> Students who cheat can secure a higher GPA with less effort. That effort can be redirected towards looking for internships and improving grad school applications.
This is definitely not the reason why most people cheat.
> Morality aside, if you pursue a cheating strategy your pay-off will be much higher
As with any kind of lie, you will have to cheat more and more to compensate for previous cheating, and eventually your little web of lies will come back and bite you in the ass.
The first part certainly is why they cheat; higher grades allow easier admissions to jobs and better schools.
> As with any kind of lie, you will have to cheat more and more to compensate for previous cheating, and eventually your little web of lies will come back and bite you in the ass.
Completely disagree. People cheat to climb the ladder of life without having to put in the work or having the resources required to do bypass that ladder. However, once you climb the ladder high enough, it is much harder to fall back down.
Sure you're not going to be a good doctor if you cheat your way through med school but if you cheat your way through undergrad and get into a better program with better resources, more driven peers and better professors, you are better off regardless.
At least the cheaters I know cheat because a) they’re unable to pass without cheating and/or b) they’re avoiding putting in effort. The jobs are part of the goal, but that’s true for basically everyone that attenda college. I don’t know anyone who cheats and invests all the saved time into grinding Leetcode.
> if you cheat your way through undergrad and get into a better program with better resources, more driven peers and better professors, you are better off regardless.
Until you end up doing a surgery. You can’t cheat the real world. Your lack of knowledge will show eventually, and then it’ll limit your opportunities.
This is definitely not the reason why most people cheat.
> Morality aside, if you pursue a cheating strategy your pay-off will be much higher
As with any kind of lie, you will have to cheat more and more to compensate for previous cheating, and eventually your little web of lies will come back and bite you in the ass.