# Everyone on my University Course is a Cheat



## SuperSaiyan (Dec 8, 2009)

I'm waiting for a lecture to start but the lecturer is running a little late, a lot of students have already arrived and they're all sitting in the common area talking, I don't know any groups just individuals so it'd be awkward for me to insert myself into one of the groups.:afr

So I stand out of their view, people arriving can still see me and I'd be able to tell when the lecturer arrives, this one guy arrives (other student, talked to him a few times, friendly) we make eye contact and he comes over even though his friends are probably there (he actually looked like he was trying to get away but because we made eye contact he had to come over I guess but like I said he's a nice guy so no problems)

We talk a little, the conversation goes alright then he asks me how I did in this one coursework we got back yesterday and I tell him I got 37% (Maybe I should have lied, how would he have known)
He's suprised but the he instantly asks if I did it myself (Which I did) and tells me that everyone else gets into groups and do it together:group (In other words they cheat because on the coursework submission form you have to sign to confirm that your work is free of plagarism and *collusion*) and that he got 87%

It's Chemical Engineering that I'm studying so this particular coursework was just Q&A so it's hard to spot collusion.
It's so anoying though that some people get high marks without even trying (Not saying that I try particularly hard, I refer you back to my 37%), it's just not fair.
Just for the record I don't usually get marks like 37% 
I think the low mark upset me just as much as the collusion any way
Thanks for reading, it makes me feel better to share.


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## rctriplefresh5 (Aug 24, 2009)

SuperSaiyan said:


> I'm waiting for a lecture to start but the lecturer is running a little late, a lot of students have already arrived and they're all sitting in the common area talking, I don't know any groups just individuals so it'd be awkward for me to insert myself into one of the groups.:afr
> 
> So I stand out of their view, people arriving can still see me and I'd be able to tell when the lecturer arrives, this one guy arrives (other student, talked to him a few times, friendly) we make eye contact and he comes over even though his friends are probably there (he actually looked like he was trying to get away but because we made eye contact he had to come over I guess but like I said he's a nice guy so no problems)
> 
> ...


college is lame, i dont really mind cheating on things to get it done. when i took biology 2 i cheated on the lab and just aced the 'lectures lol. i still got the highest practical grades which was hilarious. i copied everyone;s homework etc. i realized this semester when i took chem 2, that i just dont like science and math i knew that from the start but tried to force myself into it) and so i dropped all my classes this term and feel like a failure.


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## SAgirl (Nov 15, 2003)

Just as long as you don't have the exact same responses word for word, it's not exactly cheating. 

I think that you should join their group since they are doing so well. It's just my opinion. 

I know how much it sucks to get low marks. Is there anyway that you could ask to redo that assignment if that isn't your usual mark?


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## SilentLoner (Jan 30, 2006)

That's the only way I managed to do chemistry pre-labs, the class would get together as a group at lunch and share answers.


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## Jazra Coal (Apr 25, 2010)

Everyone on my course is a cheat too. Including me.

We have had a couple of online multiple choice tests, free to do during a set week. Everyone, including me just uses google on a different tab to look up the results.

So i understand literally like nothing on the test, but i got 75%. Reeeesuuuult!!!


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## Andy43 (Feb 9, 2010)

I'll admit, I cheat my way through too. The whole point of college for me is to just get that degree. I don't really care about the information being taught. I just try to get through as painless as possible.


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## DoveAgain (May 22, 2010)

Nice to know there are people who don't like to cheat. I understand those who cheat and I've done it in the past, but I just prefer not to. I'm like you and would rather get the low score than score high because I cheated. Seems like most people I've come across in college is okay with cheating.


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## Music Man (Aug 22, 2009)

Jazra Coal said:


> Everyone on my course is a cheat too. Including me.
> 
> We have had a couple of online multiple choice tests, free to do during a set week. Everyone, including me just uses google on a different tab to look up the results.
> 
> So i understand literally like nothing on the test, but i got 75%. Reeeesuuuult!!!


Using the internet isn't cheating - at uni you're expected to research information from various sources including the internet to help you with learning the information.

Although you need to learn it for the test :b


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

Wow- it is kinda sad how many people here cheat and feel that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Do you think that your professor is aware that this is going on? Maybe you could send an anonymous note telling him...

Just because everyone else does it doesn't make it right.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

I don't consider working together equally cheating. It's encouraged at my college so long as everyone's work is still individual and not just copying. They actually want the computer students to get better at group work and even when I was in other programs it was considered a good thing.

I don't entirely understand the use of the word collusion in that context. Is everyone secretly conspiring against the teacher or controlling the answers? The main definition of collusion is a secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose. Sounds like everyone is just openly working together. Team work is rarely penalized or considered cheating so long as the work is done equally.


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

If the instructor says that group work is not allowed, then working together in a group is cheating.

If the instructor encourages group work, then working together in a group is not cheating.


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## matt20 (Apr 22, 2010)

I have cheated before at college classes, but this is how I justify it. I want to be a business major, eventually (although I'm taking my time floundering around between classes). I am paying money for a degree. A little piece of paper, that in this economy and society today, means absolute squat. I work with tons of people that have degrees, and frankly, do not deserve the positions they are in, just because of their degree. I love to work, but only to do work that is meaningful. I learn best by DOING, not by regurgitating material in order to pass an exam.


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

Wow, am I the only one here who values education? Maybe those people who have degrees but don't seem like the deserve them cheated too. They didn't learn what they were supposed to learn, but got the degrees anyway because they didn't get caught, and now they have the job that requires that degree even though they don't deserve it. 

Like I said before, just because other people cheat doesn't mean it is ok.


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## Johnny_Genome (Nov 11, 2003)

Honestly, I think those who cheat should want to learn this stuff for _themselves_ -- professors have office hours where they are available to help. I see no problem working in groups if you are helping each other understand, but sharing answers without understanding how to get those answers is really doing everyone a disservice.

Has college really become about getting a piece of paper after 4 years?


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## Music Man (Aug 22, 2009)

There are a lot of people who cheat which I think is bad. I'm just pleased that my lecturers encourage us to work in groups to understand the work but are strict about the end result being our own work.

There are some people who go round and look at peoples answers and just write them down on the sheet and hand it in :mum


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## bobthebuilder (Jun 17, 2009)

Whitney said:


> Wow, am I the only one here who values education? Maybe those people who have degrees but don't seem like the deserve them cheated too. They didn't learn what they were supposed to learn, but got the degrees anyway because they didn't get caught, and now they have the job that requires that degree even though they don't deserve it.
> 
> Like I said before, just because other people cheat doesn't mean it is ok.


Most people are not going to college for the thrill of learning. They go to get a degree and a good job in a field they like (or at least think they can make money in). So much of the work in college is simply not practical, which is why its hard to get a job with only a degree and no experience. As long as you understand the material, where is the harm in cheating to make your self look better? And some things that are considered cheating are just silly, like not being aloud to work in groups. Where in the world are you not allowed to ask colleagues for assistance? Or have some sort of material to reference?


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

bobthebuilder said:


> As long as you understand the material, where is the harm in cheating to make your self look better?


If you understand the material, why would you need to cheat?

The point is that most people cheat either because they don't understand the material or they are lazy. If you are willing to take the easy way out in college, who's to say you won't take the easy way out in your job? Depending on your job, that could be really bad.

Overall though, I just think it is hypocritical to say that some people with degrees don't deserve the jobs they have because of the degrees, and then admit to cheating.


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## Madison_Rose (Feb 27, 2009)

I'm surprised how many people have said "oh, yeah, I cheat." I never cheated when I was at uni. I don't know of anyone else who did, either. I understand how frustrating it is to get low marks when you're the only one playing by the rules. So unjust! Is the grading at your college criterion-referenced or norm-referenced? Because if it's criterion-referenced, you're probably just as well ignoring other people's marks, they don't affect you.


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## matt20 (Apr 22, 2010)

Whitney said:


> Overall though, I just think it is hypocritical to say that some people with degrees don't deserve the jobs they have because of the degrees, and then admit to cheating.


I should have explained myself better. My point was, many people have degrees, and have lots of knowledge, and may have excellent reading and study skills. The problem is, they have little common sense or work experience besides of cramming and passing exams, and taking classes that have nothing to do with their major instead of on-the-job training (but that is more of a problem with society than the individual). I am a lower-level employee and continuously having to correct managers, many of which have a bachelor's degree, and sort-of "boss them around" because they have no logic or reason. In this day and age, I feel that unless you are going to be a doctor, lawyer, or some other position like that, "college" the way most think about it, is nothing but a money-making scam. And most people, form my experience, do not go to college to "learn". Some go just to party and move away from their parents, while others hope their hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans will help land them their dream job, dream home, dream hubby/wife (and in the time when the American dream is fading, all of that is highly unlikely).


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## Madison_Rose (Feb 27, 2009)

I think there's truth in what you say, matt20. I wish people valued learning for it's own sake, and not just as something you have to do to get a job as a management consultant, or something equally pointless *awaits vilification by management consultants*

I don't think my alma mater is a money-making scam though, or if it is it's a spectacular failure, what with that £7million debt...


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## bobthebuilder (Jun 17, 2009)

Whitney said:


> If you understand the material, why would you need to cheat?


Better grades. Take math for example-There a lot of formulas, steps, conversions etc. Why settle for a B when all i needed for an A would have been a reminder of a certain step?


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## utopian_grrl (Jun 26, 2008)

Okay, I'll start by saying that I have not cheated in any college course I've ever had. That being said, I can somewhat understand people why some do. It sucks that people cheat, but it happens. NO, I do not respect pre-med majors who cheat in chemistry classes, or business majors in econ classes, etc. 

But there are a lot of irrelevant classes that some students have to take that have NOTHING to do with their major/future career. 
Example: As a poli-sci major I had to take a marine biology class to fulfill a grad requirement and it seemed like the least painful natural science course. I didn't cheat, but each time I went to class I felt like banging my head on a brick wall...


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## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

Cheating is looking off someone's paper during a test, or copying someone's words down word for word. 

What your classmates are doing are working together, and as they say, 2 heads are better than one. I've discovered that I do better when I study with a friend, or work on a project together with a classmate. Now, as long as we don't put down the same answers and have enough differences for it not to be plagiarized, there's really no issue with it. 

I think you should get together with your classmates and do what they do. Okay, maybe not the easiest with SA (I know I get panicky when meeting new people, and working in a group IS very stressful), however, it's the only way to get over your SA. And hey, you'll be improving your grade at the same time. A win-win if I ever saw one!


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## odd_one_out (Aug 22, 2006)

In my physics classes, the weekly assignments counted about 10-20% towards the final grade, so they were lax about rules and only enforced them with blatant copying. Everyone would gather and work together, sharing answers. I saw it throughout my courses; many just copy. Those who had no friends did not have this option.

During one class test, I had not studied and was very stressed. A guy beside me actually had some notes from which he was copying directly! He kept offering them to me and I kept refusing and he could not understand why. His persistence and cheating disgusted me and sent me over the edge, and I just got up and walked right out the room, throwing my paper at the pile and not caring it flew onto the floor instead.

Another guy thought I should let him copy my Masters coursework directly; I refused. Cheating is rampant at university. Just one of the many things (yet one of the least) I loathe about higher education.


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## rctriplefresh5 (Aug 24, 2009)

matt20 said:


> I should have explained myself better. My point was, many people have degrees, and have lots of knowledge, and may have excellent reading and study skills. The problem is, they have little common sense or work experience besides of cramming and passing exams, and taking classes that have nothing to do with their major instead of on-the-job training (but that is more of a problem with society than the individual). I am a lower-level employee and continuously having to correct managers, many of which have a bachelor's degree, and sort-of "boss them around" because they have no logic or reason. In this day and age, I feel that unless you are going to be a doctor, lawyer, or some other position like that, "college" the way most think about it, is nothing but a money-making scam. And most people, form my experience, do not go to college to "learn". Some go just to party and move away from their parents, while others hope their hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans will help land them their dream job, dream home, dream hubby/wife (and in the time when the American dream is fading, all of that is highly unlikely).


ive been to loads of doctors,and most of them know didly squat about medicine.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

I started a few majors where degrees were entirely pointless which is one reason I stopped them but I think my 2year degree will prove useful in the computer field. We are taking more computer related and hands on classes than my husband did for a 6year degree in the same field. Some of the stuff I took 2nd semester were the same as 4th year classes for him. I thought about transferring to get a 4year degree but the program I'd transfer in to has maybe 3 actual computer classes and the rest are english, humanities, and basically how to get along with other people or management classes. Completely worthless when it comes to actually doing a computer related job. My 2year degree will be far more useful than the nearby universities 4 and 6 year degrees. Even the cert I will hopefully get by next summer would get me a better job quicker. It seems really silly and pointless.


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## Rasputin_1 (Oct 27, 2008)

If you arent cheating, you arent trying.


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## xerwb2 (Aug 5, 2009)

SuperSaiyan said:


> It's Chemical Engineering that I'm studying so this particular coursework was just Q&A so it's hard to spot collusion.


My dad started out doing chemical engineering but said everyone in the course cheated and got their answers/results/whatever from the previous year. I think he got annoyed with them and just did chemistry instead.

I don't cheat, mainly because I have no-one to cheat from but if I am really stuck, then I either ask an acquaintance for a hint or waste four hours trying to figure it out. Usually it's the latter, because I hate asking for help.


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