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An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

reuters.com

21–30 of 333 posts

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#21
post #10
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But often the consequences are rather light. I can't think of anyone facing any serious repercussions -- the worst was failing an assignment.

I've taught university classes, and failed students on the class for cheating. But it's true that I haven't seen anyone kicked out of a program or a university for cheating.

And thank God. As someone who has been unfairly punished for cheating, I appreciate this fact.

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#22
post #13

I know its naive but I find it really hard to understand why people value the piece of paper more than the knowledge. The good news is that you can't cheat as a software developer. Or maybe you can? Depressing thought.

I have to agree with you on the piece of paper. It always confused me when friends would take easier university courses to keep their GPA higher when they could take a harder one and learn more. In the real world, people don't care about your GPA, or the piece of paper really. They care about your competency.

I think you're right in that software is a field where it's hard to fake it 'til you make it. Not sure how it is in the US, but where I live it's typically students in business, accounting, marketing, and management that do the majority of the cheating. Whether that's because how those subjects are assessed makes them inherently more suitable for cheating or because language problems make essays, but not software, harder to write is difficult to say.

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#23
post #13

I know its naive but I find it really hard to understand why people value the piece of paper more than the knowledge. The good news is that you can't cheat as a software developer. Or maybe you can? Depressing thought.

In my experience it has been declining in importance. In the past I'd see jobs advertised asking little more than a degree (or equiv. industry experience). Today I still see degrees listed, but often as "preferred" & always amongst a litany of other skill-based requirements.

Seems to be that there's at least some commercial pressure to value the "piece of paper" less. Of course it could also be that a degree is now the de facto baseline, & the wheels just keep turning.

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#24
post #9

Cheating is and always should be a pox that needs to be eradicated. But let's not turn a blind eye to what's happening here locally. Parents in the 1% spend an extraordinary amount of money and resources on college-prep companies, many of which tell the kids exactly what extracurriculars to take, what to do after school, and virtually write the entire outline of their admissions essays. It's little wonder that school…

Give me a break. I went to a big state school that wasn't a playground for the elite, but you'd see these Chinese students who could barely speak enough English to order a pizza demonstrating supposed mastery of written English in core classes.

The "ABC" Chinese students who were pissed off about the blatant cheating, reported one group of foreign students were openly sharing answers during the test in Mandarin. The ethics committee's investigation was "undetermined" and no action was taken.

The reasoning is pretty clear -- foreign students pay more and pay in cash.

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#25
post #9

Cheating is and always should be a pox that needs to be eradicated. But let's not turn a blind eye to what's happening here locally. Parents in the 1% spend an extraordinary amount of money and resources on college-prep companies, many of which tell the kids exactly what extracurriculars to take, what to do after school, and virtually write the entire outline of their admissions essays. It's little wonder that school…

[deleted]

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#26
post #21
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taught university classes, and failed students on the class for cheating. But it's true that I haven't seen anyone kicked out of a program or a university for cheating.

And thank God. As someone who has been unfairly punished for cheating, I appreciate this fact.

How should repeated (third or more) plagiarism offenses be addressed if not expulsion?

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#27
The international students have unreasonably high standards for maintaining financial assistance and staying out of academic probation(3.5-3.8 at my university). By design college courses give work just a little beyond what a student can reasonably accomplish(with a "good" grade) and curve accordingly. These kids aren't just cheating they are marginalizing students who are honest or don't have this kind of social access. If you're not part of a fraterntiy/sorority that archives coursework/tests of previous students or part of an international student in-group then you can easily fall through the cracks from this grade deflation effect.

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#28
post #18
post #13

I know its naive but I find it really hard to understand why people value the piece of paper more than the knowledge. The good news is that you can't cheat as a software developer. Or maybe you can? Depressing thought.

It's usually their rich parents who value piece of paper, not students themselves as much.

[deleted]

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#29
post #9

Cheating is and always should be a pox that needs to be eradicated. But let's not turn a blind eye to what's happening here locally. Parents in the 1% spend an extraordinary amount of money and resources on college-prep companies, many of which tell the kids exactly what extracurriculars to take, what to do after school, and virtually write the entire outline of their admissions essays. It's little wonder that school…

Are you arguing that "rich kids tend to have more resources" is justification for cheating, or is it the case that you reflexively comment on articles that don't explicitly criticize the "1%" with a non-sequitur about what you wish the article had been about?

Re: An industry that helps Chinese cheat their way into and through US colleges

#30
post #9

Cheating is and always should be a pox that needs to be eradicated. But let's not turn a blind eye to what's happening here locally. Parents in the 1% spend an extraordinary amount of money and resources on college-prep companies, many of which tell the kids exactly what extracurriculars to take, what to do after school, and virtually write the entire outline of their admissions essays. It's little wonder that school…

That is what's known as a Category Error.
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