Quoted: Conduct violation and med school application

[Doodledog]

Question posed to the group via PM to me. I will respond in a separate post:

I've joined recently to get some advice on how I should address a problem for my med school application.

In my first year physics lab class, I made a very stupid mistake of emailing my lab partner my lab report. She said she wanted to see how I did a few of my calculations and graphs, and ended up copy+pasting the entire thing without telling me, and handing it in. We both got called into the assistant dean's office. The assistant dean said he understood that i wasn't trying to help my partner cheat or anything, but that it was a very stupid decision indeed and put me on conduct probation until my graduation (next may) but didn't dock me marks for the lab or the class (Final grade of A). It didn't go on my permanent record. I don't remember what she got as a punishment.

I haven't made any such stupid decisions since then, and have a GPA of ~3.8, MCAT score of mid 30s will be graduating from an Honors program, strong research experience, lots of community volunteer stuff, etc.

I don't think it's really worth even trying to cover up. It's not as if I cheated on an exam or assaulted someone - i made a stupidly careless mistake; but i don't want it to ruin my entire academic career. I feel like if i tried to hide it and they found out, it would be far worse than if i was honest about it from the beginning, moreover, i don't think i want the sword of damocles hanging over my head for X number of years.

How should i address it in my application? I don't want to talk about it too much and draw more attention than necessary, nor do i want to provide too little information. I am also getting a letter of recommendation from an ethics professor who knows me pretty well. Should i get him to talk about what a moral person i am now, or not mention it anywhere else than the primary application?

This is super long but has been eating me for the past 3 years. Thank you so much.

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[Doodledog]

As with all such incidents, it is worth discussing this with your premed advisor and AMCAS or any other application agency. But, for now, lets assume it needs to be reported and I think that is always the best default in this situation.

Because this is not a severe event (in my opinion at least) and occurred several years ago, I would simply report it factually in a few sentences. I would NOT use up essay space to describe it further. If you have a chance in a secondary to provide "extra information" you can do so, although I am unconvinced this is necessary.

If you have a professor that can attest to you as an individual and your ethics, that's always good - regardless of this type of event. Again, ask this person not to focus on this, but simply speak to your personal standards.

Now, the toughest part is going to be at interviews. Assuming you have good numbers, etc, you'll likely get the expected interviews. Do not bring it up, but be prepared to answer questions about it. Do exactly what you did in your post - do not defend your actions, ask for pity or even put yourself down. A simple "I made a mistake as a freshman, I haven't done it again and I have demonstrated my commitment to medicine and service" will do...or something like that. PRACTICE this spiel with someone so that it sounds right.

Good luck.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Am I the only one who thinks this person did nothing wrong? I'm far our from my school days, but I remember reviewing calculations / findings / etc with lab partners. The partner plagiarized. The Dean presumably called both in, unsure of whom was the guilty party. If the other person owned up to it, perhaps the OP is guilty of being gullible but I don't see a big professional violation here.

 

[dragonfly99]

I agree with APD.
I don't see the big ethical lapse here. The way this was presented, the OTHER person did something wrong b/c SHE didn't do the homework. Unless you were specifically told not to review answers with someone else, I don't see where the OP did much of anything wrong. Shoot, at my school (small liberal arts college) we actually were encouraged to work on lab assignments together in certain classes, such as physics. In chemistry it wasn't allowed though, so I guess it was class specific.

I would NOT dwell on this in your application. Unless it is listed on your official transcript as an honors violation or something, I would not even discuss it in your personal statement. I would only mention it once in your entire application, and in 1 or 2 sentences...just be factual about what occurred. You could also consider not mentioning it at all if it's not going to appear in your transcript or LOR's. I don't think this is really very dishonest given that I don't see where you did much that was wrong here...you did the work, and the other person cheated, not you.

 

[Doodledog]

I would assume from the OP that sharing of one's lab report was not permitted by class rules and that is why they got into trouble. Some classes do not permit such sharing and therefore the person who sent the file would also have committed a violation of the rules.

Regardless, it is not a major event and I generally agree with the comments not to focus on it.