Academic Dishonesty - pre-pharmacy

[juju22]

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Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this but I have heard this was a really helpful site.

Anyways to cut to the chase. I am a senior now applying to pharmacy schools mostly in illinois. During my freshman year for chemistry, I made a huge mistake. I guess I under estimated academic dishonesty. So as a result I failed the class due to tweaking my answers on a exam and asking for points back. I retook the class and earned an A, and took the consequences given by the professor which was failing the class and having it on record until i graduate then taken off if i do not repeat the offense. It was noted on the punishment that this information should not be released to professional schools when I apply.

So how badly will this effect my chances of get into a pharmacy school? Is there anything I can do to make up for this mistake? Are there any suggested explanations that I can give during a interview if I get one? 🙁


Thanks!

 

[Judgment Dragon]

If it is not released to professional schools, why is this a problem?

 

[R2pharmD2]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this but I have heard this was a really helpful site.

Anyways to cut to the chase. I am a senior now applying to pharmacy schools mostly in illinois. During my freshman year for chemistry, I made a huge mistake. I guess I under estimated academic dishonesty. So as a result I failed the class due to tweaking my answers on a exam and asking for points back. I retook the class and earned an A, and took the consequences given by the professor which was failing the class and having it on record until i graduate then taken off if i do not repeat the offense. It was noted on the punishment that this information should not be released to professional schools when I apply.

So how badly will this effect my chances of get into a pharmacy school? Is there anything I can do to make up for this mistake? Are there any suggested explanations that I can give during a interview if I get one? 🙁


Thanks!

Do you mean the fact that the offense will be taken off your record won't be made known to pharmacy schools, or the offense itself won't be made known to them? If they know that you cheated, that's a pretty serious negative, IMO. I'd say you need to do an excellent job convincing them that you've changed your ways if you want to get in. As far as suggested explanations, I suggest you tell the truth. Have you not learned your lesson about dishonesty at this point?

 

[Notecard]

So how badly will this effect my chances of get into a pharmacy school? Is there anything I can do to make up for this mistake? Are there any suggested explanations that I can give during a interview if I get one? 🙁

If they know about it then it will be a very bad thing.

If they don't then you got off lucky and it won't matter unless you tell them.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I'd be really weary of "don't worry, professional schools won't see it!"

I'd go for full disclosure and build the experience into my personal statement to create a "That was a stupid mistake and I learned a valuable lesson from it" thing.

 

[ttpharm]

that **** follows you.. I'm surprised its being taken off your record. Go find out FORSURE. If they will know, you better write about it and explain in your PS.

 

[juju22]

Do you mean the fact that the offense will be taken off your record won't be made known to pharmacy schools, or the offense itself won't be made known to them? If they know that you cheated, that's a pretty serious negative, IMO. I'd say you need to do an excellent job convincing them that you've changed your ways if you want to get in. As far as suggested explanations, I suggest you tell the truth. Have you not learned your lesson about dishonesty at this point?

i believe the offense itself won't be made known, but i am not 100% sure...because if its on record, i thought anyone would be able to find out...i need to double check this somehow...

i would definitely be telling the truth, i have totally learned my lesson, but i was just wondering is there a better way to be explaining what i did, then just bluntly saying what i did and what i learned from it...but i guess not...

 

[juju22]

I'd be really weary of "don't worry, professional schools won't see it!"

I'd go for full disclosure and build the experience into my personal statement to create a "That was a stupid mistake and I learned a valuable lesson from it" thing.

but i have already finished my personal statement and i have not included it in there...it would be hard to just add it in somehow...and the word limit is so limited....it took me a long time to cut down my statement to 4500 characters...

would it be better to just rewrite the whole thing?

 

[30Percent]

How is academic dishonesty noted on your record? If its marked on your transcripts just order a copy of your official transcripts and check if its still there.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

It'd be foolish to go through the admissions process thinking you're on a clean slate. You have no idea what information these schools will be able to pull up on you, so why not be prepared if they do?

Your personal statement is he ideal place to address this issue. Ethics, integrity, etc. are 100% necessary as a Pharmacy Student, let alone in any profession. As I've mentioned before in other threads: turning negatives into positives, and illustrating failures into successes speak volumes more than your generic "eureka" moment in organic chemistry where you decided you wanted to become a pharmacist.

If you're dead set on your current PS, then some of your prospective school's supplemental applications may have questions that may pertain to this incident and give you a chance to explain yourself.

If none of the above apply, I have heard of people putting incidents such as these into formal witting on a separate sheet, explaining the situation to Ad-coms. (perhaps one of our resident school admins or even students can comment further on whether this is a good idea or not).

I believe the last thing you'd want to do is be forced to disclose this during an interview. It can be extremely hit or miss.

 

[creasian444]

It'd be foolish to go through the admissions process thinking you're on a clean slate. You have no idea what information these schools will be able to pull up on you, so why not be prepared if they do?

Your personal statement is he ideal place to address this issue. Ethics, integrity, etc. are 100% necessary as a Pharmacy Student, let alone in any profession. As I've mentioned before in other threads: turning negatives into positives, and illustrating failures into successes speak volumes more than your generic "eureka" moment in organic chemistry where you decided you wanted to become a pharmacist.

If you're dead set on your current PS, then some of your prospective school's supplemental applications may have questions that may pertain to this incident and give you a chance to explain yourself.

If none of the above apply, I have heard of people putting incidents such as these into formal witting on a separate sheet, explaining the situation to Ad-coms. (perhaps one of our resident school admins or even students can comment further on whether this is a good idea or not).

I believe the last thing you'd want to do is be forced to disclose this during an interview. It can be extremely hit or miss.

I am in a similar situation where I had an offense and the Dean said it would not be marked on my transcript as academic dishonesty but I did receive and F and retook the same class with the same professor and aced it the second time around. I definitely do want to explain myself and how that moment really changed my life and how I perceived myself from then on.

This offense was about 4 years ago and I am about to apply for pharmacy school and take my PCATs in order to show that I do know my stuff since my grades may lose credibility due to me admitting to a past offense. I see in the pharmcas apps that there is a spot to explain if you have had any past academic dishonest situations. Do you think it would be best to just explain everything in here or also include it in my personal statement since I would think its a bit repetitive if they see both portions speaking on the same topic. I definitely want to be honest in that section and explain how its motivated me to work harder than I even knew was possible of me.

Also would you think its a good idea to get a letter of recommendation from the professor who caught me cheating? I apologized to him and he was real supportive of my situation after retaking his class trying to make sure I really learned his material. I reach out to him every here and there asking how hes doing and updating him on what I've been doing up to pharm apps. Any advice is much appreciated since I do not want my immature past mistake to ruin my future in pharmacy.

 

[blueheron]

There is a place in Pharmcas for that...

"Were you ever the recipient of any action(e.g., a grade lowering penalty, failing grade, disqualification, suspension, probation, dismissal, etc.) by any faculty member, college, or university, PharmCAS or health licensing board for academic or professional misconduct (e.g., cheating, plagiarism, harassment, misuse of university facilities, stealing destroying or damaging university property etc.)?"

"If you answered "Yes" to the previous question, enter an explanation in the box below. Include 1) a brief description of the incident, 2) specific charge made, 3) consequence, and 4) a reflection on the incident and how the incident has impacted your life."

I would not lie/mislead them on this if you value your professional future.

 

[blueheron]

Didn't see the last post on the thread before I posted. Sorry. I don't think it will be a huge deal. They expect people to be immature and make mistakes. Just show that it was something that has changed.

 

[FarmACollegeE]

Some incredibly negative posters talking out of their rear-ends here. Despite what you may have heard, admission panels aren't composed of a bunch of blood-sucking science nerds.

A student who has good grades, admirable ECs, a good personality, and is very genuine and forth-right is someone any school would not only like, but LOVE to have. Cheating your freshman year vs. continuing on to do well in your degree program and receiving good marks....hmmmm. I can't think of any pharm schools being that stringent and if there are any, I'm happy I didn't attend there.

 

[Amicable Angora]

How is academic dishonesty noted on your record? If its marked on your transcripts just order a copy of your official transcripts and check if its still there.

Listen to this guy.

 

[SClENCE]

It asks on Pharmcas if you have ever had academic misconduct... so if you check no and they find out you'll be in even worse trouble for lying a second time and you have no idea what kind of information these people can pull up or the people they know/talk to

Plus when they ask why you got an F in general chemistry what are you going to tell them? All you have to do is show up for the exams in that class and you get an A... so it's going to look pretty bad either way

 

[creasian444]

I am thankful that there is a section on most of my supplementals that will let me expand upon the offense and how I've taken the necessary steps to learn from this and grow. I have my LOR's lined up as well, except I am still not sure on which professor to ask since I've been seeing that I should not risk asking the professor who charged me with the misconduct even though we are on good terms after retaking his class. By no means am I trying to run away or hide from my mistake, I just want to go about it in the best way possible to go to great pharmacy school. I know this whole offense will be a huge blow but I do not want to settle for a low-tier pharmacy school... Any honest advice/encouragement/motivation is greatly appreciated since this is a highly stressful time for me.

And please don't tell me to reconsider my career path, because that is not an option.

 

[oldstock]

So I am a lot further down the road in finishing up my PharmCAS application and supplementals. I took my PCAT in July and got a 93 composite, 92 bio, 95 quantitative, 97 chem, 65 verbal, 63 reading. My initial academic misconduct was in my first biochemistry class of a series of 3 classes. Also since I've graduated I joined the board of a large non-profit organization and have been solely in charge of planning/executing monthly community service events for a year all the while working at a CVS pharmacy for a year as well. I really tried to put as much on my plate as I could to prove how much I've matured and become more motivated since the offense.

I am thankful that there is a section on most of my supplementals that will let me expand upon the offense and how I've taken the necessary steps to learn from this and grow. I have my LOR's lined up as well, except I am still not sure on which professor to ask since I've been seeing that I should not risk asking the professor who charged me with the misconduct even though we are on good terms after retaking his class. By no means am I trying to run away or hide from my mistake, I just want to go about it in the best way possible to go to great pharmacy school. I know this whole offense will be a huge blow but I do not want to settle for a low-tier pharmacy school... Any honest advice/encouragement/motivation is greatly appreciated since this is a highly stressful time for me.

And please don't tell me to reconsider my career path, because that is not an option.

Congrats on that great PCAT score !! 👍👍

Since that is still a black mark, you should still want to be safe and thus need to apply broadly and to a lot of schools to maximize your chance of acceptance. Doing so would ensure that the worst scenario for you is that you got accepted to a school rather than no school at all.

Keep us posted !! GL 🙂