AMCAS and not submitting random transcripts

[nova1983]

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So here's the deal -- after my sophomore year in college I signed up to take organic chemistry during the summer. It's several years back now, but I think I completed the first of three summer sessions (got a B or B-, can't remember) and a week or two of the second session before I dropped the entire sequence for non-academic reasons (grandmother died and a few other things). The university was far, far away from my home and my undergraduate institution. I never told my undergrad institution about going there and I obviously didn't get any credit for the first third of the course at my undergrad.

So my question is: will AMCAS really be able to find out about the fact that I signed up for this course and finished one third of it? I've read on other threads that I should just get the transcript from this other place and declare the grades on AMCAS, but I really don't want to because a) I got a B or B-, b) it will be a huge hassle to track it down, and c) it will be one more thing I'll have to explain to ADCOMS.

Does anyone have any idea how AMCAS would be able to find out if I didn't submit it? Anyone have any substantiated words of wisdom/advice? Anyone not send in the transcript and get bitten in the ass?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jochi1543]

Dude, even if it were a B-, it's not going to hurt you so much to make this worthwhile. What's it gonna do, drag your BCPM from 3.7 to 3.6? Otherwise, you might find yourself suddenly expelled in your 4th year with 200K debt to your name. What's worse? Not worth the risk, IMO.

 

[srs58s]

you know, whenever people bring up these kind of topics, someone mentions getting caught while you're in med school.

Do med schools do something random checking while you're enrolled or maybe there is some point in med school where your educational background needs to be checked?


in any case, you probably shouldn't lie about the class.

 

[nova1983]

W.ell it will actually hurt my BCPM GPA, which is at an ugly 3.3 right now.

Any oth.er p..i..ec..es of advic..e. Anyon..e actually gon..e through this situation? And it's not r..eally lying as much as it's omitting. If AMCAS finds out th..ey'll probably just mak..e m..e add th..e grad...e, no?
.

 

[CEEJAY000]

W.ell it will actually hurt my BCPM GPA, which is at an ugly 3.3 right now.

Any oth.er p..i..ec..es of advic..e. Anyon..e actually gon..e through this situation? And it's not r..eally lying as much as it's omitting. If AMCAS finds out th..ey'll probably just mak..e m..e add th..e grad...e, no?
.

I didn't go through the same situation, but kind of a similar one. I took one class at a local college during high school. I took the time to track down that transcript and submit it to AMCAS. I wasn't worried about the grade because it was only one class, and wasn't BCPM. Anyway, I don't think it was worth the trouble. I didn't get credit for it at the university I attended, and it only led to questions about that school during interviews. I'd try to find a situation where someone actually got caught not reporting something like this before you do it. Honestly, I don't think anything would happen if you got caught, you'd just have to explain the situation, and MAYBE add the grade to AMCAS. I cannot see this being a problem once you get into medical school.

 

[jochi1543]

I didn't go through the same situation, but kind of a similar one. I took one class at a local college during high school. I took the time to track down that transcript and submit it to AMCAS. I wasn't worried about the grade because it was only one class, and wasn't BCPM. Anyway, I don't think it was worth the trouble. I didn't get credit for it at the university I attended, and it only led to questions about that school during interviews. I'd try to find a situation where someone actually got caught not reporting something like this before you do it. Honestly, I don't think anything would happen if you got caught, you'd just have to explain the situation, and MAYBE add the grade to AMCAS. I cannot see this being a problem once you get into medical school.

I HAVE actually heard of someone getting expelled from a Canadian medical school because of lying on his application. It was not disclosed what exactly he lied about, but considering that he was expelled, I bet it was a transcript issue - I doubt you'd get expelled over exaggerating an EC.

 

[premeddick]

I doubt you'd get expelled over exaggerating an EC.

Analbeads did.

 

[y8507]

Analbeads did.

 

[glamqueen]

If you have to ask a what if question and use you the words "will they find out" somewhere in it - then you are probably trying to do something you know in your heart is unethical. Now, do you really want to be thought of or even think of yourself as unethical? That's not really in tune with the medical profession. 'Fess up and turn in everything necessary. Lying is never worth it.

 

[riceman04]

W.ell it will actually hurt my BCPM GPA, which is at an ugly 3.3 right now.

Any oth.er p..i..ec..es of advic..e. Anyon..e actually gon..e through this situation? And it's not r..eally lying as much as it's omitting. If AMCAS finds out th..ey'll probably just mak..e m..e add th..e grad...e, no?
.

I think you have already decided what option you are going to take...Now, let's just see what happens.

Good luck!

 

[MahSpoon]

W.ell it will actually hurt my BCPM GPA, which is at an ugly 3.3 right now.

Any oth.er p..i..ec..es of advic..e. Anyon..e actually gon..e through this situation? And it's not r..eally lying as much as it's omitting. If AMCAS finds out th..ey'll probably just mak..e m..e add th..e grad...e, no?
.

Wouldn't everyone just omit all their bad grades and hope that it slips through unless AMCAS catches it? You are so dense 👎

 

[nova1983]

Thanks for all the responses.

MahSpoon -- I'm not sure why you feel the need to resort to put-downs. Very unbecoming. In any case, I am obviously NOT ommitting any of my 40+ undergraduate and post-bacc grades (from 2 different institutions), only questioning whether to track down a random transcript for a trimester of organic chemistry.

Glamqueen, you are probably right....

I'm just assuming that there are many people who do this every year (forget or purposely omit one random community college / non-home institution grade) and I have a hard time believing that this always leads to terrible outcomes....

But seems like the concensus here is clear other than CEEJAY000's post. Any last opinions before I make my decision?

 

[DoctorPardi]

You are required to submit all transcripts. Don't try to cheat the system, a B or B- in the grand scheme of things is going to make a pretty insignificant change in your GPA.

There is no justifying not submitting all your transcripts.

 

[jochi1543]

Analbeads did.

 

[punkindrublic]

I was in a similar situation, took a college class during high school (at my high school: didn't even offer precalc, so they offered it through the local college). Anyway, didn't do so well because I didn't want to be taking a class after-hours during my senior year, so I did pretty crappy in it.

I thought about it, "well, what're the chances they find out?". My concern wasn't so much about being caught second year, because seriously, if you can feign ignorance, whatever, they're not going to toss you, I'd like to think they have better things to do with their time. My main issue was with the app itself and the time it takes to verify. If they (AMCAS) do find it, and place a mark on my application, it's going to be delayed, and then I'm going to have to explain myself at interviews. I honestly don't think it's worth it in the end. And besides, I screwed up, it's only right I deal with the consequences. I've always felt liars, thiefs, and cheats are the real dregs of society, and this keeps me from saying that and being a hypocrite.

That and you don't have to sweat anything unexpected during the process. You've been honest, and it's all smooth sailing. Just disclose it dude, there are people out there (like me) who're in worse shape than you.

 

[nova1983]

Sorry to bump this somewhat unnecessarily, but when I started this thread, I wasn't planning on ever posting again. Now that I have, I just want to say that I did in fact submit the transcript for that random B-.... And yeah, as many people said, it really has made me less paranoid. We'll see how badly it hurts me.... Thanks for all the advice people offered--you definitely convinced me to do the right thing.

 

[jochi1543]

Sorry to bump this somewhat unnecessarily, but when I started this thread, I wasn't planning on ever posting again. Now that I have, I just want to say that I did in fact submit the transcript for that random B-.... And yeah, as many people said, it really has made me less paranoid. We'll see how badly it hurts me.... Thanks for all the advice people offered--you definitely convinced me to do the right thing.

Great...now post away!👍

 

[MattD]

So here's the deal -- after my sophomore year in college I signed up to take organic chemistry during the summer. It's several years back now, but I think I completed the first of three summer sessions (got a B or B-, can't remember) and a week or two of the second session before I dropped the entire sequence for non-academic reasons (grandmother died and a few other things). The university was far, far away from my home and my undergraduate institution. I never told my undergrad institution about going there and I obviously didn't get any credit for the first third of the course at my undergrad.

So my question is: will AMCAS really be able to find out about the fact that I signed up for this course and finished one third of it? I've read on other threads that I should just get the transcript from this other place and declare the grades on AMCAS, but I really don't want to because a) I got a B or B-, b) it will be a huge hassle to track it down, and c) it will be one more thing I'll have to explain to ADCOMS.

Does anyone have any idea how AMCAS would be able to find out if I didn't submit it? Anyone have any substantiated words of wisdom/advice? Anyone not send in the transcript and get bitten in the ass?

Thanks in advance.

Don't falsify your app.

 

[nova1983]

I didn't, that was the point of bumping the thread, to "clear" my screename!

 

[Law2Doc]

because seriously, if you can feign ignorance, whatever, they're not going to toss you, I'd like to think they have better things to do with their time.

It's not an issue of "feigning ignorance" -- they aren't going to charge you with anything criminal. But it looks deceitful. And when a school is mulling through 10,000 applications, trying to cull the field, ANY reason they can throw one out is going to make their job that much easier. If AMCAS indicated omission of a transcript with lower grades, and the school gets that report with the Xs highlighting the mistake, they very well might toss it.

Bottom line -- when you submit AMCAS you are indicating that you have provided all transcripts. If it turns out you haven't, it is technically a fraud on the system. Your odds of getting in and staying in med school are simply going to be better if you don't try to defraud the system. You are entering a profession which purports to uphold higher standards. Don't already fall short before your first day.

EDIT -- good to see the OP did the right thing. It was also the smart thing.