercherstudio

@IPmummySF There isn't any note of it in my transcripts. The note/record exists in the dean's office which can be seen if a dean's certificate is requested.

Nicole Hopkins

@mercherstudio said:
There isn't any note of it in my transcripts. The note/record exists in the dean's office which can be seen if a dean's certificate is requested.

They will request it and you will have to disclose it on your C&F Q's.

mercherstudio

@"Nicole Hopkins" I'm not sure if they will request it but it will definitely be dishonest and a Saul Goodmany thing to not disclose it.

twssmith

@mercherstudio said:
Btw, any idea when the BR group commences for the September test?

https://7sage.com/discussion#/discussion/7091/september-2016-br-group
The Sept group is off to a great start getting organized early and developing a BR schedule:)

allison.gill.sanford

@mercherstudio I was recently in an interesting group interview for applicants at Georgetown, and they had us run through a scenario as if we were the admissions committee deciding how to handle different issues with a law school application. The Dean was observing us, and we got some feedback and insight from him on how he sees these types of issues. There were two scenarios about academic dishonesty (one was a plagiarism case similar to yours). There are two things I will emphasize here -- take responsibility for what happened, and talk about what you learned from the experience. Do NOT downplay the situation or try to shift responsibility, even if you truly feel that way. If anything, be overly remorseful, take the hit, and make sure to show that you have reflected on this and changed how you think about scholarship and your participation as a student as a result of making this mistake. I know that sounds harsh, and maybe not completely fair, but the best thing you can do to help an admissions committee look past this is own up to it and emphasize that you have used it for personal growth.

jot12345

Hey man,

I'm really glad I saw this because I was going through this exact same thing last year and it was impossible to find anybody that had gone through something similar. I was charged with academic dishonesty and received the standard two semester suspension at my school. It was the worst thing I've ever gone through. But the good news is that you can still get into a really good law school with a really generous scholarship. I've been accepted to every school I've applied to in the T25 and received very generous scholarships from most of them.

I really don't think you need to hire a consulting person. I didn't and my case of plagiarism sounds more serious than yours. Here's my advice:

1. Every application will require you to submit an addendum explaining what happened and how it was resolved. DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES. You were charged with academic dishonesty. I don't care if it was the professors 1st year and that it was only one sentence. Own up to it, admit you made a mistake and write about how you've grown from the incident. If you do not qualify and lessen the seriousness of the incident, schools will be pretty forgiving.

2. Knock the LSAT out of the park. At the end of the day, law school admissions is a numbers game. Schools want to raise their GPA/LSAT medians so they can rise in the rankings. If you have a strong LSAT score and/or a strong GPA, they'll care a lot less about your plagiarism. I took the LSAT 3 times and eventually scored in the 95th+ percentile. Had my score been in the mid 150's, I think schools would've been less understanding.

3. I think this goes without saying, but you have to absolutely avoid any other C&F issues at all costs. Law schools are pretty forgiving when it's just one mistake, but if you show a pattern of lapses in judgement, it's going hurt you.

4. I took a gap year and worked/volunteered during it. I'm not sure it was necessary, but the more time you can put between your incident and law school the better.

5. Keep your head up and don't dwell on the mistake. It fucking sucks. Believe me, I know. But you'll be okay. Get a kick ass LSAT score, write an honest/ forthcoming addendum and watch the acceptances roll in.

PM me if you'd like to ask me any specifics. Best of luck!

mercherstudio

Thank you @jot12345 & @allison.gill.sanford I am going to focus on the LSAT and write an addendum. I am definitely going to write one that accepts 100% responsibility and explains how I've grown from the incident as I said before.

What do you guys think, is about a page okay?

How much detail should I provide about the incident?

@jot12345 if you don't mind, how long was yours?

mercherstudio

& thank you @twssmith for the link. Going to watch out for the start date as I see it's still tentative.

jot12345

You're welcome.

Mine was almost exactly 1 page (double space, 12 pt font). Like one sentence over, I believe.

You should be as specific and detailed as possible. Remember, this will come up again once it's time to sit for the bar, so you need to be as transparent as you can. Include dates, suspension length, and the reinstatement process.

A rough outline of mine was:
- Date/ description of the plagiarism. Date/ description of the charge and suspension.
- Acknowledgement of plagiarism. Acceptance of the severity of the incident. Acceptance of the punishment.
- Context/background/circumstances that led to my lapse in judgement. How I've learned from the incident and what I've done since the incident.
- Date/description of the resolution and re-admittance into the University.

mimimimi

It will hurt but you have to move on. You have to show them that it is PAST. Try to end your addendum with a positive note such as "After xxx, I finished school with a 4.0/4.0 GPA" or "I finished my last two semesters in college with straight A's."