Academic Dishonesty: Long road to redemption or futile task?

[TouchdownTommy]

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So, my story goes that 3 years ago I got caught with a friend for sharing answers on a homework assignment. We both got academic dishonesty violations put on our records. Fast forward to this year, and I didn't get any interviews after applying to 25 med schools, which I'm guessing had something to do with my academic dishonesty. I plan to work a couple years at a research job to rethink my life, but in the mean time my question is this: to any admissions people that may be on this site, is my academic dishonesty violation something that will prevent me from ever being a doctor? Or, after some sort of time period (maybe 5 years after the fact, maybe more), will I be a viable candidate for an MD program?

 

[Maybaxter]

Ive seen students who have had blemishes larger than academic dishonesty get into MD universities by proving they were different people. Indeed, time does help make an infraction like cheating look less terrible, but if you own up to your mistake- possible get ahead of your issue, you may be fortunate enough to get an interview. In my opinion, higher MCAT scores and applying DO would be your best bet at the moment. However, you never know, your academic dishonesty may not have even been the issue.

 

[235009]

Not necessarily. What do you bring to the table? (GPA and mcat score) did your explanation of the IA demonstrate remorse? Which state are you from? Which undergrad school did you go to?

It's an uphill battle but basically you have entice the school by being better than their average candidate and showing that this was a one time thing and you've since repented.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Goro]

I would like to follow up these sage comments by adding that a long continuous period of exemplary behavior, especially while engaged in a position of responsibility, will be one of the extras you can bring to the table, as Meat has pointed out.

Not necessarily. What do you bring to the table? (GPA and mcat score) did your explanation of the IA demonstrate remorse? Which state are you from? Which undergrad school did you go to?

It's an uphill battle but basically you have entice the school by being better than their average candidate and showing that this was a one time thing and you've since repented.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Lawpy]

Not necessarily. What do you bring to the table? (GPA and mcat score) did your explanation of the IA demonstrate remorse? Which state are you from? Which undergrad school did you go to?

It's an uphill battle but basically you have entice the school by being better than their average candidate and showing that this was a one time thing and you've since repented.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

I would like to follow up these sage comments by adding that a long continuous period of exemplary behavior, especially while engaged in a position of responsibility, will be one of the extras you can bring to the table, as Meat has pointed out.

glad to see you guys being good friends!

 

[LizzyM]

Once you are caught cheating, whatever GPA you've earned is attributed to cheating but not getting caught.

Adcoms don't want to admit someone who has cheated only to have them cheat in med school and to have TPTB come back to the adcom and say, "why did you let this known cheater into our midst?"

Find another career. If you still have the medical school bug a decade from now, retake some classes to brush up your skills, retake the MCAT, and reapply.

 

[235009]

Once you are caught cheating, whatever GPA you've earned is attributed to cheating but not getting caught.

Adcoms don't want to admit someone who has cheated only to have them cheat in med school and to have TPTB come back to the adcom and say, "why did you let this known cheater into our midst?"

Find another career. If you still have the medical school bug a decade from now, retake some classes to brush up your skills, retake the MCAT, and reapply.

Totally untrue. Maybe that's your perspective or that of your admissions committee but it in no way applies across the board and the fact that you imply that is a complete disservice to not only this poster but the community as a whole.

 

[Goro]

Your medical career may not be dead, but it is in deep stasis. You will need several years of exemplary behavior preferably also holding some type of position of responsibility.

 

[LizzyM]

Once you are caught cheating, whatever GPA you've earned is attributed to cheating but not getting caught.

Adcoms don't want to admit someone who has cheated only to have them cheat in med school and to have TPTB come back to the adcom and say, "why did you let this known cheater into our midst?"

Find another career. If you still have the medical school bug a decade from now, retake some classes to brush up your skills, retake the MCAT, and reapply.

Totally untrue. Maybe that's your perspective or that of your admissions committee but it in no way applies across the board and the fact that you imply that is a complete disservice to not only this poster but the community as a whole.

Are the following true?
Once you are caught cheating, it is assumed to be the first time you've ever done it and totally unrelated to whatever GPA you've earned.

Adcoms will admit someone who has cheated with the hope that they will not do it again and if that student does cheat in med school no one will come back to the adcom and say, "why did you let this known cheater into our midst?"

Go ahead and reapply. There is no need to find another career. The 25 medical schools that didn't admit you were flukes and there is no need to wait 10 years to apply.

 

[Goro]

glad to see you guys being good friends!

I think we've mellowed in our old age

 

[bannie22]

???

Once you are caught cheating, whatever GPA you've earned is attributed to cheating but not getting caught.

Adcoms don't want to admit someone who has cheated only to have them cheat in med school and to have TPTB come back to the adcom and say, "why did you let this known cheater into our midst?"

Find another career. If you still have the medical school bug a decade from now, retake some classes to brush up your skills, retake the MCAT, and reapply.

Are the following true?
Once you are caught cheating, it is assumed to be the first time you've ever done it and totally unrelated to whatever GPA you've earned.

Adcoms will admit someone who has cheated with the hope that they will not do it again and if that student does cheat in med school no one will come back to the adcom and say, "why did you let this known cheater into our midst?"

Go ahead and reapply. There is no need to find another career. The 25 medical schools that didn't admit you were flukes and there is no need to wait 10 years to apply.

 

[libertyyne]

5 years since the incident before applying again. Go do a city year or Peace corps for penance in the meanwhile. You could apply to garunteed linkage programs if you meet the cut offs (some do schools have this .) If all of the above fails the carribean is an option,although a risky one.

 

[mwsapphire]

???

She was replying to meat tornado, I think she quoted her own post by mistake.
She said that this is the end of his medical career, or at least its significantly harder for OP to pursue an MD, but meattornado said that's totally false and she was making a counterargument, but replied to the wrong post.

 

[LizzyM]

She was replying to meat tornado, I think she quoted her own post by mistake.
She said that this is the end of his medical career, or at least its significantly harder for OP to pursue an MD, but meattornado said that's totally false and she was making a counterargument, but replied to the wrong post.

You need to "click to expand" to know that I quoted myself and @MeatTornado.

 

[Goro]

Totally untrue. Maybe that's your perspective or that of your admissions committee but it in no way applies across the board and the fact that you imply that is a complete disservice to not only this poster but the community as a whole.

In our Adcom, I constantly hear this line of thought: "why should we take a risk on this kid when we have so many other kids who don't cheat?" This is what the OP is up against.
Now, different Adcom members will view cheating incidents differently. There's cheating like the OP did, which I consider relatively minor, or copy/pasting right from Wiki or other sources without any citations (or, more commonly forgetting a few citations...this is sloppiness, not cheating). I'm more willing to gamble on people like this, especially if they own what they did.

But every now and then I'll see an SDNer say "I was too busy" or "I had a deadline". These are excuses, and I have no tolerance for them.

And then there's CHEATING! Some real life examples I have seen from applications, and from SDNers:
having someone take an exam for you,
breaking into a professor's computer to steal tests,
stealing a test off of a desk
overtly obviously looking over someone's shoulder during an exam and copying answers,
using a cell phone during the exam
using crib sheets during an exam
buying essays from a service
fabricating or falsifying data

With the first example, a fellow Adcom member said that they believe in redemption...the rest of us did not though.

My clinical colleagues (both MD and DO) seem to be the harshest on cheating IAs. They take professionalism very seriously, knowing that dishonest doctors start out as dishonest students.

 

[Aerus]

You need A LOT of years separating yourself and the incident. 3 years is not enough and I would strongly recommend against reapplying again next cycle. Your application is dead for the next few cycles.

It may also help if you get involved with being in a leadership position regarding academic integrity or something to show that you learned why it's important and that you're using your mistake to try and educate others on its importance.