Googling his name brings up this article as the third result. Someone in whatever college he has been accepted to will surely discover and spread rumors, which he can’t really defend against because all the evidence supports that he did it. If he tries to publish anything, people will see his name and immediately question its legitimacy. If he gets an offer and the employer finds out they may rescind it because they can’t trust him.
Maybe he won’t outright get his admission rescinded, but I can’t see how a prestigious college is worth more than an intact reputation (I’m sure that without this award he still would’ve been accepted to a great community college at worst, and with his research internship assuming good AP scores, he may have even got into his top choice).
Sure. The gist of what you write is true. Being caught cheating harms his future prospects.
You are thinking that now because he was already caught. But when he decided to cheat he didn’t know he will be caught. Probably he either estimated the chanches of him it wrong. Thinking perhaps that he will do a better job with the cheating, or that nobody looks that hard. Or he assumed lower consequences. Perhaps assuming if they catch him they just won’t give him the award, as opposed to making a big deal out of it.
He comes from a rich caste family, which is on the opposite side in regards to "introspection and external perception".
Indian society is unlike any other and cannot be simplified, even within the individual castes.
Of course I do not know this individual and their mindset concerning "motivations", but I find it very unlikely that these "mistakes" are due to entrenched group morays shared among poor/dalit castes.
Is college that important when you’re already rich af?
A lot of people care about prestige and reputation at least as much as they care about money, especially people who have money. For many people being rich isn't enough, they also have to be seen as smart and successful.
