More on Plagiarism

Like we wrote last year, many universities and business schools in particular have started using plagiarism detection software to ensure that application essays are the applicants' original work and not copied from other sources.

In January 2012, the Los Angles Times reported that UCLA's Anderson School of Management, Stanford University as well as at least 100 other colleges in the United States are also using Turnitin, an anti-plagiarism software company that helps admissions committees verify the authenticity of application materials by comparing them to a large archive of writings.  UCLA Anderson has reported that Turnitin software already helped them detect twelve applications that contained plagiarised work in the 2011-2012 application cycle.  In internal testing of the database, Turnitin reported that between 3-20% of applicants had used plagiarised work in their application essays. 

Based on our experience, this rate is higher among international applicants.  Part of the problem are the admissions consultants in Asia, whose "core value" to applicants' is providing them with access to a large cache of application essays that they can "copy and paste" from.  We often stress to our clients that originality and authenticity are the keys to a successful application essay, and that following the format that worked for other successful applicants is not a winning strategy because everyone is unique and has a different story to tell.  Transcend Admissions Consultants is happy to hear that more and more universities will be using plagiarism detection software going forward so that unethical applicants will be eliminated thus opening up more spaces at the top schools for honest people who create original work.