Hi everyone,
I posted about my situation in a different forum back in June. I apologize if you are seeing this again, I just really need more advice. So, back in May, I forged a dual enrollment form under the pretense of my counselor. The next day, during an audit of my form, it was caught. On the same day, I went in, and I apologized for my mistake, and she accepted my apology. During the summer, I faced an academic hearing with my community college dean, and was issued a warning (which will not be reflected in my transcript). I was also told to write an apology letter, which was then forwarded to her. In the end, I wasn’t able to take the class. Recently, with registration, I went in and submitted all the paperwork for my dual enrollment classes this Fall semester of 2024. Yet, the lady who usually submits my form informed me that after submitting my form, I will be hearing from my counselor by email. I’m really nervous and worried right now since I know forging is a very big offense, and it’s definitely different from cheating or plagiarism. I’m a rising senior and will be applying for Questbridge apps, and Common App. I’m also applying to schools that don’t require LOR. I’m just wondering how to write it under the Common App, since I don’t think she will be sweeping it under the rug. I think it will also reflect in her LOR. I’m also wondering where to mention this incident on my Questbridge application. Thank you for your help.
Can you make an appointment with your counselor to discuss these issues? Can you directly ask her how she feels you should report the incident on your applications? Her answer might give you an idea of how serious she sees this offense. If she tells you not to then you can ask if she’ll be mentioning it in her LOR.
Weird sentence. Does this mean that you forged your counselor’s signature ? If so, this offense --to which you have admitted guilt–will be viewed as a very serious offense by any college or university.
Yes I have no idea what you’re saying when you say “under the pretense” of my counselor.
That sentence means that the counselor encouraged you to forge her signature.
You are not going to like my response.
I don’t think you understand how serious forgery is. It’s a crime; you can’t just apologize for it.
You’re fortunate that you’re under age 18 because at 18, you’re considered an adult and it’s a criminal activity where you could’ve been charged with fines and probation.
So I want you to understand how serious this is and that your counselor may not be able to push that forward. Her problem is that her reputation with any program, college or university is on the line. She doesn’t know if you’ll forge her or someone else’s signature again.
If she knowingly promotes and encourages a student for admission who has “publicly” attempted forgery, any university or program wont be able to trust her guidance. Apologizing means nothing. The Community College caught it, so it became “public”.
I would suggest that you attend the community college to build up their confidence in you then transfer to a university.
First and foremost, FESS UP!!! Yes you have to report it in the Common Ap.
Trying to hide what you did is worse.
If you come clean and are honest about it, that will show that you are trying to rectify the damage and showing some maturity. The way you described your situation shows that you still don’t think you did anything seriously wrong:
I forged a dual enrollment form under the pretense of my counselor.
What you should have said: “I forged my counselor’s signature on a DE form and was caught”. What you wrote could implicate the counselor’s knowledge that she agreed that you should forge her signature.
I wanted to add what is PROBABLY going on behind the scenes at your school.
I worked in a very tough school district. It was top-performing and had extremely competitive students. Over the years, we’ve only had a few students who had these types of issues that were considered against the law.
Your counselor had to inform your Principal. (She HAD to because a Community college is involved and it’s in the “paper trail”.)
Your Principal has to inform your school district’s attorney or Litigation team.
Based on that advice, your Principal has to confer with the Community College representative.
Your Counselor has to meet with the school district’s attorney and possibly gain legal counsel to protect herself and her professional reputation.
Fess up and don’t try to “fix it” by hiding what you did.
Set a meeting with your counselor, apologize for what you have done, explain you want to make sure you handle this ethically, and ask them how you should handle your Common App.
This is the best advice. What you did was wrong and it was a big deal. I think your posts clearly demonstrate that you understand that. Of course it’s not ok to forge a document just because the counselor is taking too long to fill it out. You made a mistake. You have apologized and seem genuinely contrite. Focus on doing the right thing going forward and ask your counselor’s advice for how to handle Common App and Questbridge questions ethically and with clarity. No matter what happens, you will be fine. Good luck!
The advice to meet with your counselor to discuss the situation is wise. I want to add this: What you did was very wrong. It is important that you understand this. It may well affect your college applications. There are consequences for doing things that are wrong (in this case, illegal). But … this doesn’t have to define you. There will probably be some negative fallout from what you did. How you handle yourself moving forward is key.
I mentored a young man who did something very wrong - not what you did, but similar in that it was an illegal act that was focused on something he felt he needed to do to help him academically - and got caught. It took me awhile to get through to him about the reasons his actions were so wrong. He felt that because what he did didn’t directly hurt anyone else, it wasn’t so bad. Once he understood the seriousness of his actions, he understood that he would have to deal with the consequences of his actions. What he did became public within the school, and he was incredibly embarrassed. It was hard for him to deal with, along with his worry that schools would view him negatively because of it. I am sure that it did impact decisions from some schools, but he was accepted into a school that was a good fit for him. He is doing well in life a number of years after graduation. He made a big mistake, suffered the consequences, vowed not to make similar mistakes in the future, and moved forward.
You can get through this. Meet with your counselor and begin the process of moving forward.
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