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26. But why do bright kids - Stuyvesant and Harvard students-cheat?Aren't they smart to get ahead honestly?One might think so, but the pressure to succeed or the perception of it anyway.is often only greater for such students. Students who attend such school so often feel they not only have to live up to the reputation of the institution and the expectations that it brings, but that they have to compete many of them for the first time, with a school full of kids as smart, or smarter,than they are. Harvard only admits so many Stuy students, Goldman Sachs will hire only so many Harvard kids. Competition can get ratcheted up to extreme levels Kids here know that the difference between a 96 and a 97 on one test isn't going to make any difference in the future," says Edith Villavicencio, a Stuyvesant senior. "But they feel as if they need the extra one point over a friend, just because it's possible and provides a little thrill." 27. Stuyvesant's 2012 valedictorian, Vinay Mayar, talked about the pressure at the school in his graduation speech. Mayar, who lives on the Upper East Side and just started at MIT, called his classmates 'a volatile mix of strong minded people armed in opposition against one another." He listed a few things his friends said epitomized the Stuyvesant experience, like "copying homework in the hallway while walking to class,"sneaking in and out of school during free periods," and at the end of the list, "widespread Facebook cheating." 28. Teltel, Stuyvesant's principal used to like to share a quip with incoming freshmen: Grades, friends, and sleep - choose two. The work can be so demanding at top schools that students sometimes justify cheating as an act of survival, or rebellion even. At Harvard, the Crimson, which broke the story, reported that part of the take-home exam - an unexpected set of short answer questions - seemed to rankle the students.And so, even on something so relatively insignificant (as indeed the Regents were for the Stuyvesant kids), students may have felt justified in banding together against the professor and helping one another. At Harvard, "everyone thinks this incident is not unique at all," says Julie Zauzmer, managing editor of the Crimson. "It's fairly unique in the scale of it, and especially the way Harvard has handled it by going public. But I don't think it's unusual in other ways. Everyone comes here surprised to find they're not the best anymore. Everyone feels they're able to come out at the same point they came in." When they can't, perhaps , some people decide to cheat. "Not everyone cheats but it is collaborative," says Daniel Solomon, a former Stuyvesant Spectator staffer who graduated in June, and is now starting at Harvard. "One of my friends told me, "School is a team effort: That's sort of the ethos at Stuy." 29. Some students rationalize cheating as a victimless crime - even an act of generosity. Sam Eshagoff, one of the students involved in the Long Island SAT scandal, justified taking the test at least twenty times, and charging others up to 2,500 per test to take the exam for them, by casting himself as a sort of savior. "A kid who has a horrible grade-point average, who no matter how much he studies is going to totally bomb this test," Eshagoff told 60 Minutes. "By giving him an amazing score, I totally give him __ new lease on life." 30. Nayeem and I meet for dinner on a weeknight in August at the Old Town pub, near Union Square. He says he decided to speak to me to tell his side of the story,and make his

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26. But why do bright kids - Stuyvesant and Harvard students-cheat?Aren't they smart to get ahead honestly?One might think so, but the pressure to succeed or the perception of it anyway.is often only greater for such students. Students who attend such school so often feel they not only have to live up to the reputation of the institution and the expectations that it brings, but that they have to compete many of them for the first time, with a school full of kids as smart, or smarter,than they are. Harvard only admits so many Stuy students, Goldman Sachs will hire only so many Harvard kids. Competition can get ratcheted up to extreme levels Kids here know that the difference between a 96 and a 97 on one test isn't going to make any difference in the future," says Edith Villavicencio, a Stuyvesant senior. "But they feel as if they need the extra one point over a friend, just because it's possible and provides a little thrill." 27. Stuyvesant's 2012 valedictorian, Vinay Mayar, talked about the pressure at the school in his graduation speech. Mayar, who lives on the Upper East Side and just started at MIT, called his classmates 'a volatile mix of strong minded people armed in opposition against one another." He listed a few things his friends said epitomized the Stuyvesant experience, like "copying homework in the hallway while walking to class,"sneaking in and out of school during free periods," and at the end of the list, "widespread Facebook cheating." 28. Teltel, Stuyvesant's principal used to like to share a quip with incoming freshmen: Grades, friends, and sleep - choose two. The work can be so demanding at top schools that students sometimes justify cheating as an act of survival, or rebellion even. At Harvard, the Crimson, which broke the story, reported that part of the take-home exam - an unexpected set of short answer questions - seemed to rankle the students.And so, even on something so relatively insignificant (as indeed the Regents were for the Stuyvesant kids), students may have felt justified in banding together against the professor and helping one another. At Harvard, "everyone thinks this incident is not unique at all," says Julie Zauzmer, managing editor of the Crimson. "It's fairly unique in the scale of it, and especially the way Harvard has handled it by going public. But I don't think it's unusual in other ways. Everyone comes here surprised to find they're not the best anymore. Everyone feels they're able to come out at the same point they came in." When they can't, perhaps , some people decide to cheat. "Not everyone cheats but it is collaborative," says Daniel Solomon, a former Stuyvesant Spectator staffer who graduated in June, and is now starting at Harvard. "One of my friends told me, "School is a team effort: That's sort of the ethos at Stuy." 29. Some students rationalize cheating as a victimless crime - even an act of generosity. Sam Eshagoff, one of the students involved in the Long Island SAT scandal, justified taking the test at least twenty times, and charging others up to 2,500 per test to take the exam for them, by casting himself as a sort of savior. "A kid who has a horrible grade-point average, who no matter how much he studies is going to totally bomb this test," Eshagoff told 60 Minutes. "By giving him an amazing score, I totally give him __ new lease on life." 30. Nayeem and I meet for dinner on a weeknight in August at the Old Town pub, near Union Square. He says he decided to speak to me to tell his side of the story,and make his

26. But why do bright kids - Stuyvesant and Harvard students-cheat?Aren't they smart to get ahead honestly?One might think so, but the pressure to succeed or the perception of it anyway.is often only greater for such students. Students who attend such school so often feel they not only have to live up to the reputation of the institution and the expectations that it brings, but that they have to compete many of them for the first time, with a school full of kids as smart, or smarter,than they are. Harvard only admits so many Stuy students, Goldman Sachs will hire only so many Harvard kids. Competition can get ratcheted up to extreme levels Kids here know that the difference between a 96 and a 97 on one test isn't going to make any difference in the future," says Edith Villavicencio, a Stuyvesant senior. "But they feel as if they need the extra one point over a friend, just because it's possible and provides a little thrill." 27. Stuyvesant's 2012 valedictorian, Vinay Mayar, talked about the pressure at the school in his graduation speech. Mayar, who lives on the Upper East Side and just started at MIT, called his classmates 'a volatile mix of strong minded people armed in opposition against one another." He listed a few things his friends said epitomized the Stuyvesant experience, like "copying homework in the hallway while walking to class,"sneaking in and out of school during free periods," and at the end of the list, "widespread Facebook cheating." 28. Teltel, Stuyvesant's principal used to like to share a quip with incoming freshmen: Grades, friends, and sleep - choose two. The work can be so demanding at top schools that students sometimes justify cheating as an act of survival, or rebellion even. At Harvard, the Crimson, which broke the story, reported that part of the take-home exam - an unexpected set of short answer questions - seemed to rankle the students.And so, even on something so relatively insignificant (as indeed the Regents were for the Stuyvesant kids), students may have felt justified in banding together against the professor and helping one another. At Harvard, "everyone thinks this incident is not unique at all," says Julie Zauzmer, managing editor of the Crimson. "It's fairly unique in the scale of it, and especially the way Harvard has handled it by going public. But I don't think it's unusual in other ways. Everyone comes here surprised to find they're not the best anymore. Everyone feels they're able to come out at the same point they came in." When they can't, perhaps , some people decide to cheat. "Not everyone cheats but it is collaborative," says Daniel Solomon, a former Stuyvesant Spectator staffer who graduated in June, and is now starting at Harvard. "One of my friends told me, "School is a team effort: That's sort of the ethos at Stuy." 29. Some students rationalize cheating as a victimless crime - even an act of generosity. Sam Eshagoff, one of the students involved in the Long Island SAT scandal, justified taking the test at least twenty times, and charging others up to 2,500 per test to take the exam for them, by casting himself as a sort of savior. "A kid who has a horrible grade-point average, who no matter how much he studies is going to totally bomb this test," Eshagoff told 60 Minutes. "By giving him an amazing score, I totally give him __ new lease on life." 30. Nayeem and I meet for dinner on a weeknight in August at the Old Town pub, near Union Square. He says he decided to speak to me to tell his side of the story,and make his

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This text discusses the pressures and motivations behind cheating among high-achieving students at prestigious institutions like Stuyvesant High School and Harvard University. Here's a breakdown of the key points:<br /><br />* **Intense Pressure and Competition:** Even the brightest students face immense pressure to succeed. They feel the weight of their school's reputation and the expectation to compete with equally or more intelligent peers. The competition is fierce, even for seemingly insignificant point differences. The text highlights the limited spots at top universities and firms like Goldman Sachs, further intensifying the pressure.<br /><br />* **Stuyvesant's Culture:** The text portrays Stuyvesant as a highly competitive environment where cheating is sometimes seen as a norm, even a collaborative effort. The anecdote about copying homework, sneaking out of school, and Facebook cheating, along with the principal's "grades, friends, sleep - choose two" quip, paints a picture of a demanding academic culture.<br /><br />* **Harvard's Cheating Scandal:** The text references a cheating scandal at Harvard, emphasizing that while the scale of the incident might be unique, the underlying reasons are not. Students arrive at Harvard expecting to be at the top, but they are surrounded by equally talented individuals. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy and a willingness to cheat to maintain their perceived status.<br /><br />* **Rationalizing Cheating:** The text explores how students rationalize cheating. Some view it as a necessary survival tactic in a cutthroat academic environment, even an act of rebellion against demanding professors. Others see it as a victimless crime or even an act of generosity, as exemplified by Sam Eshagoff's justification for taking the SAT for others.<br /><br />* **Nayeem's Perspective:** The final paragraph mentions Nayeem, one of the students involved in the Stuyvesant cheating scandal, wanting to share his side of the story. This suggests a deeper exploration of the individual motivations and circumstances that contribute to cheating.<br />
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