Academic Dishonesty Bomb PA School Chances

[DerpyDerpinator]

Hello,

I wanted to know how badly I messed up for my chance for PA School as I am a freshman who just got an academic dishonesty charge on my school record, but not on my transcript; however, this charge will be disclosed to whatever graduate school I apply, which would most likely be the school I am currently attending since I am on the accelerated PA school track and guaranteed admission if my grades and hours are met. I know that I will have to work extremely hard to make my application look stellar apart from the infraction, but will this completely ruin my chance to go to PA school in the future? I do not think I would be able to have any clemency my way out of the charge as she has already filed the report ready for my signature and I received a 0 for the assessment. I really do regret my actions as it made me consider how dishonest and what I scum I am since I should have not done collusion on a take-home assessment or any assignment as it truly discredits my moral and unfair to my peers in my class, and in the future, I do plan on explaining myself and proving myself of maturity and growth from this stupid mistake. As to make my application the best it can be, I plan on focusing on my GPA, PCE Hours, PA shadowing, and volunteering along with my Personal Statement? Please let me know what you think. How I should respond to this situation? Will PA school be an option for me in the future?

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[Mkif586]

I think you should go to PA forum to ask this

 

[Rogue42]

I think you should go to PA forum to ask this

I don't think there is a PA forum. Ive tried to find one before and the only one out there is one that is so outdated that there isn't anyone on it. This is a good place to ask this question because it can be answered here as accepting applicants to PA schools is pretty similar to the process of accepting applicants to medical school.

To answer the OP's question; no, it doesn't completely ruin, but makes it extremely difficult. Especially since it is for academic dishonesty. I think to be successful, you're going to have to put years between you and the IA. You may not get to matriculate to PA schools at 21/22, but you might get to at 25/26 if you can show no other IA's, good academic record and performance from when it happened, and years of maturity.

 

[KnightDoc]

We've seen plenty of IA posts over time, but never one from a freshman less than a month after school began! Was this like your first college assignment ever? Have you been cheating your way through school since first grade? Who cheats the minute they get to college?

Did it even occur to you to try to do your own work? I have no idea what kind of standards PA schools have, and I have no doubt that you truly regret getting caught, but I have no idea how to spin this in a constructive way. Given the timing, I don't see how this can do anything other than call into question every academic accomplishment you have ever achieved.

Given the stage you are at in your academic career, I really think it is premature to even think about this. Assuming you have been a cheater at least through HS (which is probably a safe assumption based on the timing here), why not focus on doing well without cheating for a few years and see how that goes. If you can't get good grades honestly, your question will be moot and you won't have to worry about it. Assuming you can do well, honestly, for several years, then you can start to think about how to describe this as a youthful indiscretion that you learned from.

 

[Mkif586]

I don't think there is a PA forum. Ive tried to find one before and the only one out there is one that is so outdated that there isn't anyone on it. This is a good place to ask this question because it can be answered here as accepting applicants to PA schools is pretty similar to the process of accepting applicants to medical school.

To answer the OP's question; no, it doesn't completely ruin, but makes it extremely difficult. Especially since it is for academic dishonesty. I think to be successful, you're going to have to put years between you and the IA. You may not get to matriculate to PA schools at 21/22, but you might get to at 25/26 if you can show no other IA's, good academic record and performance from when it happened, and years of maturity.

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[Rogue42]

Clinicians [ RN / NP / PA ]

For RNs, NPs, PAs and other current and past medical providers.

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Again, definitely does not have the traffic that this sub-forum gets. Where the question can be better seen and answered equivocally.

 

[candbgirl]

OP I’m not sure what you think we can say to help you! You’ve been at school, what 6 weeks and you already have an IA for academic dishonesty? What is there to say. Maybe go and talk to the Director of the PA program now. You might as well find out how detrimental this will be to your future as a PA. If your future is clouded it might be better to know now so you can plot your future course. Of course you feel awful but what possessed you to cheat on a take home exam?

 

[RJ McReady]

OP,
I’m a champion of reinvention and second chances. But knowingly cheating and getting caught and then regretting it and trying to make amends just because you were caught is not a good look. Here’s the issue: Would you have continued to cheat if you were not caught? This is what any graduate school will wonder. Cheating and academic dishonesty are among the most serious infractions at almost any graduate school, and especially at a medical school or PA school, where integrity and honesty is paramount.

If you were applying to my med school you’d be dead in the water. And by Thst I mean your app wouldn’t even be considered. You may need a couple of years of reflection and/or reinvention, but I would seriously doubt that any PA school would accept yoh.

 

[harvard_of_the_west]

Derpy,

I'm sorry you made the decision to cheat, especially so early on in school. Understand that it's a really poor look and your chances in your accelerated PA program are almost guaranteed shot at this point. Just accept that. There's plenty of great, good, and mediocre applicants who don't have academic dishonesty IA's on their records who will be admitted before they even consider you, no matter how good your stats are.

I'm gonna give you a little advice since I imagine you're feeling pretty crummy right now--Tell your parents if you haven't already. That'd be a great first step in putting this accepting this mistake and putting it behind you. Everything the other posters have said on here is accurate. You're fighting an uphill battle the size of Mt. Everest from here on out. In the end, it may not be something that can be done. Only you can demonstrate that this was actually a fluke incident and that you're somebody who isn't a serial cheater. This will likely take additional years of work.

I've heard of students who've gotten IA's before and have done so much self-repair and character improvement that they actually end up getting a letter of rec from the prof that initially assigned the IA. If there is any hope you can rebuild a relationship with this prof, that might speak wonders to your ability to mature and better yourself. Good luck.

 

[ciestar]

Your best chances are with your current accelerated program. However, this is bad and you might have to settle with the idea of taking some time off before starting any kind of professional school.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Well the first question is whether this will revoke your automatic acceptance to PA school. If not, you should focus on that.