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I want to keep this as short as possible -

I go to a pretty good law school, or at least I thought. A student openly admits to cheating, cheating on his LSAT, cheats on exams here, etc. and is extremely obnoxious about the whole ordeal. He also earned a hefty scholarship for it.

Some students - not me but others - went to the dean, and nothing has been done. It’s been nearly two months. The group of us is getting pissed. A few of us have earned scholarships but overall it is very tough to get into our school and this student literally flaunts that he cheats and admits to it online and in person constantly. The dean and the president have been notified and... nothing has been done. Advice?

Just a heads up, if you actually take this guy down, you could make a pretty powerful enemy. They may be facing little to no recourse because they're very well-connected or something. Assuming you would rather take that risk given that you've already reported him through some channels to no avail (at which point I would personally feel like I'd done my duty), I'd consider a tip to the state bar. Also, is there an ethics dean at your school? During 1L, we had a few things come up that got referred to a specific faculty person who reviewed each case and took the appropriate actions. If you have that person, I would recommend having a few people submit a report.

Why don't you surreptitiously record him or her bragging about this?

One of my classmates got an A by cheating on her CivPro exam. She turned down an offer to serve as the professor's T.A., but ended up winning a selective fellowship and will be clerking on a selective circuit court of appeals. I would love to take her down.

Wtfwhy123 wrote:I want to keep this as short as possible -

I go to a pretty good law school, or at least I thought. A student openly admits to cheating, cheating on his LSAT, cheats on exams here, etc. and is extremely obnoxious about the whole ordeal. He also earned a hefty scholarship for it.

Some students - not me but others - went to the dean, and nothing has been done. It’s been nearly two months. The group of us is getting pissed. A few of us have earned scholarships but overall it is very tough to get into our school and this student literally flaunts that he cheats and admits to it online and in person constantly. The dean and the president have been notified and... nothing has been done. Advice?

How did he cheat on the LSAT?

And how did they cheat on exams?

I can kind of understand the dean not doing anything about the alleged LSAT cheating; I don't even know how they'd go about investigating that. But accusations of cheating on exams are usually taken pretty seriously.

Why are you sure nothing has been done? Academic investigations, and even academic discipline, are typically confidential and not publicly announced to the student body at large. That you reported the alleged misbehavior does not give you a special right to be kept appraised of how the school handles the case. The fact that the student appears to still be attending classes doesn't mean the school isn't investigating, or that the school hasn't administered discipline short of expulsion. It's even possible the school has proposed expelling the student, but the student's currently appealing that decision.

In general, the more serious the alleged offense(s), and the more serious the potential sanctions, the longer the investigation will take, and the likelier the student will be to do everything they can to appeal an adverse finding.

How could anyone cheat on the LSAT? I literally can’t think of a way outside of like camera glasses and an earpiece

The boasting about cheating is attention seeking behavior, which is distinct from cheating. They're not mutually exclusive, but the motive to cheat is generally to derive a benefit that could not be had without violating certain rules. People who cheat on exams are generally motivated by the prestige or potential economic gains that they garner by cheating. Showing off about cheating threatens those gains so is not really consistent with the typical cheater. You're describing Scooby-Doo villain-like behavior.

My read would be that the student is not playing with a full deck psychologically, and the fact s/he showed off about cheating does not mean they actually cheated. It's possible they want attention, want to be known as some kind of evil genius, or are screwing with the rest of the class for their own amusement. It's possible the dean investigated the matter, and didn't find any evidence of cheating, but doesn't want to publicly say the person is a weirdo.

it's funny. i lied to classmates during 1L about my grades being slightly lower than they actually were. not sure why i did it. i come from low socioeconomic family and not great schooling prior to going to UT/USC/UCLA/Vandy, and some weird instinct told me to play down my grades to gain an advantage by somehow being the underdog and off radar. perhaps this guy is doing something similar (but admittedly more oddly). i tend to think similarly to above poster.

here's your first task as an attorney.

Gather evidence. Not just "he bragged about it", but details, hard evidence.
Then submit it (anonymously) to the bar's C&F committee AFTER he takes the exam.

Keep in mind that you need to put a solid case together, otherwise it'll be ignored or downplayed.

Bugeth wrote:How could anyone cheat on the LSAT? I literally can’t think of a way outside of like camera glasses and an earpiece

Maybe going back and filling out sections that they ran out of time for?

dabigchina wrote:

Bugeth wrote:How could anyone cheat on the LSAT? I literally can’t think of a way outside of like camera glasses and an earpiece

Maybe going back and filling out sections that they ran out of time for?

On the day of my test, somebody continued bubbling after time was called during the last section. Another student pointed it out, but I do not believe anything was done about that. However, there are other ways of cheating on examinations, such as having someone take it for you or starting before the proctor.

That said, I agree that it is difficult (and pointless) to cheat on an exam that is so straightforward. There are no formulas or cheat codes that you can put on the back of your hand for the LSAT.

Bugeth wrote:How could anyone cheat on the LSAT? I literally can’t think of a way outside of like camera glasses and an earpiece

Lots of ways, really. For example, my property exam was open notes, but prohibited supplements. A friend of mine sat next to a student who had a supplement in her lap and would frequently refer to the supplement throughout the exam.

Count1234 wrote:

Bugeth wrote:How could anyone cheat on the LSAT? I literally can’t think of a way outside of like camera glasses and an earpiece

Lots of ways, really. For example, my property exam was open notes, but prohibited supplements. A friend of mine sat next to a student who had a supplement in her lap and would frequently refer to the supplement throughout the exam.

There are no supplements that will help you cheat on the LSAT.

Here is what you do: stop spending time and emotional energy worrying about this and instead focus on getting the best grades you can.

Count1234 wrote:Lots of ways, really. For example, my property exam was open notes, but prohibited supplements. A friend of mine sat next to a student who had a supplement in her lap and would frequently refer to the supplement throughout the exam.

Not only is that kind of cheating unethical, it's also dumb. It's the worst move ever on a racehorse law school exam to waste time paging through a generic supplement, instead of having a concise outline - tailored to that particular professor/class - prepared.

(I presume the property exam was a racehorse exam, as it was a) proctored, and b) open notes.)