# Almost 100% Foolproof way to Cheat in Exams? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894 "2015-11-29T00:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/21 "2015-11-29T01:26:19Z")
reported. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/22 "2015-11-29T01:30:50Z")
> [@hakunamatatee](#): > > What if you suddenly have diarrhoea in the middle of the exam? You both make a big stinky mess \*and \*flunk the test. Some days are not your day. This is one of those days. It’s been 35 (!) years since I finished grad school, but I can’t imagine anyone being allowed bathroom breaks during a significant test. I sure don’t remember having the opportunity during my 16-ish years spent in various schools. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/23 "2015-11-29T02:32:35Z")
I don’t know why I didn’t do this more often. Once I gave an exam and told the students they could prepare a cheat sheet and use it freely during the exam. One page, both sides and it had to be turned in with the test. It worked well. Some of them were almost works of art. But–and this is my point–the act of preparing them was really the best method of studying for the exam. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/24 "2015-11-29T02:38:29Z")
It occurs to me - if you can create the cheat sheet - then you’ve had ample time to study. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/25 "2015-11-29T02:49:23Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I don’t know why I didn’t do this more often. Once I gave an exam and told the students they could prepare a cheat sheet and use it freely during the exam. One page, both sides and it had to be turned in with the test. It worked well. Some of them were almost works of art. But–and this is my point–the act of preparing them was really the best method of studying for the exam. My physics teacher in high school did that for every test on the rationale that he wasn’t testing our ability to memorize formulas. ISTR (Jesus, 25 years later) that his tests were still damned tough. Anyway, the most important tip when you’re cheating is not to get greedy. Don’t give yourself a 100%. You want to pass but not draw attention to yourself. I only ever cheated on one test. It was fifth grade. We had to memorize a list of words of some kind. My buddy and I both failed and had to retake it. We both cheated on the retest. He went from failing to 100% and got gigged. I missed enough of them not to raise suspicion. To his credit, my buddy didn’t rat me out. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/26 "2015-11-29T02:53:44Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I don’t know why I didn’t do this more often. Once I gave an exam and told the students they could prepare a cheat sheet and use it freely during the exam. One page, both sides and it had to be turned in with the test. It worked well. Some of them were almost works of art. But–and this is my point–the act of preparing them was really the best method of studying for the exam. My college physics teacher allowed us a cheat sheet as well. Outwardly, he said that he’d rather you understood how to use the formulas and which formulas to use and not spend all your time just trying to memorize them. Inwardly, I suspect he knew (as many of us found out) that writing and re-writing our cheat sheets to fit everything or deciding what to leave off them helped you learn a lot of the material. I also quickly found that the more stuff you crammed onto the cheat sheet, the less it actually helped. He’d tell us that we could use a full sheet of paper, we’d convince him to let us use both sides (score one for us!) and by the time you’ve practically rewritten the last two months worth of lecture notes on one piece of paper you end up with so much crap you can’t find anything you need during the exam. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/27 "2015-11-29T03:11:22Z")
\ We had self proctored exams. Went to the bathroom whenever we wanted to. Had a real honor code that meant something. Never heard of anybody cheating. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/28 "2015-11-29T03:11:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I had a take-home Calculus final exam once. It was given out just before the winter break and collected just after, so we had a whole week to do it. And it took all week too! > > The rules were simple: We had to sign a statement promising that we had not received any outside help with the test. But it was entirely open-book. > > (I found one of the problems, verbatim, solved and worked out in full, in my Calculus book from the previous semester.) For the instructors here: How do you define “open book, no outside help” in the age of the Internet? I’m assuming that posting or emailing requests for help is not allowed, but are students otherwise allowed to have unrestricted access to whatever written and/or online resources that they want? E.g. can they use online tutorials like Khan Academy and read past threads on homework help message boards (as long as they do not add to the thread during the exam period)? Can students ask others for suggestions on resources as long as the students consult those resources themselves? E.g. “Hey dad, what’s a good book to read on integration by parts? Don’t explain to me how to do it, just tell me what book to read.” Can students ask others for generic help (e.g. “Uncle Bill, can you show me how to use the Shell Method?”) as long as they do not share the actual, literal test question to the person helping them? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/29 "2015-11-29T03:12:24Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > The bathroom trick has been around for decades if not longer. That’s assuming the teacher will let you go to the bathroom. Now, it’s been about 20 years for me since I’ve had to take a test, but I don’t remember any teacher ever allowing us to leave the test room during a test for any reason. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/30 "2015-11-29T03:16:08Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > The bathroom trick has been around for decades if not longer. That’s assuming the teacher will let you go to the bathroom. > > I had a prof at university who had a rule that if you left the test room for any reason, then your test was finished. She really took cheating seriously, didn’t give a flying rat’s ass about the honor code, and usually caught someone taking the test for someone else at least once a quarter. Pretty simple way to prevent it. Any serious test that I took the proctors would announce up front, \*"If you have to use the facilities do it now, because once the test starts if you leave this room you will \*\*not \*_be allowed reentry"…_ ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/31 "2015-11-29T03:28:33Z")
> [@hakunamatatee](#): > > What if you suddenly have diarrhoea in the middle of the exam? TS rule applies. I slay myself 😛 It’s not unreasonable to expect someone to sit for 2 hours for an exam without a potty break in University (excepting of course folks that have a special situation). The prof was pretty hardcore and laid it out on day one. If you have extenuating circumstances, then come see me. Otherwise, this is the way my tests are proctored. You don’t like it, there are other professors teaching the same class. ---
**Author:** ![hakunamatatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@hakunamatatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hakunamatatee)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/32 "2015-11-29T04:37:32Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > My physics teacher in high school did that for every test on the rationale that he wasn’t testing our ability to memorize formulas. > > Anyway, the most important tip when you’re cheating is not to get greedy. Don’t give yourself a 100%. You want to pass but not draw attention to yourself. We both cheated on the retest. He went from failing to 100% and got gigged. I missed enough of them not to raise suspicion. That’s what I like about physics. Least memorization. They nailed your buddy on circumstantial evidence? That’s prejudiced and condescending anyway. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > you end up with so much crap you can’t find anything you need during the exam. that’s cos its the non-cheater’s cheat sheet 😛 > [@Zsofia](#): > > \ We had self proctored exams. Went to the bathroom whenever we wanted to. Had a real honor code that meant something. Never heard of anybody cheating. Must be the peer pressure. > [@China\_Guy](#): > > The prof was pretty hardcore and laid it out on day one. If you have extenuating circumstances, then come see me. Otherwise, this is the way my tests are proctored. You don’t like it, there are other professors teaching the same class. Wow that’s tough. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/33 "2015-11-29T05:21:02Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Pretty simple way to prevent it. Any serious test that I took the proctors would announce up front, \*"If you have to use the facilities do it now, because once the test starts if you leave this room you will \*\*not \*_be allowed reentry"…_ Yes, that’s what I remember. I also remember that for the SAT and ACT we were only allowed to use the bathroom in between sections when there were breaks. I’m a little surprised that this isn’t fairly standard. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/34 "2015-11-29T05:37:40Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > For the instructors here: How do you define “open book, no outside help” in the age of the Internet? Well, back in the day, things were simpler and less ambiguous. I took that Calculus class (with the take-home final) back in 1993, so the Internet wasn’t so much of a thing back then. Today – ??? As for the no-leaving-the-room rule during tests: Someone’s surprised at the mere _implication_ that this wasn’t standard? Of course it was standard. I’ve never heard of anyone being allowed to leave a test in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/35 "2015-11-29T06:27:32Z")
> [@hakunamatatee](#): > > Haha that’s impossible. Then you’d soil your pants. I have had teachers that insisted you turn in your test if you wanted to leave the room. He did not keep you in the room just by leaving the your you have completed the test. your choice. I saw one student make your claim. The teacher explained to the student if you can not take care of your personal needs before class then you are not mature enough to pass this class. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/36 "2015-11-29T06:47:21Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > \ We had self proctored exams. Went to the bathroom whenever we wanted to. Had a real honor code that meant something. Never heard of anybody cheating. Self-proctored? I’m totally awed! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/37 "2015-11-29T06:55:18Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Like more than 2? :eek: And they were apparently computerized, too! (Random sidenote…I once had a teacher who called quizes ‘quizicles’…we all got a bit of a giggle at his expense re: what he’d call tests, at the time…I realize that he understood the joke, now.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/38 "2015-11-29T06:55:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > \ We had self proctored exams. Went to the bathroom whenever we wanted to. Had a real honor code that meant something. Never heard of anybody cheating. Of course you wouldn’t. How would cheaters even be noticed in that case? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/39 "2015-11-29T09:23:46Z")
In my opinion, if someone is cheating in college, it is a really bad sign of character and overall intellect. I have done many bad things in my time but I never cheated in college. That would have defeated the whole purpose. I was shocked when my younger brother asked me about my cheating techniques in college because he went to a large state school where almost everyone did it. When I told him that didn’t apply to me, he didn’t believe me at first until I went off on him because I worked my ass off for my very good grades. I even got investigated for cheating my senior year because I made the highest score ever recorded on two final exams (perfect scores). A followup oral exam proved that they were real and that I could have taught the class the next term. I had the bags under my eyes to prove that I studied that much and anyone that even insinuated that I cheated the slightest bit on them could bite my ass. I have no respect whatsoever for people that cheat in voluntary programs. All you are doing is screwing yourself and other people that are trying to actually learn something. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/40 "2015-11-29T12:35:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Of course you wouldn’t. How would cheaters even be noticed in that case? It’s possible somebody could have been doing it, but it’s clear from this thread that people talk. Not to mention that in plenty of college classes there’s not much of a way to cheat via cheat sheet. If you don’t understand prosody or what an enlightened dictator is without something you scribble on your leg you will not be able to write an essay about it. I don’t recall much multiple choice in college. Higher math and science tests (which I didn’t take but my roommate did) tended to have formula sheets anyway, it’s not like they were testing memorization. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894.md?page=3)