We’ve all been there: it’s 2am, and you have a ten-page paper due in 12 hours. Your cursor blinks on the blank Word document, mocking you as you scramble through notes looking for something to write. Hours pass, and finally you open your Internet browser. With SparkNotes, Wikipedia and the entire web at your disposal, it’s incredibly difficult in these situations to resist copying and pasting material. It can sometimes be even more difficult to say no to a friend who wants to copy your math problem set. Cheating happens in college—no doubt about it. But read on for tips on how to resist the temptation to cheat and how to say no to friends who might pressure you into it.
What is cheating and why does it happen?
When you take someone else’s thoughts and ideas without crediting them to that person, you’re cheating. According to Dr. Rebecca Gladding, psychiatrist and author of You Are Not Your Brain, cheating tempts college students for two reasons. “Someone cheats usually because either they really hate the course and they just don’t care [or] they are completely stressed out and they want to do well and they’re afraid they’re not going to do well and there [are] a lot of outside pressures.” Gladding notes that usually in college, students cheat because of the latter: too much stress and too much pressure to succeed. For Lisa*, a student at Northwestern University, cheating was a tempting option because of stress. “I remember being tempted to do it a few times, especially during my first year when I felt like there was this immense pressure to do well,” she says.
What are the consequences of cheating?
Every college has its own policies, but one thing’s for sure: cheating is serious business and could get you expelled. According to the Johns Hopkins University undergraduate academic ethics board, cheating can refer to plagiarism, which is taking someone else’s work or idea and passing it off as your own, submitting your old work from another course without permission, or submitting another student’s work as your own. If you’re caught cheating or plagiarizing, typically students will be sent to an ethics board or honor council, depending on your school. From there, you could be expelled or suspended—which can land on your transcript. Especially if you plan on a career in journalism or academia post-college, you could have major issues getting a job. Unfortunately, even students who know about these consequences cheat with an “it won’t happen to me” mentality. “You have to think about the long-term consequences rather than the short-term gain,” Gladding says.
How do I resist cheating?
Stressed and tempted to copy a few lines from a book or website? Don’t feel bad—it’s human nature. But there are better ways to deal with the temptation that may even make you a better student.
- Ask yourself why. “I think you have to ask yourself, WHY is it that I’m about to do this. Figure out what that is and figure out if there’s a better way to deal with it,” Gladding says. Do you not know the material? Did you procrastinate? Create a study schedule, study with a friend, or make a deal with yourself (Two solid hours of studying gets you 20 minutes of online shopping!). Do you want to cheat for some other reason, like school anxiety or the fear of failure? Try to determine what exactly about cheating sounds appealing to help you avoid temptation in the future. If you’re experiencing anxiety about school, seek out professional help at your school’s counseling center or talk to a friend you trust.
- Think about the consequences. Maybe you’ve gotten away with it before. But there’s no guarantee you won’t get caught again. “Think about the pros and the cons of what you’re doing. At the end of the day, if you get caught, will it be worth it?” Gladding asks. When you’re caught cheating, you could be expelled, suspended, receive a zero in the course or receive a notation on your transcript which could hurt you after college when you’re searching for jobs.
- Find other options. Teachers would rather you ask for an extension than cheat. “Are there things you can do in the future that will help you study better? Go to your prof at least a few days before the assignment is due and tell him you’re freaked out. Ask, “’Can I do some extra work? Can I get some extra help?’” Dr. Gladding says. If you do not understand the material, ask for extra help or an extension. Even if it’s the night before the paper or homework is due, it’s always better to be honest. A low grade on an assignment is not as long-lasting of a consequence as having a notation on your transcript. The best option? Don’t procrastinate and make a detailed schedule of what’s due and when you need it done by.
- Get creative. We’ve been lauding the benefits of not procrastinating — but there are other secrets to study success too. “I try to make doing work as fun as possible by taking breaks often and eating something delicious while I study!” says Vanessa, a collegiette from Johns Hopkins. Eating healthy snacks like nuts or fruit and filling up on water will keep you nourished and alert. If your stomach is growling, you’ll be more likely to get distracted. Kathleen, a student at Johns Hopkins, recommends studying with friends. “Sometimes I’ll get some classmates together and make a game out of it. Or I make outlines on white boards in fun colors. Just re-reading textbooks and notes is horribly boring and I don’t retain info that way,” she says. The goal here? Eliminate the temptation to cheat altogether.
How do I say no to a friend who wants to cheat off of me?
It can be really difficult to say no to a good friend who wants to look off your paper. But even helping a friend cheat could get you in trouble, too. “You have to think about yourself and what’s going to be best for you. If you help your friend cheat, you could get expelled,” Gladding says. If a friend asks to look at your work, say “‘I feel bad that you’re struggling and I know you’re stressed, but the best thing I can do is help you study or help you understand this material in some other way,’” Gladding recommends. If your friend is truly a good friend, she won’t push you into doing something that could put you both in a bad situation. Offer to her help by studying together or proofreading her paper.
Lisa offers a final note on the benefits of not cheating. “Not giving in to cheating actually increased my confidence in my academic abilities. Once I realized that I could get the grades I wanted without even cheating, just a lot of hard work, I knew that I didn’t need to resort to anything like that because I could achieve what I wanted,” she says. College is difficult, but nothing is worth the risk of getting caught or undermining your ethics.
*Name has been changed