Plagiarism in B-school: I'm shocked

In a world in which the HBR runs articles with captions "Plagiarize with pride," it should come as no surprise that B-schools are hotbeds of plagiarism. From text in a post at businessweek:

I suspect more business schools will begin subjecting admissions essays to the plagiarism test. Is this something that MBA applicants should be worried about?

I don't think using the same essays in multiple applications will get anyone flagged as a plagiarist--there seems to be general agreement that you can't plagiarize yourself. But borrowing from sample essays found online or other online sources without attribution, even unintentionally, might result in your application being rejected.

I'm all for zero tolerance on plagiarism, but what does everyone else think? Northeastern's online application warns applicants that their essays will be reviewed for possible plagiarism. Should b-schools that use Turnitin warn applicants, or is the stealth approach okay?

IPBiz notes that the text -- there seems to be general agreement that you can't plagiarize yourself -- is very much open to question.