Disciplinary Probation

[blankspace123456]

Hello everyone!

So, the day before my first day of college (freshman year), the only person I knew at this school told me to come with her to a dorm, and there ended up being alcohol. I didn't drink, and I left with her and a couple of her friends about 2 hours later. I ended up getting an institutional action by being placed on disciplinary probation for alcohol, had to complete volunteer hours, write a reflection essay, and go to counseling, and do an alcoholedu course. Also, it's not on my transcript. I know I have to answer "yes" for the institutional action section even though I wasn't there when the RAs came to the room and didn't drink, but do you think it will affect me a lot as an applicant? I've learned a lot from this experience, and I've definitely grown from it. Thank you for your responses in advance!

Additionally, are there any stories of peopling getting accepted with that on their record?

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[chm9332]

My friend is in a similar situation. He was in a friends dorm room where there was underage drinking and he ended up getting an IA even though he was of legal age, right at 21.
He had to meet with a few counselors and write a reflect ion essay as well.

 

[bananafish94]

I sincerely doubt this would be a big issue.

Also...you had to go to counseling because you were in a room with alcohol as a college freshman?

 

[Frogger27]

No, just explain the situation thoroughly. I had an underage possession of alcohol charge that I had to disclose on my AMCAS and it did not affect my application at all

 

[voteknope]

Yeah, I had a similar situation and I had no issues getting interviews/acceptances. Don't fret! Feel free to PM me if you wanna chat about it!

 

[Goro]

These are common and minor. Don't fuss about it.

Hello everyone!

So, the day before my first day of college (freshman year), the only person I knew at this school told me to come with her to a dorm, and there ended up being alcohol. I didn't drink, and I left with her and a couple of her friends about 2 hours later. I ended up getting an institutional action by being placed on disciplinary probation for alcohol, had to complete volunteer hours, write a reflection essay, and go to counseling, and do an alcoholedu course. Also, it's not on my transcript. I know I have to answer "yes" for the institutional action section even though I wasn't there when the RAs came to the room and didn't drink, but do you think it will affect me a lot as an applicant? I've learned a lot from this experience, and I've definitely grown from it. Thank you for your responses in advance!

Additionally, are there any stories of peopling getting accepted with that on their record?

 

[blankspace123456]

I sincerely doubt this would be a big issue.

Also...you had to go to counseling because you were in a room with alcohol as a college freshman?

yeah, I had to go to two sessions. Lol I'm still sort of annoyed about it, but I understand why it happened.

 

[LizzyM]

#notabigdeal

 

[ah100838]

I also have this situation. And I know its not a big deal, but there are thousands of applicants who are equally academically qualified as me but they have a clean record. This is why I am worried as to why med schools would choose me to interview over all those crystal clean applicants.

 

[avocado3]

because maybe you are a more interesting applicant than many of the other "crystal clean" applicants.
your IA is not the whole summation of you as a person/student - the culmination of what you have learned/experienced.
it goes beyond that. certainly, it is a blemish on your record but you can move past it.
(it also helps if there is time between your IA and your application cycle)

 

[LizzyM]

I also have this situation. And I know its not a big deal, but there are thousands of applicants who are equally academically qualified as me but they have a clean record. This is why I am worried as to why med schools would choose me to interview over all those crystal clean applicants.

Because many of us dare not cast the first stone. #wewereyoungonce

 

[Goro]

A lot of us were young and stupid once.

I also have this situation. And I know its not a big deal, but there are thousands of applicants who are equally academically qualified as me but they have a clean record. This is why I am worried as to why med schools would choose me to interview over all those crystal clean applicants.

 

[benjamin94559]

I'm not following the how you guys got caught part. It sounds like you just left after two hours and nothing happened and got an IA or whatever in the mail.

 

[blankspace123456]

I'm not following the how you guys got caught part. It sounds like you just left after two hours and nothing happened and got an IA or whatever in the mail.

A person that was caught at the apartment told the RAs that my friend and I were there, but had left.

 

[starspells]

I also have this situation. And I know its not a big deal, but there are thousands of applicants who are equally academically qualified as me but they have a clean record. This is why I am worried as to why med schools would choose me to interview over all those crystal clean applicants.

Adcoms know that the difference between you and those "crystal clean applicants" is that they were lucky to not get caught.

 

[DokterMom]

Don't even mention the "I didn't drink any" part because it sounds about as believable as Bill Clinton's "I didn't inhale" and makes it sound like you're either lying, making excuses, or so straight-laced that it's true. It'll hurt you less (as in not at all) to have them assume you did, in fact, drink. You may be asked about it if your college is known to be super-conservative that way (ex. Brigham Young) where alcohol is a should-have-known thing. But probably not --

 

[JB50]

Don't even mention the "I didn't drink any" part because it sounds about as believable as Bill Clinton's "I didn't inhale" and makes it sound like you're either lying, making excuses, or so straight-laced that it's true. It'll hurt you less (as in not at all) to have them assume you did, in fact, drink. You may be asked about it if your college is known to be super-conservative that way (ex. Brigham Young) where alcohol is a should-have-known thing. But probably not --

I thought you were going somewhere else with that. Still laughed though.

Opie, relax. People like goro, LizzyM, etc laugh at that stuff most likely. As long as its not repeated, I don't think it hits you very hard. If it happens 2-3 times, then you got some splaining to do.

We had a rule that those incredibly fascinating beings called females were not allowed in our dorm room past 12am. We were busted two or three times for something like that. ADCOMS know it's silly. Just don't let it happen again.

 

[starspells]

Don't even mention the "I didn't drink any" part because it sounds about as believable as Bill Clinton's "I didn't inhale" and makes it sound like you're either lying, making excuses, or so straight-laced that it's true. It'll hurt you less (as in not at all) to have them assume you did, in fact, drink. You may be asked about it if your college is known to be super-conservative that way (ex. Brigham Young) where alcohol is a should-have-known thing. But probably not --

Really? Some schools really have a policy where even if you were in the presence of alcohol you still get an IA (doesn't matter if you were drinking or not). Many on SDN have also reported that they got an IA for the same reason. I can see why it's not believable but the policy/situation is actually very common.

 

[DokterMom]

Really? Some schools really have a policy where even if you were in the presence of alcohol you still get an IA (doesn't matter if you were drinking or not). Many on SDN have also reported that they got an IA for the same reason. I can see why it's not believable but the policy/situation is actually very common.

I'm not suggesting that this isn't a relatively common practice -- oddly, it seems to be... Just that the "I didn't do it" line is utterly unnecessary and possibly counterproductive.

 

[LizzyM]

I'm not suggesting that this isn't a relatively common practice -- oddly, it seems to be... Just that the "I didn't do it" line is utterly unnecessary and possibly counterproductive.

Agree although the IA that I thought took the cake was an applicant who reported that her suite-mates were written up for having alcohol at a party in the suite during a semester when she was studying abroad but because her name was still listed as a resident of the suite, she was written up. I truly believed that she was not drinking at that party and it didn't hurt for her to mention that in Spring 20-- she was in Scotland (or whatever).

 

[ah100838]

So on the essay, there should be no mention of "I did not drink"?? What I mentioned in my essay was: "Even though I did not consume alcohol, it was the fact that I was there when alcohol was present. I know it was my mistake for my presence, and I accept responsibility for this fault."

 

[JB50]

So on the essay, there should be no mention of "I did not drink"?? What I mentioned in my essay was: "Even though I did not consume alcohol, it was the fact that I was there when alcohol was present. I know it was my mistake for my presence, and I accept responsibility for this fault."

Why are you writing an essay on it?

 

[benjamin94559]

A person that was caught at the apartment told the RAs that my friend and I were there, but had left.

wow what a snitch

 

[LizzyM]

Why are you writing an essay on it?

The applicant has an IA for being in the same room with people who were drinking booze. The OP thinks of having to write "an essay" but it is really just a paragraph of 1725 characters or so, IIRC.

 

[ah100838]

yes it asks to explain why. So should I put what I wrote above? Is that ok?