Quoted: Honor code violation

[Doodledog]

I am a graduate of a prestigious university applying this cycle and taking two years off before attending medical school. My gpa is a 3.55 and my MCAT is a 37P. I've been doing cancer research since I graduated last year.

My freshman year (over 4 years ago), I made a terrible mistake by turning in a biology lab quiz for a regrade after changing the answers. I owned up and as a result was given probation and a one-letter final grade reduction. Since then I have matured greatly, and of course I never did this again.

The violation is no longer on my transcript, but I will mark it on AMCAS as an institutional action. I have asked the professor who discovered the cheating to write a letter of recommendation for me, and the same professor is writing my committee composite letter. He said he can put the violation in context and will vouch for me.

The committee letter won't make it out until August, but the institutional action on AMCAS will be visible in June. Should I ask for a letter from the Dean of Student Affairs or the biology professor to be sent along with the primary application? What other measures should I take to help the situation? Do I have a chance at getting into allopathic schools in the states?

I'm not sure I'd be too worried about the letter timing. If you'd like, just tell schools to wait on the letter before reviewing your application.

If all other aspects of your application are strong, you have a good chance of getting interviews. It will be up to you to explain yourself and your motivation for medicine at the interviews. If asked about the violations, be honest, contrite, and brief in your responses.

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[Doodledog]

Thank you so much, Tildy.

If the timing doesn't matter, then I won't worry about sending additional letters, which may draw unnecessary attention to my poor decision.

Should address it in my personal statement or only explain it under institutional action? Also, how many schools should I apply to? Over 30? Over 50?

Either way as far as limiting it to the inst action or also your PS. Don't duplicate though and if in your PS, keep it brief there.

As far as # of schools to apply....no way I can answer that without knowing a lot more about you and your application and that's not really CC material!

Same for your other questions about who should write letters. Use your good judgment....

 

[boaz]

The committee letter won't make it out until August, but the institutional action on AMCAS will be visible in June. Should I ask for a letter from the Dean of Student Affairs or the biology professor to be sent along with the primary application? What other measures should I take to help the situation? Do I have a chance at getting into allopathic schools in the states?

All schools that I dealt with this past cycle say that the application is not reviewed until all application materials are in. These include not just the primary (AMCAS) and secondary but also the required LORs. I would imagine that that is how almost all schools work. They won't review the application until it's officially complete, and that won't happen without the LORs. Which means that the honor code violations won't be seen until the committee LOR can be seen at the same time.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

Upon reading the OP post, I am wondering how much of this stuff goes on. I had No problems with incidents of this nature at a very elite institution I went to. But I guess they did.

Because I would like to share a story that happened in the medical school I was in.

I took a physio exam. Got my test back and graded. The exams answers were posted on the wall for all students to see. Then the professor ( certified psychopath) asked the students to turn their already graded exams into the department.

All students who changed answers were brought before a committee outside the medical school and charged with academic misconduct.

I had already passed the exam. I had already passed 1st year. I had no reason to change an answer. But I saw I got a question wrong that really correct. It is my full belief that this university contrived this situation. They told me this type of thing never happened before at that school. I fully believe it did.

I filed a suit. It was crushed in the court system because the school did not want it to get out. and be seen by other institutions etc. I would have won. The school would have been on probation. But they made my life miserable. I did not finish there; I was already 150k in debt when I left.

I had to pay another 150k to finish my education elsewhere.

I am now more in debt than any other medical student in the entire nation.

Fortunately the school released me without any indication/record I ever even went there. I guess that was all they could do for me, nicely.