Cheater, Cheater! - University Version
It’s that time of year, and applications to US and UK universities are coming out. As you sift through your mountain of forms and struggle to build a decent application strategy, do you feel tempted to cheat?
No? Are you sure?
You could purchase a customized admissions essay for as little as US$12.55 on custom-essay.net. Or, why don’t you write your own recommendation letter and forge your biology teacher’s signature? I mean, you’ve been such a slacker that no teacher really wants to vouch for you. So why not spruce up your extracurricular resume with a couple of key leadership positions?
Come on, it’s no big deal! How else are you going to get into “Oxbridge”? Plus, everybody else is doing it…
Without a doubt, cheating has become a norm today. Upon the commencement of the new millennium, Don McCabe, founding director of the Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University conducted a survey of over 70,000 students at 120 high schools and colleges in the US: a whopping 95% of his respondents admitted to academic cheating.
Incidences of cheating have been rising in the past decades, and technology is flinging open the doors for creative cheaters. Simply download essays from one of the dozens of sites like Echeat, 123helpme, or Antiessays – for absolutely FREE! From texting answers to friends sitting for exams, to photographing future test copies on camera phones, the possibilities (and temptations) are endless.
Given that this generation suffers from epidemic cheating, it seems only natural that students also lie in their college applications. The stakes are much higher -- and how will the admissions officers know whether you did 15 minutes and not 6 hours of community service per week anyway? When you feel crushed by the unceasing pressure to get into the top universities and outperform your peers, the temptation to cheat may seem overwhelming.
But before you hand over your allowance money to a brilliant and enterprising student to take the SAT I for you, ask yourself this: Will you be proud of yourself after you have done the dirty deed? What does it feel like to lie not only to others but also to yourself? A little cheating may not be as awful an act as murder or rape. But it still stains your hands with spots of guilt.
There are countless ways to increase your chances of admission that do not involve fibbing.
If you still have a couple of years before university…
- Take an internship related to your intended area of study
- Get involved in extracurricular activities at school
- Start a club or aim for a leadership position in an organization
- Take challenging classes (IB, AP, Honors, etc.)
- Get higher grades (Rising trends in scores are looked upon favorably.)
- Study hard for the SAT I, SAT II, ACT, TOEFL, and IELTS exams
- If you have a clear first choice school, apply for Early Decision (US schools)
- Give recommendation writers your resume, goals, highlights of your work with them, and plenty of time to write
- Explore your interests and aptitudes deeply before tackling essays
- Write several drafts of your essays and obtain feedback from various sources