Does a written warning count as an Institutional ACtion (IA)?

[deleted642188]

Hello fellow SDNers,

To explain my situation, my school asks that before we leave, we clean up our dorms before winter vacation. I unfortunately didn't clean up my dorm because I had my O-Chem final the evening before the university kicked us out of the dorms, thus completely forgetting about having to clean up our dorms. During my last week of winter break, I received an email from my RA saying he wrote me up for a messy room. After break, I met with my dorm's director and he said that he's only giving me a written warning, and all I had to do was sign a statement saying that I was responsible for leaving a mess in my room and that I would never make any future messes in my room again. To anyone reading this post, my question is: does my written warning qualify as an IA to mention on AMCAS? @gyngyn @LizzyM @Catalystik @Goro et al.

Feedback would be much appreciated!

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[LizzyM]

AMCAS Manual pp 26-27 https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf
Institutional Action
You must answer Yes to this question if you were ever the recipient of any institutional action by any college or medical school for unacceptable academic performance or 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 or expunged from your official transcripts due to institutional policy or personal petition. If you answer Yes, you must briefly explain each instance, along with the date(s) of occurrence (MM/YYYY). Your response may be up to 1,325 characters or approximately one-quarter of a page in length. 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. If you become the subject of an institutional action after certifying and submitting the AMCAS application, you must inform your designated medical school(s) within 10 business days of the date of the occurrence.


In my opinion, you've got nothing to lose by listing this. It will be a bit of comic relief for the adcom as they review other applications with really troublesome IAs. Is a written warning issued by an RA an "institutional action"? You signed it and I'd guess it went into your file so that if you were caught again the record would indicate that this was a second offense. That seems like an action by the university. It also seems like no big deal to report; on the other hand, failure to report could be considered "dishonest" and that is a serious sin in medicine (see Charles Bosk's classic book, Forgive and Remember)

 

[deleted642188]

AMCAS Manual pp 26-27 https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf
Institutional Action
You must answer Yes to this question if you were ever the recipient of any institutional action by any college or medical school for unacceptable academic performance or 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 or expunged from your official transcripts due to institutional policy or personal petition. If you answer Yes, you must briefly explain each instance, along with the date(s) of occurrence (MM/YYYY). Your response may be up to 1,325 characters or approximately one-quarter of a page in length. 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. If you become the subject of an institutional action after certifying and submitting the AMCAS application, you must inform your designated medical school(s) within 10 business days of the date of the occurrence.


In my opinion, you've got nothing to lose by listing this. It will be a bit of comic relief for the adcom as they review other applications with really troublesome IAs. Is a written warning issued by an RA an "institutional action"? You signed it and I'd guess it went into your file so that if you were caught again the record would indicate that this was a second offense. That seems like an action by the university. It also seems like no big deal to report; on the other hand, failure to report could be considered "dishonest" and that is a serious sin in medicine (see Charles Bosk's classic book, Forgive and Remember)

Hello LizzyM,

I called my school's dorm director and he said that the written warning WILL BE on my record but my school doesn't consider it an IA because I never had any judicial hearing by my school and/or had to do community service. In your opinion should I still state it despite it not being an IA? Thanks for the response

 

[deleted577188]

Hello LizzyM,

I called my school's dorm director and he said that the written warning WILL BE on my record but my school doesn't consider it an IA because I never had any judicial hearing by my school and/or had to do community service. In your opinion should I still state it despite it not being an IA? Thanks for the response

List it.

 

[itsogre]

List it if it's on your college transcript! This is so trivial that it's hilarious. not reporting it will make the school where you will matriculate very upset (for withholding trivial information). Literally nothing to worry about. If my RA could write me up for a messy room, I'd be a convicted felon by now.

 

[Goro]

As usual, I agree 100% with my esteemed colleague.

In my opinion, you've got nothing to lose by listing this. It will be a bit of comic relief for the adcom as they review other applications with really troublesome IAs. Is a written warning issued by an RA an "institutional action"? You signed it and I'd guess it went into your file so that if you were caught again the record would indicate that this was a second offense. That seems like an action by the university. It also seems like no big deal to report; on the other hand, failure to report could be considered "dishonest" and that is a serious sin in medicine (see Charles Bosk's classic book, Forgive and Remember)

 

[DokterMom]

Yes, list it. It's so trivial and petty that it won't harm you, and as @LizzyM notes, is actually pretty funny. It might actually get you an interview if your app is on the fence.

 

[baxt1412]

1. list it
2. start gaining the maturity to make sure your duties are met.. it's not a big deal, but IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL so it just should have been done.

 

[packersfans]

List it. As noted previously it will likely give the adcom some comedic relief against the other apps. I had a trivial but comical item I had to list on my app and one of my interviewers commented on how it made them laugh.

 

[Jumb0]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say don't list it if it's not on your transcript. If your university says that it's not an IA, then it's not an IA. Ergo, you are not obligated to list it. Yes, the policy is that you must list any IA "even if such action did not interrupt your enrollment or require you to withdraw," however, in your case, it has NOT been classified as an IA in the first place. Therefore, this policy is categorically moot in this situation.

 

[deleted642188]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say don't list it if it's not on your transcript. If your university says that it's not an IA, then it's not an IA. Ergo, you are not obligated to list it. Yes, the policy is that you must list any IA "even if such action did not interrupt your enrollment or require you to withdraw," however, in your case, it has NOT been classified as an IA in the first place. Therefore, this policy is categorically moot in this situation.

I understand your perspective but I actually talked to my advisor and she suggested that I list it. Regardless, the warning will still be on my academic record if med schools feel like doing some digging so I guess it's better that they know now than later

 

[LizzyM]

Given your IA, I find your screen name ironic and comic.

 

[deleted577188]

Given your IA, I find your screen name ironic and comic.

hahahahaaaa didn't even notice that