Tons of people cheat on tests. Some never get caught – ever. Some think of ways to cheat that are so genius that they probably actually spend the more time figuring out how to cheat than they do studying. Maybe if they would’ve used that time to study, they wouldn’t have had to cheat in the first place.
Reddit asked teachers, professors, and former cheaters to share some of the most clever ways people have ever cheated on a test.
Now, don’t get any ideas…
1. So smart, yet so dumb
Programming a TI-84 to feed him history answers, the only problem was that nobody brings a calculator to a history test. So after seeing him use it for like 5 minute I just asked him to see the calculator and saw that he was cheating.
How can people be so smart but so stupid at the same time?
2. Tattoos seem extreme
There was a group of students in my class who had the same 4 words tattooed on their right forearms. Whenever we had a multiple choice test, they would all discretely scratch the tattoo part that corresponded with the correct letter. I’m assuming they took the majority answer as they always finished at the exact same time.
They never got caught.
3. Genius
It’s not really cheating, but some students at Johns Hopkins recently took advantage of the system. Basically, a teacher had a policy that the highest grade would curve to a 100% on the final exam. Well, the students managed to stop everyone from attending. Everyone got a zero, which then caused everyone to get a perfect score.
4. Click click
I’m a university professor….and only one memorable one sticks out in…well, quite a few years of teaching.
I had a student years ago who took the test with one of those clicky ballpoint pens distributed by some company or other. The pen had a clear window in the body, and there was a rotating plastic cylinder that, each click, would shift and another little motto would appear. This clever wag wrote up some of the more difficult bits of class material on a piece of paper, cut it to size, and glued it to the plastic cylinder. Look like you’re nervous, click pen a few times, go back to taking the test. Voila!
But he didn’t give it a test run first, and he either glued it wrong or replaced the cylinder upside down. Caught him when he kept clicking the pen and then turning it around so he could read it.
5. Fistful of pens
I had a student that was holding all of his extra pens and pencils in his other hand–the entire time. I was curious so when I was walking around near the end of the test I asked for one, and he moved his fingers slightly. I saw writing. So I took one of them, and it was a transparent pen that had a cheat sheet inside it. The letters were tiny but the plastic acted like a magnifying glass. He had four pens with cheat sheets. Needless so say he failed and we don’t let anyone hold fistfuls of pens anymore.
6. Accessorize
I had a friend in high school who managed to get ahold of the answer key to a multiple choice test ahead of time, take pictures of the answers, and then make bracelets with beads corresponding to the correct letter for each question. A different color bead for each possible letter. Also made beginning and end markers on each bracelet to make sure she kept her place.
I thought it was genius.
7. Devour the evidence
My teacher in high school once told me he was taking a history final his senior year in college. They were allowed snacks because it was a long final. He wrote answers on Pringles with a food dye pen and ate them after he got the info from them.
8. Off limits
Girls who would usually wear real short skirts would turn up to exam with skirts below the knee.
On the top of their legs all the notes needed would be written. Any questions by the predominantly male supervisors regarding this was going to be viewed as some kind of sexual perversion. This was used throughout secondary school.
9. See Number 1
The best cheats are going to come from the students who didn’t get caught by their professors. I used to program shit into my TI-83 calculator for tests, easiest cheat ever.
10. Glorious
Our school decided to pay students over the summer to paint all the graffitied desks in coats of cheap black paint for the coming year. As we approached our finals, seat numbers were assigned for every student. An important point of note, our school was open to undertaking personal study in a room on your own/group and most of the buildings were open till 9or 10 at night.
I know people who would go into the room where the assigned desk was and write out complete essay plot points, key dates, formula etc in light graphite pencils on the black desks. You could only see the notes if you tilted your heads a certain angle, and could easily be covered up by laying your arm out flat. Even better, they would then with a quick lick of their finger smudge it when done .
My favourite story was so blatant it was brilliant. A friend was really nervous about our last ever maths final, so nervous that he brought the maths book in with him under his sweater.
Halfway through the exam he just whipped the book out on the pages he needed got the info and boom hid the book again. Now, he did get really paranoid about one teacher who he thought had him rumbled, so he went to the bathroom claiming he was about to violently ill(clutching his stomach). Gets into a stall after the teacher had vetted the cubicle for no notes and process to wretch like a lunatic. At the same time he is opening the cistern and drops the book in there as quietly as he can. Teacher checks the cubicle once more after he is finished and seems satisfied . Years later we met the same teacher now an IT consultant on a night out and the story came to light. His response :”Ya cheeky bastard! The fricking cistern ! Glorious, lets do shots!”
