For as long as schools have been requiring students to write essays, students have been trying to find a way to get out of doing it. We all know why. Writing is tough. It requires skill, research a lot of patience and plenty of time. Finding time in particular is always the toughest part, especially because business school applicants have many things going at once. Between juggling their current job, multiple applications, studying for the GMAT and personal obligations, it is perhaps no surprise that some students look for a shortcut when it comes time to write the business school application essay.
Because of this, schools are on the lookout for students that are trying to cut corners and there are many technology solutions that will help them hunt down potential cheaters. For example, Penn State's Smeal College of Business uses a software program called iParadigms that will test applications for cheating. About eight per cent of applicants are found to have cheated on their essay each year according to Carrie Marcinkevage the MBA managing director at Penn State. According to the Economist, almost 40 business schools Duke Fuqua and UCLA Anderson are using such software.
What does this mean for applicants? No matter the urge to cheat or the desperation to get into a top business school, plagiarism is not worth it. Why? Well for starters you will have no chance at being admitted to the school if you are caught cheating. Even the most lackluster application has a greater than zero per cent chance at just about every school, but cheating is the one thing that will for sure keep you out. Secondly, if you do get in and you are caught cheating later on, not only will you be kicked out of school and lose a significant amount of money, but if you try to go to a different school in the future, they will ask if you have ever been kicked out of a school before.
While not plagiarism, a different form of cheating is also very prevalent in business school essays, but probably harder to detect. Many applicants will pay to have their essay written for them. Admission consultants get asked this regularly and the answer is always a resounding no. Why is this just as bad an idea as plagiarism? Well first of all, if you aren't capable of getting into the school on your own, how likely is it that you will succeed when you are there? Secondly, you could be taking away a spot from a far more deserving candidate who actually did the work on their own.
So while you might feel like your only way into school is by taking shortcuts, rethink your decision. The best way to avoid the pressure that might cause you to take this path is to allow yourself plenty of time when it comes to applications. Even if that means you end up going to school one year later than you planned, it will give you the time to complete a compelling application and one done entirely on your own.