With the stress of standardized testing, people have long sought ways to cheat their way to perfect scores. Writing answers on their hands, passing notes around, whispering answers—students across the globe have done some insane things just to pass one meager exam.
However, this past AP exam cycle was the Olympics of outrageous cheating attempts—each story more jaw-dropping than the last. From hiring body doubles to reviving Morse code, students didn’t just cross the line; they pole-vaulted over it with style.
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Hiring Look Alike
New Jersey, AP Biology: With the colossal number of people worldwide today, everyone has 7 doppelgangers sprinkled across continents. Can you imagine finding them? Well, this girl found hers.
When her school did not offer AP exams, the unnamed high schooler hired a 24-year-old to take the exam for her at a nearby school. Little did people know, the “doppelganger” was enrolled in a nursing program. She managed to make it through the first half of the exam; however, during the break, the secretary of the school recognized her. Apparently, they had worked together in a nearby tutoring center.
Tapping System
Texas, AP European History: Morse code script was first developed in the 1830s or 1840s as part of the telegraph system and was most notably employed to aid the North in its victory in the Civil War. Now, students have collaborated with each other, using this powerful weapon to defeat another seemingly insurmountable enemy—AP Euro.
Two high school sophomores planned it out perfectly—until it wasn’t so perfect anymore. Using taps on their chest and the sounds of clearing their throats or coughs, these two students were able to get through the entire school year without getting caught. However, some people were not so good at keeping secrets. After looping in another student into their method during the exam, the amount of noise coming from all three students caused the proctor to catch on. Unfortunately for the two original students, the proctor pulled the newly looped student aside, and they exposed the whole scheme.
Faking Paralysis
Florida, AP Chemistry: Everybody knows that there are multiple versions of exams. Students on the West Coast receive a different exam than students on the East Coast. However, some people haven’t put two and two together and have risked their scores to help people across the country.
AP Chemistry has long been the catalyst for faking medical injuries. Last year, it was a heart attack; this year, it was a paralyzed leg. The situation all went down midway through the free-response section. After being sent to the counselor’s office for claiming she lost all feeling in her leg, the student sat face-to-face with the counselor, sending messages under her backpack about the exam to someone on the West Coast. Before she knew it, her phone was confiscated, and unfortunately for her, her phone did not lock, exposing all the messages to the counselor.
Taping Phones
California, AP English Literature and Composition: With the rise of AI and the ability to conjure up a whole essay with the click of a button, so many people have been using ChatGPT to cheat on all kinds of work. In March 2025, OpenAI added picture prompts to the platform, forever changing the game.
A repeat-offender high school junior was notorious for cheating on essentially everything. No one reported him, however, because he cheated on assignments for other students, too. One would think that, having been a habitual criminal, this eleventh-grader would’ve mastered the art by now. Nevertheless, this junior was caught red-handed by the proctor of his exam. He slipped in hours early and taped his phone to the table that he knew he would get because the seating was alphabetical. When the proctor caught him, the junior continuously ignored the proctor until his laptop had to be physically taken away. He managed to take back his laptop and finish the exam, but for essentially no reason, as his score was likely to be canceled…
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What do these stories reveal? Pressure makes people do wild things. In the race for college credit and academic validation, some students are willing to trade honesty for a score. But here’s the truth: for every plot that makes headlines, dozens more end in canceled scores, disciplinary hearings, or worse—reputations forever stained.
So, to the next batch of test takers: maybe spend less time learning how to cough in code and more time memorizing those flashcards. Because, as tempting as it might be to game the system, there’s still no cheat code for character.
