There are some classes in college that are known to be harder than others. In those courses, a good number of students probably depend on the fact that no one really gets it, so assignments and tests will be graded “on a curve.”

Well, after some fellow students copied his work, OP set out to wreck that “curve” on purpose.

OP was having as much trouble with the course as his classmates, at least at first. But, having committed to keeping his 4.0 GPA, OP started putting in all of the extra time and energy he had into excelling.

I don’t have a problem helping classmates. I really don’t.

I even tutored several classmates during my final semester of undergrad because they needed the help. They all ended up passing their classes with my assistance.

This story comes from a particularly tough Business Information Systems class during my undergraduate education. The students in this class were mostly nontechnical business majors, so this new material wasn’t at all similar to anything we’d learned in other classes.

Needless to say, most of the students were struggling, including me.

I still had a 4.0 in college at this point (though I finished with a 3.99) and I was willing to put in max effort to keep my stellar GPA.

I started studying hard. I made my own quizlet sets, I read the book every night, I finished assignments a week early, and I did outside research.

One day he was doing an assignment in a room with other students who were obviously frustrated with it. One of the asked for help and he said sure, but he needed to get a drink first.

After grinding it out in this class for about a month, I was working on an assignment in a room designated for quiet homework time, and that’s where our story begins.

Several other students from my class were there and working on the same assignment I was on. Judging by the sighs of exasperation, the irritated whispers, and requests for help, they weren’t having much success. Having studied relentlessly for a month, I was having an easier time of it.

As I got up to go get some water from the fountain in the hall, a classmate asked for my help. I told him I could do that and I’d be right back.

When he returned no one needed help anymore, and OP figured out soon enough that they had copied this work.

I returned a few minutes later to find what I can only describe as a bunch of busy bees happily working away. This was strange since they were hopelessly stuck 2 minutes before, but whatever. My classmate tells me he figured it out without me.

Now, I’m not an idiot, so I know the 5 people copied my work off my computer when I went to get water. Scumbag move number one.

But as it turns out, no one in the class needed help the next day or the day after. Whoever in the study room had stolen my work had forwarded it to most of the class. Scumbag move number two.

The next time the situation arose, OP left a wrong answer that most of them fell for, but with a big exam coming up, he figured it was time to teach the cheaters a bigger lesson.

I don’t mind being helpful, but I hate being used, so I made a plan to get back at the people who had stolen my work. It didn’t take long to organize my plan and carry it out. Here’s how it went:

I changed an answer on the next assignment by multiplying by -1.

$1,500 became -$1,500 on this question.

The next week, I left my computer in the same place as before and went to get water, just like I had done the week before. 75% of the people in my class of 40 people put -$1,500 as the answer to question 3, which was definitely incorrect.

I began studying relentlessly for the midterm. Our professor had said he wouldn’t adjust the weight of the test (something like YourScore/50 on a test with 60 points available so your score of 40 becomes 80% instead of 67%) if anyone scored particularly well. This class was difficult, and no one was expecting anyone to score over 75%, so all my classmates figured the weight of the test would be adjusted.

He and another student set out to wreck the curve by getting high enough marks that no one else’s grade would be adjusted.

My plan was to “wreck the curve” (even though it’s not a curve) and deny everyone the adjusted weight by producing a sufficiently high score.

I recruited a classmate who hadn’t stolen my work to study with. Together, we aimed to score high enough that our professor couldn’t adjust the weight of the midterm

In the meantime, he reported the cheating to his professor.

No one who copied me realized the answer was incorrect. Every last one of those idiots submitted the wrong answer the question 3.

This next part surprised me, but my classmates began insisting the class was unfair, too difficult, or rigged and launched these complaints at our professor. One day after class I had the following exchange since I was the last student out of the classroom:

Professor: OP, do you think this class is to hard?

Me: Honestly, this class is hard, but if people spent as much time studying as they did complaining, they’d be fine. They really need to just get to work.

Professor: I thought the same

Me: (deciding spur of the moment my next move) I also happen to know that most of the class incorrectly copied my work on the last assignment. Question 3 should be a net income of $1,500, not a net loss of $1,500. I put down the wrong answer initially, everyone copied me, and then I changed the answer later. I think you can reasonably conclude that anyone with -$1,500 as the answer cheated off of my incorrect work

Professor: I figured they all copied, but I didn’t know you were the source. Anyway, thanks for your candor and your dedication to the class

I didn’t cheat, so I don’t know what happened to those who did, but depending on the class, they would either get a 0 for the assignment or a plagiarism citation, so they got one of those.

The day they got the test back, OP was vindicated.

Fast forward to test day, and I’m ready to go. I know since most of the students are business majors, they need 70% to pass the class because it’s a required course. Hurting them on the midterm will go a long way in helping drop their grades.

I take the test, I’m the first one done, and I leave pretty sure I’ve done enough to deny the class the exam weight adjustment

A week later, we get our exams back. Tests are distributed all around me with scores on the top in red ink. 68, 71, 70, 66, 75, 67, and these are the smart students! Someone on the end of my row takes a test from our professor and lets out a sigh as he begins passing a test down my row. It stops on my desk.

93%. I’ve won.

Some idiot in the front of the class: So is there going to be a curve?

Professor: Nope!

Me: What was the high score?

Professor: 93%!

Average score for the exam was 71, so a good number of people didn’t get a “passing” score. Maybe they made up for it on the final and passed, but I don’t care.

I got mine.

Does Reddit approve these tactics? Let’s find out!

Some people took away that you should always remember to lock your computer.

Really, it should be a habit.

Apparently a lot of people don’t do it, though.

This is a lesson the cheaters really had best learn in school.

Some people just have to learn the hard way.

Nothing about this story surprises me.

Kudos to OP for pulling off the high grade, though.