# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/81 "2015-11-30T12:24:16Z")
> [@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. That last sentence. The truth. Occasionally I’ll give students (high school) a chance to make “cheat sheets” for a test. I ALWAYS tell them exactly what Hari said, and that the more thought they put into making that cheat sheet, the less they’ll have to use it. The ideal case it to never look at it at all and instead use it as a chance to organize their knowledge beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/82 "2015-11-30T14:57:30Z")
I’ll always remember one class I had in college that allowed us to bring in one page of notes to the final. Anything we could fit on was fine. Me being the brilliant genius I am, I got on the computer, set the margins to zero and the font as small as I could read, and typed in literally everything from the entire course. At the time, this was a new and fantastic idea. But, of course, preparing the sheet took far longer and required a far more detailed review than I would have put into studying for the final otherwise, and in the end, I think I glanced at the sheet once during the actual final. Which I aced. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/83 "2015-11-30T15:03:05Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A student comes to a young professor’s office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, kneels pleadingly. > > “I would do anything to pass this exam.” She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, gazes meaningfully into his eyes. “I mean …” she whispers, “… I would do … anything.” > > He returns her gaze. “Anything?” > > “Anything.” > > His voice softens. “Anything??” > > “Absolutely anything.” > > His voice turns to a whisper. “Would you … study?” You laugh, but I had a conversation with a student that was almost exactly like this. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/84 "2015-11-30T15:03:42Z")
My thermodynamics class and the allowing of one 3 by 5 card was were I learned it was possible to hand print microfiche. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/85 "2015-11-30T15:17:53Z")
Why would anyone want to cheat on an exam? You’d just be cheating yourself. (Does anyone really believe that line?) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/86 "2015-11-30T15:37:59Z")
There was a legend at my old school: a group of Chinese students got together and got T-shirts made up with Chinese writing all over it and that was their cheet sheet. Not sure I believed it - I can seem some logistical problems. ---
**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 30, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/87 "2015-11-30T15:56:27Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A student comes to a young professor’s office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, kneels pleadingly. > > “I would do anything to pass this exam.” She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, gazes meaningfully into his eyes. “I mean …” she whispers, “… I would do … anything.” > > He returns her gaze. “Anything?” > > “Anything.” > > His voice softens. “Anything??” > > “Absolutely anything.” > > His voice turns to a whisper. “Would you … study?” > [@Sigene](#): > > You laugh, but I had a conversation with a student that was almost exactly like this. Whoa! You should have sent her to me. 😉 There’s one study aid I found worked wonders. I once read that if you read something three times in a row, just read it and do not even try to memorize anything, you’ll retain a lot. So I would take all my class notes before an exam and read them three times. Just sit down and read them through, no attempt to remember anything. Then just for good measure, I did it two more times. I ended up inadvertently memorizing the notes without even trying. It really worked. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/88 "2015-11-30T16:18:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I once read that if you read something three times in a row, just read it and do not even try to memorize anything, you’ll retain a lot. You only read that once? ---
**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 30, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/89 "2015-11-30T16:31:15Z")
Yes. Amazing that I could remember it! ---
**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 30, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/90 "2015-11-30T17:10:39Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The only tests I’ve sat through that were long enough that bathroom breaks were allowed were for nursing school. If you had to go to the bathroom, a proctor went with you. Any paper rustling or overlong lingering in the stall would have been a dead giveaway. > > In the Big Test for licensure, they required photo ID and scanned our hands for the vein pattern before we went in, and again if we returned after going to the bathroom (with a proctor). So you couldn’t hide your identical twin sister in the stall and have her go finish the test for you. > > Besides that, if it’s only a couple of questions, getting them wrong is not enough to fail you on the test anyhow. If it’s more than a couple questions, your method is unlikely to work. If you’re smart enough to remember more than a couple of questions you don’t know the answer to for the time it takes you to get to the bathroom and read your notes, and smart enough to remember all the answers in the time it takes you to walk back to the testing room, you’re smart enough to remember the answers from studying the night before. My Thirds test with the Coast Guard we not only took bathroom breaks, but meal breaks, showers, shaved, and tried to get a good nights sleep Between sections. The test was given in sections and you had to hand in the section to leave the room. ---
**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 30, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/91 "2015-11-30T17:19:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > There was a legend at my old school: a group of Chinese students got together and got T-shirts made up with Chinese writing all over it and that was their cheet sheet. Not sure I believed it - I can seem some logistical problems. I thought I’d told this story before but I can’t seem to find it. My class at USAF pilot training included two Saudi Arabian student pilots. One was a real gentleman, a high quality guy. The other was a useless fatcat frat boy. Both had pretty good English; plenty enough for the job at hand. Each day began with all of us sitting in a classroom. An instructor would explain an inflight emergency scenario then call on somebody to respond. If you were called the drill was to leap to attention, explain your analysis and response, including rattling off verbatim any of the magic mantras we had to memorize for various time critical problems. So one day Maj. Instructor says “You’re doing aerobatics at high altitude and lose control. You find yourself in a spin. What now Lt. al-Fratboy?” The right answer is something along the lines of “Repeat the mantra for spin recovery. Does that work? If so, resume flying normally. If not, keep trying until descending through (in that aircraft) 5000’ above the ground. If still spinning, eject using the appropriate mantra.” So overall this was a pretty black-and-white problem with a pretty black-and-white response. No nuanced analysis of failure symptoms is required. Lt. al-Fratboy starts off with the spin recovery mantra, getting the gist correct but only about 90% on the magic words. Asks “Does it work?” The instructor says “No.” al-Fratboy furrows his brow; this wasn’t something he’d ever considered. He stammers and stalls for what feels to all of us like an eternity. Lt. al-Goodguy raises a hand and smoothly says “Maj. Instructor? I believe my colleague is having a language problem. May I translate?” Maj. Instructor has seen this trick before but says “Certainly.” Lt. al-Goodguy: “Yabbada yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala bubbala yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala EJECT! yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala yabba al bubbala yabbada yabba al bubbala.” Lt al-Fratboy: “Major Instructor, I would eject!” with great triumph in his voice. Somebody started laughing and we all came unglued. I damn near pissed my pants. Even Maj. Instructor was laughing too hard to give them grief. At least not right then. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/92 "2015-11-30T21:50:55Z")
> [@digs](#): > > \*“Of _course_ you have to memorize square roots. You’re _certainly_ not going to be carrying a big heavy calculator in your pocket In Real Life! ::cackle::” – 11th grade math teacher > (Wrong-o, Mrs. Kolteska) Really? I always thought there was supposed to be some method of deriving square roots, and I just never paid attention in class when it was taught. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/93 "2015-11-30T22:14:41Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Really? I always thought there was supposed to be some method of deriving square roots, and I just never paid attention in class when it was taught. There are several, but none of them that are anywhere near as easy as pushing the square root button on a calculator. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/94 "2015-12-02T00:09:13Z")
> [@digs](#): > > \*“Of _course_ you have to memorize square roots. You’re _certainly_ not going to be carrying a big heavy calculator in your pocket In Real Life! ::cackle::” – 11th grade math teacher > (Wrong-o, Mrs. Kolteska) > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Really? I always thought there was supposed to be some method of deriving square roots, and I just never paid attention in class when it was taught. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There are several, but none of them that are anywhere near as easy as pushing the square root button on a calculator. The bottom line is if it’s easy, it’s cheating. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/95 "2015-12-02T00:36:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He stammers and stalls for what feels to all of us like an eternity. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/96 "2015-12-02T01:00:42Z")
> [@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. I knew some who would split the single paper allowed into multiple ‘openings’ much like the 12 days of Christmas thing. All the same piece of allowed single paper. I considered using colored glasses to write in various colors, so I could overwrite that single piece of paper, however I never found the need or more then one full sheet. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894/97 "2015-12-02T02:34:51Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I see what you did there. Totally inadvertent. But I’ll take the credit anyhow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-100-foolproof-way-to-cheat-in-exams/738894.md?page=4)