I have been personally on the recieving end of an unscrupulous person and the law does not always protect the innocent as i learned ever so painfully. Sometimes its not worth it, with the red tape, the legal bills and against someone who knows how to manipulate the system to win even when they are the scumbag and the judge knows it. Hence why i suggest move on.
@scubadive : Truth. I did not say it was easy. But it can break the cycle.
@NCMom14 He 100% should be punished if he admits to this. He committed fraud and plagiarism. Why would he get a second chance? No college wants the kid who is willing and comes from a family willing to break the law. Withdraw your applications and apply to different schools. Let this be a lesson for you. Do not cheat. EVER.
@AboutTheSame Both parties committed a crime. There are repercussions if this goes to the police, especially if OP is no longer a minor.
“They can’t keep doing it once they are exposed.” How you can compare one unscrupulous cheater being blackmailed by another unscrupulous cheater to an innocent child being molested is beyond me.
This sounds like the first act of a Coen Brothers movie. In the next act, we’ll try to kill the blackmailer but accidentally kill the wacky neighbor instead. And when the Ukrainian mob shows up . . . well.
Can he prove that the essay you used was his?
If not, colleges will assume you are innocent.
In the final act, WasatchWriter, the blackmailer finds this thread and uses it to double blackmail the cheater. Who should play these characters?
@CaliCash I don’t think OP committed any crime. A civil offense maybe - but I doubt there’s injury. There would be no criminal repercussions by going to the police.
@mathyone : I am sorry if that analogy offended you, but (a) I do not view the OP and the blackmailer as equally culpable, and (b) I was NOT saying that the actions were equivalent, but that, in both instances, silence only helps the wrongdoer. I do not believe your response to my comment was warranted.
@IQTrumpsEffort : Excellent point.
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I tried at a great cost. It was a losing battle. And i would never do it again. The one thing i learned is the legal system is unjust being victimized once is bad enough but twice forget it. Did that, done that and learned the harsh reality that the system is manipulated by career scumbags. Righteousness is a noble endeavor until it comes back to bite you in the a**.
OP’s punishment is that he will remove himself for consideration from the schools he most wanted to attend, and will eat the application fees-- not to mention getting the bejeezus scared out of him with the prospect of his life being ruined and his parents facing financial ruin. It was certainly a learning experience for him, and not a pleasant one.
@CaliCash , u are lucky to be so morally infallible that you’ll never commit an act of asinine judgement in the future.
We all make mistakes at some point in our lifes. There is not a person out there that hasnt gone above the speed limit, never gotten behind the wheel of a car at some point without too much to drink, didnt give back that extra dollar they got in change, didnt exaggerate on a resume, didnt put down the 100 they won at the casinos on their tax return and the list goes on and on. Thank goodness we have second chances. We are imperfect beings. We learn from our mistakes and life goes on.
“(a) I do not view the OP and the blackmailer as equally culpable.” The law may not, but I pretty much do. This wasn’t an impulsive act of desperation. This was a premeditated plan involving several people which apparently was discussed by the family, approved by the kid, and presumably went on for quite long enough for someone to develop a conscience about it–but they didn’t. And we have only heard one side of this story. How do we know this family paid the guy they hired to help them commit fraud at all? Maybe he was just trying to get his fee?
Reading some of the posts in this thread has been nauseating … advising the OP to pay blackmail and then draw up an anti-blackmailing contract based on more lies? Really??
@AboutTheSame and @Calicash (and a few others; apologies for not mentioning everyone by name) seem to be the only posters who really get it. This is first and foremost a moral and ethical issue.
Many of the posters here should be ashamed of themselves. Several of you could take lessons in integrity from @Calicash even if she’s only 17/18.
OP - you should consider this a test of your character as you enter into adulthood. As you choose your path, look into your soul and decide what type of person you want to be. May God grant you strength and wisdom.
First of all, it is very common to have tutors help with essays. There are even essay camps where rich kids get help. You shouldn’t have had him actually right the essays, but you can claim he just helped with the essays.
You should call the tutor’s bluff. It is unlikely he would really contact the schools, and if he did, they might not pay attention. He is risking his reputation as a tutor. Tell him if he does that, you will post on the Internet his name and what he did.
Follow the advice given by MYOS. Withdraw your ED application, write a new essay - this time without any help or guidance from anybody - and come up with a new list of schools that you can apply to directly, bypassing the Common Application.
And then learn from your mistake, and don’t ever do anything that stupid (or immoral) again. I don’t even know what to say about your parents. They should be ashamed of themselves for enabling this to go down.
Also see which of your colleges uses the Universal app and apply that way. Then there is no way he can claim that he wrote what you sent because you can prove he didn’t. The early school you have submitted to may be a loss and I am really sorry about that.
I don’t think anyone thinks that what OP’s family did was a good thing. There’s still time to undo what was done and learn from it. OP isn’t under any moral obligation to throw himself under the bus.
It’s not up to any of us to determine how much he’s paid for what he did and judge whether or not it’s enough. Adults have no business trying to guilt this child into turning himself in by insinuating that it’s a test of moral character which he’ll only pass if he does. He made a mistake. He needs to undo it, learn from it, and move on. Behaving ethically going forward means applying to colleges with his own essays; it doesn’t require him to turn himself in as some sort of penance to satisfy a bunch of strangers on the internet.