What if you lie on med school applications...?

[raiderette]

At the interview at my state school, one of my interviewers knew several people at the clinic where I volunteer. If I had been lying, it would have been noticed in seconds. Luckily, I actually do work there or I would have been caught. It would be nothing for them to pick up the phone and contact them. He even knew a doctor that I shadowed from high school.

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[LizzyM]

Its entirely possible that he simply looked up online the name of the volunteer coordinator because he didn't remember it and listed the outdated information. I think its unethical of you to not bother finding out. I worked at a payed tutor program for a year online. Last year, I called and asked for a number to use as a reference on AMCAS. Its entirely possible the individual I'm using as a reference now is neither currently working at the company nor was when I was working there. There are a number of possible extenuating circumstances and you should at least give him the opportunity to provide another reference.

The name he listed was someone who left that institution before his start date. So it wasn't using the name of someone who had taken over after he left or who was currently working there. When we get a suspicion of disinformation it is far easier to say "no interview" and move on than to go to great lengths to verify.

 

[iDOliveinMD]

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[Ismet]

What if when you submitted your application you thought by say April 2016 that you would have more hours for _____ experience than you actually did? Will the fact that my guesstimate was wrong be a big deal? If I was off by dozens of hours does that demonstrate a lack of commitment/integrity or would an explanation of why I discontinued volunteering suffice?

They're not going to follow up on your continued activities....

 

[iDOliveinMD]

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[Promethean]

When I submitted in the summer I thought I'd continue volunteering at this one position but life happened so I am no longer volunteering there and won't have as many hours as listed under the activity.

On AMCAS you can put ex: August 2013-August 2016 even though you are submitting in summer 2015. So my hours estimate is definitely going to be off. But if you say it doesn't matter I won't worry about it.

If anyone bothered to check that, it would fall into the honest mistake category. And it is of such trivial significance that attempting to update the record would be more of a hassle for AMCAS and any schools involved than it would be worth.

If you made a good faith effort to estimate accurately and circumstances changed, no one will hold that against you.

If you were counting on 40 hours a week for the estimated hours, where you had previously only been volunteering 4 hours a week, that isn't a good faith estimate.

 

[deleted702880]

I make rough estimates for almost all of my activities and some of them came out somewhat ridiculous. If asked by an adcom I can explain how I formulated my number and the circumstances under which I engaged in the activity. If it (or any other lie for that matter) comes up during an interview then you best make sure your alibi and acting skills are top notch.

Edit: to be clear, I'm not advocating lying. I'm suggesting you would need to be a damn good actor to pass off a lie to adcoms. Honesty is always the best and if you honestly don't have anything you think is special about your app then ask a med school friend or career center about what you might do to make it where you want it to be.

 

[feather421]

When I submitted in the summer I thought I'd continue volunteering at this one position but life happened so I am no longer volunteering there and won't have as many hours as listed under the activity.

On AMCAS you can put ex: August 2013-August 2016 even though you are submitting in summer 2015. So my hours estimate is definitely going to be off. But if you say it doesn't matter I won't worry about it.

Yeah, I feel you. I had no idea how crazy the interview season would be, and that's meant some of my estimated hours have taken a hit. As with most dilemmas, my intuition is that if you can explain it in an interview and not be embarrassed or ashamed, it's probably okay. For example, "My schedule ended up being more hectic than I expected and I had to reduce hours in this way, but am hoping to continue for a longer duration" vs. "I doubled my hours from two years ago."

 

[Turkishking]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...got-called-on-it.1162589/page-2#post-16944713

This.

 

[Armish]

Hello...what if you have worked in a pharmacy for a year and volunteer 2 days and the pharmacist over thier often forgets stuff. The staff also changes. If someone from optometry schools calls and asks that if I have volunteer in his pharmacy and he says "NO". What should be done afterwards? Am I screwed? I dnt have extracurricular activities tho. What proof can I give? What if I remind him that they were asking about me and then he calls and tells them? Can the problem be fixed?