background check

[clamchowder]

does prior matriculation show up on the background check that med schools run? Hypothetically, if I enrolled in a summer class at a state school in my hometown and withdrew from it, didn't send the transcripts to my university, and took the class the following semester at my home institution, would that come up on the background check? I ran a credit check on myself, and it doesn't show the schools I went to. Any anecdotal stories?

I just don't want the W on my record. It was a stupid summer, I worked a lot and thought I could handle it but I couldn't.....

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[J ROD]

does prior matriculation show up on the background check that med schools run? Hypothetically, if I enrolled in a summer class at a state school in my hometown and withdrew from it, didn't send the transcripts to my university, and took the class the following semester at my home institution, would that come up on the background check? I ran a credit check on myself, and it doesn't show the schools I went to. Any anecdotal stories?

I just don't want the W on my record. It was a stupid summer, I worked a lot and thought I could handle it but I couldn't.....

Good question! Not sure...it might when they search...that would hurt alot more than a W....

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I just don't want the W on my record. It was a stupid summer, I worked a lot and thought I could handle it but I couldn't.....

I think it would be far better for you to just send in the transcript and explain the W than for a med school to potentially find out that you tried to cover it up. One W (especially in a summer course that you later retook) isn't going to hurt your chances a bit. You can easily explain it. But lying about it might.

 

[clamchowder]

How about employment history? I stretched out the timeline of my last job by about two months, and I definitely would NOT get a good recommendation from the manager there. How far does the background check go in certifying this information?

 

[TAWS]

Medical schools will know all the colleges you have attended through the Student Clearinghouse

http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/

 

[clamchowder]

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/backgroundsearches.htm

It's not on this list. Are they allowed to do that?

 

[J ROD]

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/backgroundsearches.htm

It's not on this list. Are they allowed to do that?

They are omnipotent!!!

 

[dudechiefboss]

I thought the background check is merely for criminal activity, not employment or educational history.

 

[LizzyM]

Most (all?) schools do a criminal background check. However, any misrepresentation on your application is grounds to throw out your application or to dismiss you from the program so don't do it. No one cares about a single W in some summer class. Working two additional months on a job? No one cares. They might care why the manager would not give you a good review. Would it be for misrepresenting yourself?

 

[clamchowder]

Most (all?) schools do a criminal background check. However, any misrepresentation on your application is grounds to throw out your application or to dismiss you from the program so don't do it. No one cares about a single W in some summer class. Working two additional months on a job? No one cares. They might care why the manager would not give you a good review. Would it be for misrepresenting yourself?

Well, I guess I'll throw the transcript at them, but I can't do anything now about how much time I said I worked at my last job. I don't think I'm misrepresenting myself, I just didn't get along well with the manager at that job, and all messages pass through him before they get to the doctors. I think the doctors would have given me a good review, but the manager had a personal vendetta against me. I started graduate school two months after I quit, and I just stretched to close the gap.

I am asking because on the certiphi website they claim they can do all sorts of checks, but on the AAMC website they give a limited number of checks that they do. Just wondering what they actually follow through with. Thanks everyone for your input!!

 

[wanderer]

Medical schools will know all the colleges you have attended through the Student Clearinghouse

http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/

Not every college is on that list. Even if the college isn't on the list, it's not something worth lying about.

 

[mrfantastic0992]

This is an interesting thread lol

 

[TriagePreMed]

Most (all?) schools do a criminal background check. However, any misrepresentation on your application is grounds to throw out your application or to dismiss you from the program so don't do it. No one cares about a single W in some summer class. Working two additional months on a job? No one cares. They might care why the manager would not give you a good review. Would it be for misrepresenting yourself?

Do you really background check each person's job history? I find that hard to believe. I also think people should be allowed to list activities and jobs they want to list. That's not misrepresentation. I've never seen a school say I must list them all.

 

[CarlosDanger]

Guys, you are being extremely paranoid. Certiphi does a CRIMINAL background check, this just means if you've been arrested and haven't had it expunged, it may show up. You put in the cities you've lived in, and they check the local authorities there and do a nationwide search as well. Thats it. NO ONE will check past employment history/suspicious Ws, or whatever unless they for some reason already suspect that something is wrong and do some investigating on their own. I doubt anyone on an adcom would ever do this unless they really have a strong suspicion. Even when you get an interview, the adcom has barely spent 5 minutes looking at your entire application.

That said, don't lie, lying is bad.

 

[SunsFun]

Guys, you are being extremely paranoid. Certiphi does a CRIMINAL background check, this just means if you've been arrested and haven't had it expunged, it may show up. You put in the cities you've lived in, and they check the local authorities there and do a nationwide search as well. Thats it. NO ONE will check past employment history/suspicious Ws, or whatever unless they for some reason already suspect that something is wrong and do some investigating on their own. I doubt anyone on an adcom would ever do this unless they really have a strong suspicion. Even when you get an interview, the adcom has barely spent 5 minutes looking at your entire application.

That said, don't lie, lying is bad.

This.

Some nontrads have had multiple jobs spanning for decades. To check all of them would be a nightmare and the background check info is not that reliable to be able to conclude the specific jobs you've had and how long you worked there.

Academic history, however, is under much greater scrutiny so here you may be facing more risk.

 

[LizzyM]

Long story short... the OP is saying, "I misrepresented my academic history and my work history. Is it likely that I'll be caught?"

The likelihood of being caught is low but the risk of serious repercussions if caught are high. Proceed at your own risk.

The CRIMINAL background check does not check employment records or academic records, only your "rap sheet".

 

[TriagePreMed]

Long story short... the OP is saying, "I misrepresented my academic history and my work history. Is it likely that I'll be caught?"

The likelihood of being caught is low but the risk of serious repercussions if caught are high. Proceed at your own risk.

The CRIMINAL background check does not check employment records or academic records, only your "rap sheet".

What would your school consider a misrepresentation of work? Is it something like leaving out jobs, not saying you got fired or is it something actually egregious like claiming you were regional manager when you were the janitor?

 

[Plecopotamus]

Guys, you are being extremely paranoid. Certiphi does a CRIMINAL background check, this just means if you've been arrested and haven't had it expunged, it may show up. You put in the cities you've lived in, and they check the local authorities there and do a nationwide search as well. Thats it. NO ONE will check past employment history/suspicious Ws, or whatever unless they for some reason already suspect that something is wrong and do some investigating on their own.

While I find it unlikely than any background check done in the context of medical school would scrutinize your work history or where you have enrolled in school, please be aware that at schools affiliated with public hospitals, there are often mandated background checks from the county or state to begin working at the hospital. When required, these background checks are performed after you have accepted your offer of admission. I do not know how often the information obtained is provided to the school versus the school just being told whether or not you will be permitted to work at the facility.

I have had 2 such separate background checks for hospitals. Neither one looked at my employment history, academics, or credit. However, the requirements of each facility may vary.

In short, I would not lie just because you know you can get away with it on the Certiphi check.

Fortunately, I think it would be plausible that the lies on the OPs application were accidental errors.

 

[LizzyM]

What would your school consider a misrepresentation of work? Is it something like leaving out jobs, not saying you got fired or is it something actually egregious like claiming you were regional manager when you were the janitor?

The AMCAS application doesn't require one to list every job ever held so not doing so can't be held against you. But writing that you were employed from May-August when you only lasted from May-June might be considered a falsification of the record. Of course, it is highly unlikely that this would come to light but the OP most likely endorsed (clicked a button) that the application was true and that he acknowledged that falsification could be grounds for dismissal.

 

[Gauss44]

I wonder what the best way is to double check your own employment history?

I must have had 30 jobs, mostly part-time jobs and not all at once, during my undergraduate years. I'm thinking that the IRS could help me out. A lot of these companies are now merged or out of business (not my fault, haha), so getting records could be difficult.

 

[SunsFun]

I wonder what the best way is to double check your own employment history?

I must have had 30 jobs, mostly part-time jobs and not all at once, during my undergraduate years. I'm thinking that the IRS could help me out. A lot of these companies are now merged or out of business (not my fault, haha), so getting records could be difficult.

For some of my jobs 5+ years ago I definitely approximated the dates since I really don't have that exact info anywhere. I honestly don't see how this is even an issue. My most recent stuff is 100% accurate but the rest is to the best of my memory.