I've been disciplined for academic dishonesty. I was not suspended or actually seen cheating, but there were papers underneath my chair not zipped up in my backpack during a final. I got an F in the class and will retake it, but the dean said I have to say I've been disciplined for academic dishonesty. By the time I apply, I will have a 3.3-3.4 (closer to 3.4) as a Molecular Cell Developmental Biology major at UCLA, over 100 hours volunteer, shadowed 3 different doctors, 3 researches (2 lab; 1 clinical), other things as well on the side, and hopefully a 30-32 on the MCAT. I already took it once and got a 25, but I only studied for it for 2 weeks. What are my realistic chances for being accepted into a medical school in America with the retaken class and with the academic dishonesty? What about the Carribeans? Does anyone or has anyone that has been disciplined for academic dishonesty been accepted into a Medical School?
Also, I heard that schools are doing background checks on their applicants. If so, how badly will a pending DUI case hurt my application?
A lot of bad things have happened to me from being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but I also am at fault for some things. I do however, want to be a doctor and it is what I've wanted to be since a kid. Is there anyway I will get in to a medical school? And I do mean ANY MED SCHOOL IN AMERICA? Thanks
Here are a couple of things for you to think about: First, I have a feeling that you are probably pretty young. By that, I mean under the age of 25. If this is indeed the case, you have the luxury of time (and I am talking about two to five years) to put your DUI and Academic Dishonesty behind you. Even if you have the money and head off to an "off shore" medical school, the criminal background check is going to hang you up when you come back to apply for residency. These checks are very thorough and definitely done most if not all American medical schools.
I would seriously advise that you not seek admission to any medical school until you have spent a few years doing something meaningful like counseling others who have DUI, speaking against non-responsible use of alcohol or speaking out against use of intoxicants of any type. You are going to need some time to prove that you have learned your "lessons of youth" and that you are completely trustworthy in every manner.
If you are older than 25, you have less time but you need to start looking into an alternative career (outside of healthcare) until you have put some time between these two matters and done the above. Again, I would not say that you are never going to be able to get into medical school, but five years from now, if you have changed your life convincingly, you might try to reapply, explain what you have done to make amends and learn your lessons. (It's called doing some time and paying the piper".)
Residency programs and medical schools are deadly serious about throughly checking the backgrounds of prospective applicants. If you can point to five years of sobriety, academic honesty and community service, your present indiscretions may be filed under "life-lessons" and your can enter this career. During that time, you can work on your MCAT study because you will certainly have plenty of time.
What your post shows (and I am a member of two medical school admissions committees) is that your judgement is pretty poor right now. Even if your undergraduate GPA was 4.0 and you didn't have the academic dishonesty problem, your DUI and the fact that you "studied for 2 weeks" for the MCAT and scored poorly do not speak well for you along with the statement " I was not suspended or actually SEEN cheating ... " You were caught and there was enough evidence for you to given an F in the class. This is likely a fact and noted on your transcripts. There is no shortcut or "quick fix" to development of maturity and good judgement.
Right now, you need to spend some time developing that maturity and good judgement. Better choices for you might be Peace Corps, VISTA or military service and the achievement of an exemplary record over time. Your road into medicine is going to be longer and tougher but not impossible. These are the consequences of your actions. You also need to spend some quality figuring out how NOT to wind up in situations like the above. My guess is that you have learned your lessons but you are going to have a great deal of difficulty convincing any US medical school of this fact without some serious work and time. Good luck!
