I think it's actually in the prof's interest to let some people cheat...pretty sure they get performance bonuses and more respect if their classes can score better then the average. I'm working through an undergrad program myself and yes, hell of a lot of people are cheating. In my French class that rate is like 100%. We're literally hissing at each other and the prof just looks out the window with glazed eyes. although I guess it would be intensely awkward to give zeroes to your entire class...you can't help but feel he has his own stakes in this. if the class average is too low, I'm pretty sure he gets fired too, so it's a lose-lose situation.
I've never cared if others cheat....that's on them. Cheating wouldn't do me any good, seeing as how I have to apply classroom knowledge in a real-life, clinical setting. On top of that, lives could very well be at stake, and I wouldn't want that over my head. Here's a question: What about fear of people thinking that you're cheating/have cheated? Something that has always been an issue with me is that I tend to forget information if I can't apply it in the real world. I learn by doing things, and if I don't get to do said things in a timely manner after I've learned them, it's like the information falls out of my brain. I wind up, at times, afraid to ask for help for fear that my instructors will say or think 'he should know this already....' when the reality is that we're supposed to ask questions. Thank god I'm aware of that. I overcame this years ago, for the most part, but it's still a thorn in my side. I typically chalk it up to insecurity or a fear of success, but I'm sure there is a phobia for it. Anyway. [/rambling]
Used to cheat a lot at the beginning of high school. I was usually providing the answers though. Stopped my senior year. Haven't cheated since. College is really not that hard. Just go to class and ask the prof for help. The worst I've done is look at a neighbor's paper during a short quiz, and that's usually to check to see if they're correct.
I havnt ever cheated, I see no reason, I trust my own answers much more than anyone sitting around me
true, and its hard to prevent it in a 500 person lecture hall. sometimes the seats are so small the test next to you is practically in front of your face. But like I said, I havnt ever cheated, college has been too easy so far, plus most profs give HUGE curves at my school. I had a poly sci test that I got an 88 on, but only 12 out of 500 got above an 80, so we got a 12+ point curve, pretty ridiculous
There was a lot of cheating at UCSD, but lots of people got ratted out since the cheaters messed with the curve. But the biggest problem at my school were Professors being too lazy to change their midterms and finals from previous quarters. Old midterms and finals, which were nearly identical to the test we were given, were widely accessible. I know of many students who never went to class and did barely any studying because they knew exactly what was going to be on the test. Unfortunately the drive to make higher education widely available has brought the quality way down. Its now quantity over quality, all I have to do is look around work and notice all the incompetent people around. And a lot of these incompetents have degrees from well known universities. I'm not surprised to see news of all the scandals and financial failures, I bet most of the people involved took short cuts in college and continued to take shortcuts.
I actually received an email from my professor this past winter break that one person in my senior level econ class cheated by leaving notes in the bathroom during the final exam. Supposedly that the evidence was discovered and he confessed after being confronted Shrug I've had many classes where Professors allow students to bring in 1 page of cheat sheet.
The funniest/scariest part is watching other people cheat and get caught. One time there was a kid in front of me in an Econometrics class and he had a note card that he kept under the test. He got caught. The professor grabbed his test and the note card and kicked him out of class. How embarrassing. I'm pretty sure he flunked considering the final exam was worth 40%. I think he also had a "red flag" put on him. Too many of those and I think you are formally kicked out.
So today we had a Botany test. All we do is look at a bunch of slides under the microscope, and identify the varies structure in leafs, roots, stems and flowers, etc. Anywho As we were taking the test this girl pulled out her whole packet that has what the structure were right in front of the Dr. professor man. It was sooo obvious all the papers rattling and we only had one. Now I didn't care just then because it wasn't me who would get in trouble if I were to get caught. When we take the exams he gets a microscope and puts it on the screen and tells us to identify whatever it is he he pointing at. Me not being able to see very well move close to the screen but it was two girls next to me. I guess to him he thinks I am trying to look on their test, which is definitely not the case, and was trying to assume that I was cheating which made my blood boil. SO he says you need to keep your eyes on your own paper and move back to your spot before I throw your paper in the trash. WTF So he moves the chick that sits right next to me in class to another table, like I'm trying to cheat off her paper when she is the one looking at mine to see what i put down. Boy was/am I pissed, and the girl right in front of him is cheating her ass off . All I'm trying to do is see the effing screen.. ughhhhhhhhhh. I wanted to snitch, but I said i wasn't going to do that. Let go and let god.
The lazy professor's not changing exams from year to year is something that doesn't just happen at the undergrad level. In my dental school the the upper years provide the new 1st years with a jump drive called "lunchbox." It contains close to every exam given in every class archived back to the mid 80's!!! Majority of those exams are scanned .pdf's, but there are also quite a few 'scribed' exams. DS3 and DS4 students will even give you the heads up as to which profs use old exams and which ones don't. You could potentially rely on the lunchbox and squeak through school, but you will likely FAIL the boards miserably and come to the harsh realization that you wasted 200K on tuition.
I cheated 3 or 4 times in all my college days. Some in basic chem lab where I would stroll around and get the final results, then backward engineer all the details from that. Then in a sr lvl management class where the prof was some marine corp jackass with an attitude problem. For the final project, we took an existing company analysis from several yrs before and submitted it word for word. It got an A originally, he gave us a C. I had a sr lvl finance class where these 5 frat douchebags would line up behind each other. the guy in front would study and the ones behind him would copy off each other in succession. Made a little bling on cheaters at times.....used to write papers for people starting at a 100 bucks a pop.
I got paid to take exams for other students in college. I also kept one of my friend's in school by doing his assignments for him, taking tests, and helping him cheat. He eventually dropped out. I was very disappointed that he couldn't stay motivated on his own.
Of course it matters. Because without cheating you may not have been able to get that diploma and move on with your life. Or it may have taken longer and you would have lost out on a lot of money. So it did potentially make a big difference in your life.
When I graduated in 2002, the job market was pretty soft. I already had a good job lined up from a series of summer internships that I had done, so I wasn't quite as concerned about my grades as other people, as long as I learned the information. Looking back, I wouldn't have cared if other people cheated because I had my job lined up. If I had been openly competing that last year of college for jobs with people that had a higher GPA because they cheated, that would have irked me. All comes out eventually though. Some of our latest college hires had exceptional grades, but were actually terrible workers and not to bright. We got rid of them. They probably cheated their way to 3.8 GPAs I'm sure. They certainly weren't the type to work hard to achieve anything.
