Medical School Application and Res Life Probation Question

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Hi Everyone,

I am currently a sophmore and a cell and developemental biology major. This semester, I was put on probation by res life (not academic probation my grades are very good) for a party in my suite that got a little out of control.

My suitemates and I were holding a party for a friend who was transferring schools. Too many people showed up, the party was very noisy, and the blinds on the windows were broken. According to my school's res life, we broken three rules: exceeding maximum occupancy, community values violation (noise level complaint), and damage to school property (broken blinds which cost them 600 apparently, wtf?). Nothing major happened but my school is very strict on housing policy and me and my suitemates were put on housing probation for the next semester. While we tried to argue that this was ludicrous, the head of housing would not change their stance.

Will this affect my eventual application to medical school? I am very worried that something minor will have a big impact on my application. Do medical schools even ask if you have been on residential life probation?

Thanks,
Concerned Student

Something similar happened to me freshman year, and it was basically a warning that, if I messed up again, action would be taken. Since you're on "probation," it sounds like your situation might be similar--don't mess up again, and you won't have any sort of permanent institutional action.

Medical schools don't specifically ask if you've ever been on housing probation, but you are required to report if any institutional actions have been taken against you. This may or may not qualify as an institutional action depending on things like whether it will disappear/be expunged, whether it is strictly a housing issue or whether it goes on your university disciplinary record, etc. The best person to answer these questions is probably your registrar, someone in student judicial affairs, or the res life coordinator. If you ask to see a copy of your student disciplinary record and they tell you you don't have one (or it's clear), then it's probably not something you need to report.

EDIT: Here is the relevant quote from the 2012 AMCAS instruction manual.

You must answer Yes to this question if you were ever the recipient of any institutional action
resulting from unacceptable academic performance or a conduct violation, even if such action did
not interrupt your enrollment or require you to withdraw. You must answer Yes even if the action
does not appear on or has been deleted from your official transcripts due to institutional policy or
personal petition.

If you answer Yes, you may use the space provided to explain; this space is 1325 characters or
approximately one-quarter of a page in length.

If you are not certain whether or not you have been the subject of an institutional action,
contact the registrar, student affairs officer, or other appropriate party at the institution for
confirmation of your record.

Failure to provide accurate information in answering this question or, if applicable, in completing
the form provided by the school, will result in an investigation. Medical schools require you to
answer this question accurately and provide all relevant information. Medical schools understand
that many individuals learn from the past and emerge stronger as a result. Full disclosure will
enable the medical schools to more effectively evaluate this information within the context of your
credentials.

Basically, it comes down to whether a warning/probation counts as an "action" by your school, and the best people to answer that question are the people at your school. Good luck!

The Res Life Coordinator who handled this issue said it would appear on my student disciplinary record. She explained that if a graduate school requested such a record it would appear on it. She has only worked at the school for a year so the information may not be true. I will go to the registrar and ask as well as talk with someone higher up.

But, lets just say that it does stay on it. Do medical schools request to look at such a thing? Will they care that I was put on housing probation if I explain thoroughly that it was a minor issue and I have since learned and matured from such behavior?

Originally Posted by redsoxfan4

The Res Life Coordinator who handled this issue said it would appear on my student disciplinary record. She explained that if a graduate school requested such a record it would appear on it. She has only worked at the school for a year so the information may not be true. I will go to the registrar and ask as well as talk with someone higher up.

But, lets just say that it does stay on it. Do medical schools request to look at such a thing? Will they care that I was put on housing probation if I explain thoroughly that it was a minor issue and I have since learned and matured from such behavior?

Definitely double check, but yeah, it sounds like it's something you would need to report. Considering that none of the complaints are for anything illegal (like providing alcohol to minors, etc.), it really doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I'm not an expert though, just a pre-med student, so hopefully someone else can weigh in. Just don't mess up again and explain the situation/what you've learned in the space given on AMCAS. People DO successfully get in with much bigger problems (like DUIs), so this certainly isn't the end of the world.

This is something that you must report. That said, it is NOT the sort of thing that will be a road block to your admisison to medical school but more like a speed bump through the application process.

Common road blocks, in my experience, include cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty as well as thefts. Much less common but very serious would be any kind of violent crime or anything involving sexual misconduct.

Common speed bumps are alcohol violations on campus, other infractions of dormatory rules (e.g. illegal use of a small applicance, noise), speeding tickets, disorderly conduct (carrying a drink in the street and, perhaps related, pissing in an allley), and academic probation that is remediated.

Misuse of the internet (illegal downloads, using someone else's account for mischief), arrests for small amounts of pot, and driving while intoxicated could go either way and are often entail significant debate by a committee.

Originally Posted by LizzyM

Misuse of the internet (illegal downloads, using someone else's account for mischief), arrests for small amounts of pot, and driving while intoxicated could go either way and are often entail significant debate by a committee.

really? It's probably a generational thing. I'd bet that next generation it would be in the same category as pissing in an alley.

Illegal downloads are the norm. No college student pays for their entire 30+ GB music collection.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

really? It's probably a generational thing. I'd bet that next generation it would be in the same category as pissing in an alley.

That's the generational thing... the adcom members who I was with on the "Institutional Action review" subcommittee were in the rage of 45-75 years old. It wasn't quite, "What is this internetz thing?" but close to it. Thus it causes debate and can go either way depending on personal viewpoints regarding the "crime".

Originally Posted by LizzyM

...driving while intoxicated could go either way and are often entail significant debate by a committee.

Wow, really? You'd think that would screw you out of every school, everywhere. I guess if the DUI is in the past, and you've been a model citizen since, they can (hesitantly) look past it.

Originally Posted by EBTrailRunner

Illegal downloads are the norm. No college student pays for their entire 30+ GB music collection.

No college student seems to pay for ANYTHING. Movies games music....

So what you are saying is I really shouldn't worry about an issue like this and the admission committee will most likely not think too much about it?

Originally Posted by redsoxfan4

So what you are saying is I really shouldn't worry about an issue like this and the admission committee will most likely not think too much about it?

More or less. If you have any other issues you haven't mentioned, or are leaving out additional details about this fiasco, it may be a big deal, but in isolation, they'll read your explanation, shrug, and move on.

Originally Posted by Pattycake25

More or less. If you have any other issues you haven't mentioned, or are leaving out additional details about this fiasco, it may be a big deal, but in isolation, they'll read your explanation, shrug, and move on.

Nope that's all the details. The reslife at my school is notorious for being ruthless and unforgiving. I am going to go set up a meeting with the dean of students to see if he can do anything.

haha.. I was on reslife
I do wish you the best. Think you're taking good action by talking to the dean of students. If he can't do anything, at least he can give you some direction.

Originally Posted by Pattycake25

Wow, really? You'd think that would screw you out of every school, everywhere. I guess if the DUI is in the past, and you've been a model citizen since, they can (hesitantly) look past it.

Blowing a 0.08 at a road block on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner, (no crash, no injuries, etc) could be looked at by some adcom members as "Unlucky bastard. It could have just as easily happened to me." Again, it could create considerable debate and not be a cut and dried at every school.

I was reading up on this action in many other forums posts on the website. If institutional action was taken, which in my case the area coordinator said I was on probation and it would appear on my record, I would have received an email or some sort of letter right? As of now, (being 3 weeks later) I have not received or been informed of anything. Does this mean that this violation did not go on my record at all? This may not be a question you guys can answer so I will go speak with the registrar on Monday.

Originally Posted by redsoxfan4

I was reading up on this action in many other forums posts on the website. If institutional action was taken, which in my case the area coordinator said I was on probation and it would appear on my record, I would have received an email or some sort of letter right? As of now, (being 3 weeks later) I have not received or been informed of anything. Does this mean that this violation did not go on my record at all? This may not be a question you guys can answer so I will go speak with the registrar on Monday.

Perhaps you are on double secret probation.

Originally Posted by LizzyM

Perhaps you are on double secret probation.

That would be nice haha! Maybe the lady forgot to enter me into the system!

.

Originally Posted by DanGee777

I have a friend (seriously, it's not me) who was convicted of felony vehicular manslaughter after driving drunk and getting involved in a caraccident that resulted in the death of his passenger. It happened in 2007 and he served 2 years in prison on a plea deal. He is applying MD and DO this cycle. How likely is it that ad-comms will overlook this? Can felons even get licensed as physicians and/or receive DEA numbers?

No adcom will overlook a felony conviction. Except Carribean.

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Send me a pm. I have some experience applying (successfully!) with this sort of thing.