So, this is my story. No judgment please.
I'm currently a resident of Canada, and applied for a certain Canadian med school in Western Canada in 2011. On the application, I made what turned out to be a devastating typo. I had an odd job which started in 2008 and finished in 2009. For some reason, I put down 2011 as the completion time (out of habit???? I applied in 2011). I double, triple checked my application, but for some reason, this error escaped me (probably because I never cared much about this one little odd job). Now, I was one of those people who emailed my write-up (dates, hours, explanation, etc) to each and everyone of my verifiers to double check, and what do ya know, my verifier didn't catch it either.
It was just my luck that out of the many applicants for that school, my verifiers were picked, AFTER my MMIs. Out of the many activities I had on my application, this verifier was contacted. Upon checking, the verifier noticed the error. When I was contacted by adcom, that was the 1st time I noticed what I had done. I 'fessed up to the "crime", and admitted that it was honestly just a mistake. I know that an error like that looks sketchy, and the reason of it being a "typo" is weak. I knew how it looked, but it seriously was just a slip that escaped both my(mostly) and the verifier's attention. My verifier backed me up on this, and I included my initial communication with the verifier with my application. I had good grades (top 3 in my program), all kinds of ECs that WERE verifiable, what I felt was a decent interview, MCAT score of 37, glowing references, etc. There was simply no need for me to do this intentionally.
Anyways, my application was thrown out (deservingly) with a message along the lines of"a note was placed on your file". It was a huge blow to me, but I thought I came back from it quite well. I accepted the decision; I graduated with flying colours; I travelled to 3 different countries; I got a good job with good pay; I hung out with friends; I kept up with the ECs that I found meaningful. However, I still haven't given up on my dream of being a doctor. That's something I've worked so hard for so long. This year, I'm thinking about applying again, but I still can't stop thinking about that mistake from all those years ago (feels like a long time ago).
1. Will an issue like this cause me to become "blacklisted" somehow? At the very least, this shows carelessness, so I can accept not being accepted by that original school in the future. I'm just concerned that I'm now on one of those "cheater" lists and won't get into a good Canadian or American school, ever. Is there any official way to find out if I'm on this blacklist? (A phone call to Admissions to find out was not helpful).
2. My friends are telling me that I should have voluntarily withdrawn my application before my verifier got back to the adcom about this mistake. (He probably wouldn't have sent that "clarification" if I had told him that I was withdrawing). It would have looked highly suspicious, but they wouldn't have had any real evidence of wrongdoing. This option still seems like lying to me, but do you think this would have been the right thing to do? Obviously, it would have been nice if I had noticed it earlier, and withdrawn before the university discovered it, but would withdrawing at that point still have made any differences?
3. I looked into schools in the Caribbeans and Australia, but those don't seem to be viable options if I want to practice in Canada (or even stay and practice there given Australia's intern crisis). I'm seriously willing to give up my job and take out a loan if that means I can be a doctor, but it seems silly to do that if it's only a long-shot. Does any have any updated information on the status of IMGs?
Thank you for all your help.
I'm currently a resident of Canada, and applied for a certain Canadian med school in Western Canada in 2011. On the application, I made what turned out to be a devastating typo. I had an odd job which started in 2008 and finished in 2009. For some reason, I put down 2011 as the completion time (out of habit???? I applied in 2011). I double, triple checked my application, but for some reason, this error escaped me (probably because I never cared much about this one little odd job). Now, I was one of those people who emailed my write-up (dates, hours, explanation, etc) to each and everyone of my verifiers to double check, and what do ya know, my verifier didn't catch it either.
It was just my luck that out of the many applicants for that school, my verifiers were picked, AFTER my MMIs. Out of the many activities I had on my application, this verifier was contacted. Upon checking, the verifier noticed the error. When I was contacted by adcom, that was the 1st time I noticed what I had done. I 'fessed up to the "crime", and admitted that it was honestly just a mistake. I know that an error like that looks sketchy, and the reason of it being a "typo" is weak. I knew how it looked, but it seriously was just a slip that escaped both my(mostly) and the verifier's attention. My verifier backed me up on this, and I included my initial communication with the verifier with my application. I had good grades (top 3 in my program), all kinds of ECs that WERE verifiable, what I felt was a decent interview, MCAT score of 37, glowing references, etc. There was simply no need for me to do this intentionally.
Anyways, my application was thrown out (deservingly) with a message along the lines of"a note was placed on your file". It was a huge blow to me, but I thought I came back from it quite well. I accepted the decision; I graduated with flying colours; I travelled to 3 different countries; I got a good job with good pay; I hung out with friends; I kept up with the ECs that I found meaningful. However, I still haven't given up on my dream of being a doctor. That's something I've worked so hard for so long. This year, I'm thinking about applying again, but I still can't stop thinking about that mistake from all those years ago (feels like a long time ago).
1. Will an issue like this cause me to become "blacklisted" somehow? At the very least, this shows carelessness, so I can accept not being accepted by that original school in the future. I'm just concerned that I'm now on one of those "cheater" lists and won't get into a good Canadian or American school, ever. Is there any official way to find out if I'm on this blacklist? (A phone call to Admissions to find out was not helpful).
2. My friends are telling me that I should have voluntarily withdrawn my application before my verifier got back to the adcom about this mistake. (He probably wouldn't have sent that "clarification" if I had told him that I was withdrawing). It would have looked highly suspicious, but they wouldn't have had any real evidence of wrongdoing. This option still seems like lying to me, but do you think this would have been the right thing to do? Obviously, it would have been nice if I had noticed it earlier, and withdrawn before the university discovered it, but would withdrawing at that point still have made any differences?
3. I looked into schools in the Caribbeans and Australia, but those don't seem to be viable options if I want to practice in Canada (or even stay and practice there given Australia's intern crisis). I'm seriously willing to give up my job and take out a loan if that means I can be a doctor, but it seems silly to do that if it's only a long-shot. Does any have any updated information on the status of IMGs?
Thank you for all your help.
