MBA Applications: Plagiarists Beware

With round one application deadlines fast approaching, a lot of MBA applicants might be tempted to take a shortcut on their essays, cutting and pasting their way to a personal statement they hope will magically open the doors to Harvard, Wharton, or other top schools

A word to the wise: don’t cheat during the MBA admissions process

A growing number of US business schools are using a software tool called Turnitin for Admissions to check MBA admissions essays for signs of plagiarism. Several have already demonstrated that they have a zero-tolerance policy for the offense, rejecting dozens of applicants each year after discovering they’ve poached part of their essays from unattributed sources.

To root out suspected plagiarism, Turnitin checks admissions essays submitted by participating schools against its massive cache of web content, journals, books, and previously submitted student work. As of 2013, 15 business schools purchased the product directly from Turnitin as of 2013, but in 2011 it was made available as part of Hobsons’ ApplyYourself, a widely used software suite for processing applications. Today, 57 business schools have access to Turnitin for Admissions through ApplyYourself, although it’s unclear how many actually use it, said Marlysa Lohr-Connolly, communications manager at Hobsons.

Not all business schools disclose that they’re using Turnitin to review admissions essays for plagiarism, so from an applicant’s perspective assuming that the school uses the software is probably the safest option.

Some schools, however, have been upfront with applicants about their use of the software. Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, Northeastern University’s D’Amore McKim School of Business, Wake Forest’s School of Business, and Duke’s Fuqua School of Business have all confirmed that they’re using Turnitin for the 2014/15 MBA application cycle.

A number of these schools have already reported rejecting applicants for suspected plagiarism in previous years.  At Smeal, MBA managing director, Carrie Marcinkevage says 40 applicants were rejected for plagiarism during the 2013/14 application cycle out of 526 in total, nearly 8%. In most cases, the plagiarized passages came from online essay banks, she said.

Marcinkevage says that the benefits of culling plagiarists from the applicant pool extend far beyond admissions. “We believe it’s absolutely led to significantly less plagiarism and cheating in the classroom,” she says. She has...

Three tips for avoiding plagiarism

• Wait a Day: If you’re looking at writing samples for ideas on writing style, don’t begin writing your essay immediately. Let the style sink in for a day, then start writing. The likelihood of lifting an entire passage from memory will be far less.
• Avoid Control C: Do not use the copy and paste functions on your computer for your essay. Also: keep any materials you used for research out of reach when writing. If they’re not readily available you’re less likely to use them.
• Footnote:  Remember, plagiarism isn’t using someone else’s work, it’s the failure to attribute it properly. It may seem odd in a personal essay, but if you absolutely must use published sources other than your own personal experience, document them with footnotes. Better safe than sorry.