I was dismissed from dental school after having to repeat the first year. I believe I have grounds to fight this decision in court but am worried how it would affect my chances when reapplying.
I was having difficulty during my first year academically,but was excelling in lab and clinic. I was fine during the first semester and passed my courses, however I started to struggle during the second semester. I was diagnosed with ADD, but did not receive medicine management until the later part of spring semester, when it was too late. I spoke to Student Affairs about my situation during the middle of the second semester, and I was told, actually almost guaranteed that I could remediate the courses during the summer. However, the decision I received from the office of academic affairs was to repeat the first year, and not given the opportunity to remediate the failed courses during the summer. When I was trying to appeal, the Dean of Academic Affairs had told me that I should have been offered to take a medical leave and not complete the semester, which was not suggested by Student Affairs. I was told this by multiple people that that is what I should've done, but I didn't even know that was an option that existed.
So I went on to repeat the year with medicine management from a doctor. All the students that were repeating the year were given the option to summer remediate and had a failed a course during then. I had performed well the second time around, however, I had failed two courses during the spring semester. One course could have been avoidable, however, I had severe anxiety during the final and was not able complete a good portion of the exam. I had requested to retake the final but was denied. According to the student policy at the school, students that are repeating a year can be subjected to dismissal if they fail more that one course. It does not specify whether these students summer remediated or not. Since I was not allowed to summer remediate, I believed I should be subjected to a different decision that someone who had summer remediated. I appealed to all levels to allow me to remediate those two courses during the summer and allow me to move one once I successfully pass those courses. I mentioned how I was not correctly guided by Student Affairs during the first year and about the possible loop hole in the student policy. After sending an appeal letter, I had spoken to faculty I worked closely with, and they were willing to attest to my skills as a dental practitioner and that I deserved to be there. The appeal decision stated that the dismissal decision remains without any explanation. Even before any decision was made, I had requested to meet with the deans, but I was denied an appointment with all of them. I thought this was unfair as I was currently a student then and after spending two years and thousands of dollars at this institution, I at least deserved one meeting, even if it was to say nothing can be done. Also, none of the faculty that I mentioned in the appeal were contacted.
I contacted a lawyer who is also faculty at the institution, who said I may have a case if I fought it as a civil rights case, claiming I was not given the correct guidance for having a learning disability. He referred me to a lawyer who had fought my institution on similar cases and won. I was worried that this may tarnish my application to other dental schools if it becomes public. So I have held off on that option.
Now, I am applying to dental schools again. I was going to mention my dental school dismissal wherever it applied, but wanted to avoid talking about it if it was not necessary. I was told by ADEA that I have to submit a transcript from my past dental school. I am worried that this will tremendously harm my application. I don't want to spend too much space/time discussing my dismissal on my application unless it is necessary.
I needed advice on three issues:
1) Should I submit my dental school transcripts to the application? Should I discuss my dismissal in my personal statement? Should I discuss my learning disability and how I have been able to manage it properly now?
2) Should I continue with the lawyer and fight the school while I am applying to dental school?
3)Do you know of any schools that will definitely not accept a dismissed dental student?
I was having difficulty during my first year academically,but was excelling in lab and clinic. I was fine during the first semester and passed my courses, however I started to struggle during the second semester. I was diagnosed with ADD, but did not receive medicine management until the later part of spring semester, when it was too late. I spoke to Student Affairs about my situation during the middle of the second semester, and I was told, actually almost guaranteed that I could remediate the courses during the summer. However, the decision I received from the office of academic affairs was to repeat the first year, and not given the opportunity to remediate the failed courses during the summer. When I was trying to appeal, the Dean of Academic Affairs had told me that I should have been offered to take a medical leave and not complete the semester, which was not suggested by Student Affairs. I was told this by multiple people that that is what I should've done, but I didn't even know that was an option that existed.
So I went on to repeat the year with medicine management from a doctor. All the students that were repeating the year were given the option to summer remediate and had a failed a course during then. I had performed well the second time around, however, I had failed two courses during the spring semester. One course could have been avoidable, however, I had severe anxiety during the final and was not able complete a good portion of the exam. I had requested to retake the final but was denied. According to the student policy at the school, students that are repeating a year can be subjected to dismissal if they fail more that one course. It does not specify whether these students summer remediated or not. Since I was not allowed to summer remediate, I believed I should be subjected to a different decision that someone who had summer remediated. I appealed to all levels to allow me to remediate those two courses during the summer and allow me to move one once I successfully pass those courses. I mentioned how I was not correctly guided by Student Affairs during the first year and about the possible loop hole in the student policy. After sending an appeal letter, I had spoken to faculty I worked closely with, and they were willing to attest to my skills as a dental practitioner and that I deserved to be there. The appeal decision stated that the dismissal decision remains without any explanation. Even before any decision was made, I had requested to meet with the deans, but I was denied an appointment with all of them. I thought this was unfair as I was currently a student then and after spending two years and thousands of dollars at this institution, I at least deserved one meeting, even if it was to say nothing can be done. Also, none of the faculty that I mentioned in the appeal were contacted.
I contacted a lawyer who is also faculty at the institution, who said I may have a case if I fought it as a civil rights case, claiming I was not given the correct guidance for having a learning disability. He referred me to a lawyer who had fought my institution on similar cases and won. I was worried that this may tarnish my application to other dental schools if it becomes public. So I have held off on that option.
Now, I am applying to dental schools again. I was going to mention my dental school dismissal wherever it applied, but wanted to avoid talking about it if it was not necessary. I was told by ADEA that I have to submit a transcript from my past dental school. I am worried that this will tremendously harm my application. I don't want to spend too much space/time discussing my dismissal on my application unless it is necessary.
I needed advice on three issues:
1) Should I submit my dental school transcripts to the application? Should I discuss my dismissal in my personal statement? Should I discuss my learning disability and how I have been able to manage it properly now?
2) Should I continue with the lawyer and fight the school while I am applying to dental school?
3)Do you know of any schools that will definitely not accept a dismissed dental student?
