Cheating through College.

College Life
1

I made a terrible mistake. I am graduating from a top engineering school soon and I don’t deserve to. I cheated in about 80% of my classes. I was so focused on getting to the end by any means possible, that I forgot the whole point of going to college was to learn. Now that I’m nearing the end, I feel more unfulfilled that I have ever felt in my life. I look around my class and I am jealous, maybe a bit spiteful that most of them have gained valuable knowledge and skills in college, and I sit here, empty-headed.

I was on the straight and narrow for the first two years of college but my downward spiral began in the second half of my sophomore year. I had just transferred to my current school and failed a class my first semester (I was very distracted). I thought about changing majors but my friend, in the same major as me, convinced me otherwise. He said he would help me out and we both cheated our way through. In addition to that, I met a senior who I know, partied and cheated his way through the same engineering school. He currently works for one of the major oil & gas companies. Now, I DO NOT say all this to shift blame, only to give you some background. I take full responsibility for my actions - I let myself take the easy way out.

I wonder if I picked the wrong major or just didn’t try hard enough. I have always been a very indecisive person and this quality is reflected in other aspects of my life. I just really wanted to make the right career decision and I don’t think I did. A lot of people say follow your dreams but I also need a job that will pay the bills.

Another reason I chose not to change majors was because of the financial burden on my parents. I changed my majors once before and it extended my college career by a year. I want to be completely independent of them as soon as possible, to lessen their burden. My older sibling did not graduate college and is still dependent on my parents, I also have younger siblings in college.

I have considered ghosting classes in my major to re-learn the material. I have also considered reapplying to college for a different undergrad in engineering or masters in finance. I really want to do something with my life and add value to whatever industry I work in. I need advice because I don’t know what to do.

PS: I need CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE not anyone bashing me. Trust me, I feel terrible enough.

2

there isn’t really a problem here, you made a mistake you understand that cheating isn’t something that satisfes you so don’t do it in the future. apply for jobs and once you get one work hard to make the most out of, most of my college friends say what they learned in college is irrelevant to their work life so you can succeed if you put this behind you and understand that next time you may not get away with cheating so don’t do it

3

I don’t see how it’s even possible to cheat your way through an entire engineering program. Surely you learned more than you’re letting on?

4

There are a couple of kinds of engineering…ones you have to get a Professional Engineering license (like building bridges) and ones you don’t. For the ones that do, you have another gate to get through that will prevent you from doing harm. For the ones that don’t, it will be different than class…you will be able to look up information and discuss things with others.

5

Well, I know a lot of the basics - calculus, differential equations and others. The problem is with the more specific higher level classes. I have a general idea of what the higher level classes are about and what I am supposed to get out of them, I’m just not sure I got it. For example, I know for fluid flow you would somehow apply Bernoulli’s equations, make assumptions and eliminate terms. But that’s about all I got out of my Fluids class.

6

I would say it depends on if your engineering job requires the knowledge of fluids…if you are an electrical engineer, it usually doesn’t. Also I don’t think that anyone expects that you would know fluids off the top of your head anyway.

7

I believe that your regret is genuine. Some of your ideas about learning material seem good. Going into finance where the temptation to cheat is even greater seems like a bad idea.

The best advice I can give you is to live with honor from this point forward. Ask yourself what that means.

Following through on my advice however appears to be very difficult because if you proceed to graduation, you will be getting a valuable credential that you didn’t actually earn. Using that credential will just perpetuate the dishonor. Not an easy call.

Perhaps there is a chaplain at your school who you could talk to in confidence about how to proceed. Many universities also have an ethics hotline. Some can be anonymous.

I’d like to see the moderators put a sticky on this thread because I think that it’s so valuable to current cheaters.

8

ClassicRocker Dad is right… You can’t change the past and you have to deal with it somehow :confused: There is no way back and from now on, you will do better… Buckets right too… apply for a job and work hard to make your parents proud! Then you will see, if you have really missed that much valuable knowledge at college due to cheating (I am pretty sure you don’t – a lot of employers don’t care about your grades, for them it is more important that you fit in their company and have a basic understanding of your work )