[connorboyle]

> Eventually, I faked my way through the thesis, and life moved on.

This is a very startling admission! I checked the Chinese (original?) version of the post, and saw the author uses the word "糊弄" (in the place of "faked"); I'm not a native speaker but I think this may come across more as a self-effacing comment on the low quality and/or effort behind their thesis, whereas the English version implies fraud. May be wise to change this!

[hgoel]

I don't know if the Chinese text implies something different, but I think even in English it's pretty normal for people to claim they 'faked' their way through something without referring to fraud.

E.g. "I faked my way through the interview!" = "I did my best to respond to questions I did not feel fully prepared for, and managed to get through the interview"

[jshmrsn]

Well cheated would definitely imply fraud. “Faking it” as in “fake it till you make it” is more like pretending you know about a topic until you learn enough on the job to participate competently.