-
The 2026-2027 MD School Specific Threads are now live in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 cycle threads can be found here. -
Scholarship Access: Becoming a Student Doctor course
Free access to comprehensive medical school prep. Eligible students include AAMC FAP recipients and HS graduates from underserved areas. Apply today.
Bad Institutional Action
D
deleted480308
You're getting a little silly with this.....every college kid starts with no IAs. Every one has the choice to not get any. It's not unfair for IAs, particularly for theft, to count against you
I do. You'd be surprised how people compartmentalize.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
TY adcoms for chiming in and giving OP his/her answer. Also, TY to adcoms for remaining professional all throughout this discussion. Much respect!
I still don't understand why this is a thread 
@aformerstudent what do you mean?
His suggestion would be to just got to the Carib.
That's stupid
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
*whispers* don't make me explain the joke
What I mean is are you people arguing over the fact that this kid stole a banana????
Tell him to put that down on his app
Offense: "Stole banana freshman year...got caught"
I mean why?
Yea the only issue with me is I have an EXPUNGED juvenile record, which from what I hear can still show up in federal background checks. Lawyer people say it should act like it never took place, but I have been lurking long enough to see horror issues where that hasn't been true. Pretty much I have to do a federal check on myself to see what comes up and see what needs to be disclosed. I disclosed the situation when I got my EMT license and nothing came of it, but medical school is a different story. I'm just unsure if I should utilize the drastic life turn-around I made in my personal story, or try and abandon it all together.
You have a very... inclusive definition of theft. Hopefully you can agree that not all thefts are equal in magnitude of their transgression and that this is a relatively weak example of theft.
I wouldn't be rejecting potentially intelligent and compassionate medical students through some idiotic character test, or this filter. The idea that taking some food home at the age of 18/19, again that they under specific circumstances are entitled to use (staying in the cafeteria) , while under economic duress is enough information to eliminate someone based on their character is preposterous.
To be clear, I don't mean to say that this shouldn't be considered, but rather that it should not be a disqualifying factor. This isn't cheating on a final, this isn't violence either.
Overall I agree with you, but it sounds like OP has a very different dining hall than most of us. OP could not have eaten the food until the cost of the food had been subtracted from his meal plan account, so stealing it is a pretty unambiguous crime.
It seems crazy to me that everything I've done since then could be for nothing. I was a naive freshman andI panicked and did something incredibly stupid. Not sure what to do at this point because I don't want to do anything other than be a physician.
7
750335
Apply anyway, and craft your explanation using LizzyM's suggestion as a template. You never know.
Apply MD and DO as well, make sure you don't have any other red flags on your application. Good luck.
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah, I had assumed it was similar to the most common version... Maybe waiting to see if they're clean for 3-5 years would be appropriate
If you don't apply, your rejection rate will be 100%.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Dude just leave the incident off your app. They'll never find out and if they do, be sure to take a video of the exchange and post it on YouTube for us to see. This is utterly ridiculous. God helps those who helps themselves OK. Just move on and stop stealing bananas.
I would take the good advice from @LizzyM and goro above and apply widely MD/DO and ignore the person that said to leave it off your app. Then if not successful, go do something else for a few years while continuing volunteering and service.
absolutely do not follow this guy's advice
As the representative of Bananas in Medicine, I would like to comment, on behalf of all my brethren, that banana stealing has become an epidemic of biblical proportions. I demand justice for my brothers and sisters!
Agreed - have not seen one of his posts with which I agree.
I think his avatar is somewhat telling
His account was put on "hold". Why wasn't he banned?
Edit: I was gonna make that joke....
For those interested:
"Institutional Action
You must answer Yes to this question if you were ever the recipient of any institutional action resulting from unacceptable academic performance or a conduct violation, even if such action did not interrupt your enrollment or require you to withdraw. You must answer Yes even if the action does not appear on or has been deleted from your official transcripts due to institutional policy or personal petition.
If you answer Yes, you may use the space provided to explain; this space is 1325 characters or approximately one-quarter of a page in length.
If you are not certain whether or not you have been the subject of an institutional action, contact the registrar, student affairs officer, or other appropriate party at the institution for confirmation of your record.
Failure to provide accurate information in answering this question or, if applicable, in completing the form provided by the school, will result in an investigation.
Medical schools require you to answer this question accurately and provide all relevant information. Medical schools understand that many individuals learn from the past and emerge stronger as a result. Full disclosure will enable the medical schools to more effectively evaluate this information within the context of your credentials.
Applicants who become the subject of an institutional action after certifying and submitting the AMCAS application must inform their designated Medical school(s) within ten (10) business days of the date of the occurrence."
AMCAS Instruction Manual 2017
Last edited by a moderator:
Does "Academic Warning" as opposed to "Good Standing" count?
Could you re-state the question?
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
If you are not certain whether or not you have been the subject of an institutional action, contact the registrar, student affairs officer, or other appropriate party at the institution for confirmation of your record.
I support this statement 100%.
My heart breaks for you. I have seen adcoms come down hard on applicants who have IAs for theft but from what I recall, the IAs were usually for stealing the personal property of other students. What was, in essence, shoplifting from the college cafeteria because you were poor and hungry is not in the same league as stealing an unattended tablet or laptop from the school library. Explain it best you can and hope for the best. I am going to hope that there is someone out there that remembers the plot of Les Misérables.
Dr.Jean Valjean has a nice ring to it
*clears throat*
Fight me
7
787593
10,000 calories would last like 1.5 days 😉
Whatever it takes.
7
787593
Whatever it takes to get huge
Now we're just off topic hahaWhatever it takes to get huge
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
D
deleted647690
If you had your record expunged, couldn't you just say you contacted the party at your institution and found that your record had nothing?
I have seen people rejected over LORs that say "acetylmandarin has grown so much since the theft incident".
You can't take that chance.
This.
And in the meantime the rest of us can brush up on our Marx and Engels in preparation for the revolution, so this sort of ridiculousness doesn't happen again.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
D
deleted647690
Yeah, OP, you just have to deal with the consequences. It's behind you now and you can't do anything about it.
D
deleted647690
I don't think I would even try to say that you were starving and needed the food, because that sounds like you are trying to make excuses. Maybe say that if they specifically ask why you stole something in an interview
I would hope someone would forgive you for stealing food from a dining hall
I would hope someone would forgive you for stealing food from a dining hall
Guys, I think it's time to put this thread out to pasture.
In before thread closed.
Bad advice! There won't be an interview unless he explains in writing in the application the reason he stooped to shoplifting from the school cafeteria.
We can pun around until the cows come home!
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Similar threads
