First offense
No honest page can tell you your outcome — your school's sanction table decides it, and it is published. What can be said generally: at most colleges, sanctions scale with the offense and the record. A first case over one paper typically lands somewhere on the range from a warning, to a zero on the assignment, to failing the course, to probation — with suspension and expulsion usually reserved for repeat, large-scale, or dishonest-through-the-process cases. Professional programs and honor-code schools can be stricter; your handbook is the only version that counts, and the checker and schools table point you at it.
What moves a case inside that range: whether the panel believes the paper is yours, whether you answered on time and in process, and whether the file is evidence or excuses. A first-offense student with a complete trail — version history, drafts, research — is making a different case from a student with a bare denial, even when both are innocent.
Two traps to avoid. Do not accept a “small” informal penalty just to end it without knowing what goes on your record and whether it reports to grad schools, employers, or licensing bodies — ask in writing. And do not miss the answer window while deciding: an unanswered accusation is often decided as charged.
Run your dates through the checker, build the file from the evidence list, and if the letter mentions suspension, expulsion, or a professional program's fitness review, read the kit's escalation page logic early: those stakes are where a lawyer stops being optional.
Get the MyWorkMyWords Kit — $39
One payment of $39. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — the evidence binder builder, appeal statement templates, hearing scripts, and deadline tracker, built for a student answering an accusation this week.