I did a "hard" degree and saw classmates who worked half as hard sail by me, because they cheated. Groups that share answer banks, in-class quizzes with answers shared (when they were not supposed to be), group projects that used last year's stuff. All of it, all the way through final exams, which people had answer keys to. I had a few classmates that were formally investigated for cheating by the university; their punishment is to re-take the class -- the cheat's cumulative 3.8 is turned into a 3.75, that's sure to dissuade them from doing it again!
When I tell people that I never cheated, ever, in any class, through my entire degree, I get mostly surprise. You never? Not once?
But I paid for it, I think. Because it was not easy finding a first position out of school -- I certainly got filtered by GPA. It actually enrages me. What is the point of a degree? What exactly is the point of this thing, if most of the signal is false? Why did I work so hard?
Not even to mention -- many of my classmates (about 1 in 5, one in 6 or so?) were granted "accommodations" which granted them twice as much time to take their exams. There are online services: pay $80, get a letter certifying your ADHD, that you can give the school to get these accommodations. It's completely ridiculous.
When I tell people that I never cheated, ever, in any class, through my entire degree, I get mostly surprise. You never? Not once?
But I paid for it, I think. Because it was not easy finding a first position out of school -- I certainly got filtered by GPA. It actually enrages me. What is the point of a degree? What exactly is the point of this thing, if most of the signal is false? Why did I work so hard?
Not even to mention -- many of my classmates (about 1 in 5, one in 6 or so?) were granted "accommodations" which granted them twice as much time to take their exams. There are online services: pay $80, get a letter certifying your ADHD, that you can give the school to get these accommodations. It's completely ridiculous.