I never cheated, in fact, in many instances I shouldered the workloads personally and far more than I should have. Other kids collaborated a lot more. Cheating defeats the purpose of going to college.

I know at least two instances where some kids cheated. I'm sure there were more. I'm not the type to turn these guys in, but they certainly did not earn my respect. In at least one of the instances I warned the Cheatee against helping the Cheater, the kid was an Honours student and stood to lose a lot for the other guy's idiocy.

I studied in the UK education system, which at the height of 2007/08 was basically turning into "Project X" on steroids, so I can sympathize with you on the US education system. I am also studying in the Dutch system.

The Dutch system is somewhere in between the UK system and the German system. I mean, it's largely Germanic in how it's implemented and is much like the old British education system, prior to the 1990s. A degree is something to be earned, not something that the entire population should have a shot at. It's recognized that the majority of people just are not intelligent, or driven enough to earn a degree, and thus the degree is worth more than just the paper it's written on. The kids that are not willing to work hard enough, or are not intelligent enough go to trade schools, or a different (intermediate) tier of higher education whereby they get multiple internships, work experience and the main emphasis is on making them employable.

In the UK some higher education institutes at the bottom end have very poor standards and I found the state of the UK quite depressing. The ones at the top probably exceed the top Dutch institutions, but only marginally. Most Dutch Universities cannot be selective in who they accept, unless it is a particularly tough, scholarship based course, but they do have particularly high drop-out rates in the first years. I much prefer The Netherlands if I'm honest. The language is a bastard and they are mired in this Eurozone crap, but they are for the most part good people, socially conscientious and logical.

Edit: And do I have problems with cheapening degrees? Absolutely, but I have bigger problems with the student loans system and the watering down of the education system that is in place in the UK and in the US, than with cheating. That's a new discussion though.

Cheating is an issue, but it's not that big an issue if the kid goes into a field which is linked to his study. Cheats eventually will get called out when they are expected to know something in the great big world outside academia. It's better to just accept something is above you than to scam your way through.



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2013 10:25AM by istirith.