Got Caught Cheating on Exam, Is my pre-med career over?

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throwawaycheater

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Hello all,

Let me preface this by saying I am a pre-med (currently a junior) at a large public institution

As I type this message I cannot express how distraught and stupid I feel. For the first time in my life I cheated on an exam given in my organic chemistry class, and my teacher sent me an email saying that she has proof that I cheated on my exam by copying the answer to a synthesis problem.

I have not met with the office of academic integrity at my school yet, but I have decided that instead of trying to deny these allegations I will admit the truth. Ever since the start of finals, I was mentally occupied by my parents' impending divorce and slacked off of studying as I was depressed for hours on end. With that being said, I will not use this as an excuse, and will own up to my actions.

Are my chances for medical school done? Otherwise I am a decent applicant, I have done research and internships, and I am a smart kid that does not cheat (I made a 2200 on my SAT). However I made the stupid and irreversible mistake of cheating on my exam, and now I must pay the price. If I made mostly As from now on (I currently have a 3.6 gpa) and get a high score on the MCAT, will medical schools accept me if I take a gap year? I know it is especially damning since I am a junior, but do I have hope? How do I remedy this blemish on my record?

Any advice is welcome. I am typing this with tears on my face as I feel my dreams of becoming a doctor are truly over.
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Cheating is probably one of the worse things you could have done. People won't think it's the first time you did it, but that it was the first time you got caught. I'm sorry, but depending on the results of how this is listed on your transcript, it's not looking too good for you.
 
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If you get an institutional action against you, this will constitute a big red flag for your application. Ya done screwed up, son. Now it's time to take responsibility for your actions and learn from the mistake, which you have made headway toward in owning up to the cheating. Time will tell for certain, but I'll also call on @Goro and @gyngyn to weigh in as well, as they are both med school faculty and can give you a better assessment.

Best of luck and keep that hat in hand.
 
Unfortunately, this is going to be a severe setback for you. Academic dishonesty violations are gravely serious, and it is clear that you deliberately cheated on an exam. This isn't someone who got charged with unintentional plagiarism because he didn't properly follow citation rules. Your reason/rationale behind the cheating is irrelevant.

Now, is your medical career entirely over? I don't think so. However, you'll need to seriously reflect on this incident and put some time between this incident and your application. Time heals all (most) wounds. Taking some time off after college and dedicate yourself to either full-time work or graduate studies. With time, patience, and new experiences that demonstrate your integrity and commitment to medicine, I believe that it is possible to overcome this roadblock and get into medical school.

Keep in mind that you'll have to report this incident on your AMCAS application. You'll be given around 1300 characters to explain what happened, and this explanation is absolutely crucial. Do not make excuses, do not blame others, accept your responsibility, and most importantly, describe what you learned from the incident. If you need someone to look over your explanation, you are more than welcomed to send me a PM.

I know how you feel, but this obstacle CAN be overcome. Get your act together and continue on your journey. Learn from what happened, but move on from the incident and come to terms with it. Don't let it consume your soul.
 
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throwawaycheater said:
Hello all,

Let me preface this by saying I am a pre-med (currently a junior) at a large public institution

As I type this message I cannot express how distraught and stupid I feel. For the first time in my life I cheated on an exam given in my organic chemistry class, and my teacher sent me an email saying that she has proof that I cheated on my exam by copying the answer to a synthesis problem.

I have not met with the office of academic integrity at my school yet, but I have decided that instead of trying to deny these allegations I will admit the truth. Ever since the start of finals, I was mentally occupied by my parents' impending divorce and slacked off of studying as I was depressed for hours on end. With that being said, I will not use this as an excuse, and will own up to my actions.

Are my chances for medical school done? Otherwise I am a decent applicant, I have done research and internships, and I am a smart kid that does not cheat (I made a 2200 on my SAT). However I made the stupid and irreversible mistake of cheating on my exam, and now I must pay the price. If I made mostly As from now on (I currently have a 3.6 gpa) and get a high score on the MCAT, will medical schools accept me if I take a gap year? I know it is especially damning since I am a junior, but do I have hope? How do I remedy this blemish on my record?

Any advice is welcome. I am typing this with tears on my face as I feel my dreams of becoming a doctor are truly over.
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It is wrong to cheat, but now you have no choice but to deny everything
 
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Cheating is wrong and you should never do it!

The fact that she emailed you means she has got nothing and is just waiting for you to own up. Never cheat again, but deny everything and hire a lawyer or meet with school student legal aid. Please take this advice unless the teacher actually has physical and video footage of you cheating .

Don't admit ANYTHING if it can not be legally and explicitly proven
 
Visible Ghost said:
It is wrong to cheat.

Deny everything, and you should never do it again because you are only cheating yourself.

Your teacher can not prove anything unless she caught you opening your book and has video camera footage.

She emailing you about some synthesis problem proves nothing.
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Worst advice you could possibly give. You have no idea of what the actual evidence against the OP is. You can't know what she can prove. I'm certain the teacher has something much more substantial aside from a hunch and denying that he cheated when he knows he got caught and when he's been accused would be more than foolish. He lied when he cheated and you're advocating he lie again in a half wit effort to save his arse? I suppose you want doctors who are more interested in avoiding responsibilities for the ramifications of their stupidity than doctors who are honest and willing to admit when they were wrong? Try again.
 
You already know this, but it doesn't look good.

1. Own it and don't make excuses. You already know that too. Talk to the professor ASAP and grovel, maybe something can be worked out.
2. You need time in between the incident and applying to med school. One gap year will most likely not be enough.
3. Get involved in something that will show your integrity
4. A character letter vouching for your integrity would help
5. When the time comes, apply broadly and prepare to hear a lot of "no's." Even with several years of time between the incident and applying, some schools might still not want a person with an academic integrity issue on their record. Dishonest doctors start as dishonest students, and while people can absolutely learn from their mistakes and never do something like that again, some schools might not want to take the risk when there are hundreds of other qualified applicants without IAs.

This is from 2007, but something to read for a little hope: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/a-positive-message-from-an-sdner.469517/
I think there is hope, but you now have a very different (and longer) path to medicine.
 
J Senpai said:
Worst advice you could possibly give. You have no idea of what the actual evidence against the OP is. You can't know what she can prove. I'm certain the teacher has something much more substantial aside from a hunch and denying that he cheated when he knows he got caught and when he's been accused would be more than foolish. He lied when he cheated and you're advocating he lie again in a half wit effort to save his arse? I suppose you want doctors who are more interested in avoiding responsibilities for the ramifications of their stupidity than doctors who are honest and willing to admit when they were wrong? Try again.
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Well I have never cheated on an exam, but I would not advice a premed to potentially harm his or her career plans.

The best he or she should do is hire a lawyer . We can all agree on that.

Sure it must be easy to tell someone to own up!
 
Visible Ghost said:
Well I have never cheated on an exam, but I would not advice a premed to potentially harm his or her career plans.

The best he or she should do is hire a lawyer . We can all agree on that
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And I think many of us disagree. Advising him to do so is pushing him into hostility. I think there's still the possibility that he can get this swept under the rug by being genuine, apologetic, and honest.
 
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jb94mg said:
And I think many of us disagree. Advising him to do so is pushing him into hostility. I think there's still the possibility that he can get this swept under the rug by being genuine, apologetic, and honest.
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J Senpai said:
Advocating from a morally indefensible position? Fine, but don't drag others down with you.
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But it is very easy to tell someone to own up.
 
J Senpai said:
Just as easy as it is to tell someone to apologize for something they did or perhaps just as easy as walking up half a flight of stairs. What's your point?
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I think his point is that if the coin was flipped and OP was actually you, telling the truth may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
 
Make Or Break said:
I think his point is that if the coin was flipped and OP was actually you, telling the truth may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
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But the OP has already come to that realization on his own. It would be different if we were trying to convince him to tell the truth or something.
 
If I was guilty, I'd rather go for a plea bargain than risk any chance of a life sentence. Work with the professor, it's your best shot.

And I personally would not want to dig myself into a greater hole by lying about something I know I did.
 
Visible Ghost said:
It is wrong to cheat, but now you have no choice but to deny everything
Click to expand...

Visible Ghost said:
Cheating is wrong and you should never do it!

The fact that she emailed you means she has got nothing and is just waiting for you to own up. Never cheat again, but deny everything and hire a lawyer or meet with school student legal aid. Please take this advice unless the teacher actually has physical and video footage of you cheating .

Don't admit ANYTHING if it can not be legally and explicitly proven
Click to expand...

Visible Ghost said:
Well I have never cheated on an exam, but I would not advice a premed to potentially harm his or her career plans.

The best he or she should do is hire a lawyer . We can all agree on that.

Sure it must be easy to tell someone to own up!
Click to expand...

As a person who reviews cases of alleged violations of academic integrity for my school, be assured that we aren't stupid. You may think that you can make a seamless story and might think your alibis are solid and fool-proof, but many times from the other side, it looks very painfully obvious. If OP did cheat and the professor had enough evidence/suspicion to take action on it, it's going to be difficult to make up fake counter-arguments to everything without having the story sound too forced, coincidental, or just outright unrealistic.

Lawyers also will not be able to help you beyond making up a story for you. If you actually did cheat, there's very little they can do for you. I've had a few cases where the students have hired lawyers, despite being clear that they did cheat, and it makes me cringe thinking of how much money they wasted for nothing.
 
Visible Ghost said:
Hi,

No one is disputing the fact that cheating is immoral.
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You are correct. Someone did, however, suggest that an individual engage in a lie to cover up for cheating - which could be called stealing in this instance - in order to skip on taking responsibility for their actions whilst still profiting from the previous act of cheating. You were the one who advocated this course of action which I hope you can see is a morally unjustified behavior, unless you would like to refute this assertion.
 
Aerus said:
As a person who reviews cases of alleged violations of academic integrity for my school, be assured that we aren't stupid. You may think that you can make a seamless story and might think your alibis are solid and fool-proof, but many times from the other side, it looks very painfully obvious. If OP did cheat and the professor had enough evidence/suspicion to take action on it, it's going to be difficult to make up fake counter-arguments to everything without having the story sound too forced, coincidental, or just outright unrealistic.

Lawyers also will not be able to help you beyond making up a story for you. If you actually did cheat, there's very little they can do for you. I've had a few cases where the students have hired lawyers, despite being clear that they did cheat, and it makes me cringe thinking of how much money they wasted for nothing.
Click to expand...

How does your school deal with cheaters?
 
Visible Ghost said:
How does your school deal with cheaters?
Click to expand...

Highly depends on the circumstances of the violation of academic integrity. Things are not simply black and white ("cheaters" and "non-cheaters").
 
Just be glad you don't go to school where I did. There wouldn't be any plea bargain, request for leniency, etc. only dismissal.
Your act of weakness and lack of integrity has gravely damaged your application. You probably don't even appreciate how much. There are prominent researchers who have lied and fabricated research to further their careers, they have caused great harm. Their recommendations and fraudulent claims have hurt many people. These are the kinds of people who come to mind when seeing academic dishonesty on a transcript.
Good luck.
 
Truth of the matter is few or no med schools are going to accept someone with cheating on a Prereq in their records. Academic integrity is huge for med schools which all emphasize professionalism. Talk with your professor, fall in your sword, tell him you are sorry and willing to take a retest, etc. He will probably say no, but it's worth a shot. If it goes on your record I'd probably put your premed dreams on hold. In a decade or so you can try again as an older Nontrad and take the whole "I was young and stupid back then" approach and maybe someone will buy in. In the meantime start thinking about non-professional career paths.
 
Visible Ghost said:
It is wrong to cheat, but now you have no choice but to deny everything
Click to expand...

Visible Ghost said:
Cheating is wrong and you should never do it!

The fact that she emailed you means she has got nothing and is just waiting for you to own up. Never cheat again, but deny everything and hire a lawyer or meet with school student legal aid. Please take this advice unless the teacher actually has physical and video footage of you cheating .

Don't admit ANYTHING if it can not be legally and explicitly proven
Click to expand...

Visible Ghost said:
Well I have never cheated on an exam, but I would not advice a premed to potentially harm his or her career plans.

The best he or she should do is hire a lawyer . We can all agree on that.

Sure it must be easy to tell someone to own up!
Click to expand...

Visible Ghost said:
But it is very easy to tell someone to own up.
Click to expand...

Visible Ghost said:
Hi,

No one is disputing the fact that cheating is immoral. The student asked for advice.
Click to expand...

Seriously, just stop giving advice. Your advice is wrong and can hurt the OP more if he takes it seriously, which he shouldn't.
 
I'm going to echo what (almost) everyone else has said and strongly recommend you be straightforward and honest. It was dishonesty that got you into this; more dishonesty only digs the grave deeper.

In your case, though, it sounds like the ship hasn't completely sailed if your professor hasn't reported you to the school. Go buy a nice pair of kneepads, go to your professor's office, and beg for leniency. No excuses, no whining, just a heartfelt plea. A zero on the test or even an F in the class are overwhelmingly preferable to an IA for cheating on your record, which will likely delay your premed career for a very long time, if not ending it. If you truly want to be a doctor, do everything you can to handle the situation right now.
 
Take a zero on the test and tell the professor you have reflected deeply on this matter. Write an essay. Do whatever you need to do to prove to your professor that you do care about the ramifications of your actions and understand as a mature adult that what you have done is unacceptable. This has to be a humbling learning experience.
 
Honestly, it's tough to give adequate advice on this issue. There are too many unknowns. Would the professor be amenable to an apology and an offer to take a zero? Who knows. That might just put the final nail in your coffin. Does the professor have evidence? Again, we have no idea. Circumstantial evidence is likely, but they don't have to a meet the beyond a reasonable doubt standard in university justice. You'll just have to use your best judgement here.
 
You may have been stressed, but you decided to respond to that stress by cheating. To med schools this shows that you will not uphold a professional or ethical standard when faced with adversity, what do you expect them to think you'll do when you get presented with the much greater stresses of med school, residency, and eventually as an attending all of which have stakes much higher than an organic chemistry test in undergrad? I think anyone here who is in med school or has gone to med school can attest to how much of a big deal every school makes about professionalism. I think it is something that they take much more seriously than most people would guess before coming to med school.

Take this lesson to reflect upon yourself overall, understand that this could very likely shut the doors to med school for you, and make sure to have some backup plans if need be.
 
I'm laughing at those people talking about law. Why is it that anything happens must turn into a law battle?
OP: try to talk to your professor, tell her that you have a career ahead of you and make her feel guilty that she will ruin your career because of one synthesis problem on undergrad course. Apologize, and even ask her to give you zero on the whole exam and take the F. Do anything to keep this off record.
 
Bottle said:
I'm laughing at those people talking about law. Why is it that anything happens must turn into a law battle?
OP: try to talk to your professor, tell her that you have a career ahead of you and make her feel guilty that she will ruin your career because of one synthesis problem on undergrad course. Apologize, and even ask her to give you zero on the whole exam and take the F. Do anything to keep this off record.
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Don't attempt to make them feel guilty for doing something to you.....you did this to you

Appeal to mercy and beg for any punishment that isn't an IA
 
sb247 said:
Take a zero on the whole freaking class if it will avoid the IA...literally beg and weep for forgiveness but yiu don't want an IA
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Aye, an F on your transcript > IA. Seriously.

(This isnt sarcasm)
 
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Some schools also have forgiveness policies. My school will replace IA with an F after two years if you have an additional hearing and show your remorse.

Look into that and be sure not to do it again.
 
My mom (a professor) just had this happen. A student cheated on her final, and my mom knew. She is supposed to immediately report any cheating to the person in charge of the judicial board. Instead, she called the student into her office to discuss it. Her plan was if the student owned up to it and apologized, to give the student an F for the exam and have it be a learning experience for him/her. The student denied it. So the student not only got an F but is now being referred to the judicial board. That all could have been avoided if the student had not been a liar in addition to being a cheater.

OP, I would recommend owning up to it, being extraordinarily apologetic, noting that you would like to attend medical school and this one mistake could ruin your career, appreciating that you require some sort of punishment, and offer suggestions for that punishment. One suggestion you could make would be some kind of "probationary status" where if you cheat again, both instances go on your record, but if you are clean for the rest of undergrad you have no official IA noted.

And then, of course, be a stand up guy. Don't do anything, in your personal or academic life, that you wouldn't want the board seeing. Also, if you're on Facebook make sure the settings are as private as you can make them, right now. Judicial officials have Facebook too and there's nothing that says this guy is truly a stand up guy who deserves a second chance like drunk frat party photos.
 
estanton said:
Some schools also have forgiveness policies. My school will replace IA with an F after two years if you have an additional hearing and show your remorse.

Look into that and be sure not to do it again.
Click to expand...

You still have to report the IA on AMCAS even if your school forgives it.
 
jamcat said:
My mom (a professor) just had this happen. A student cheated on her final, and my mom knew. She is supposed to immediately report any cheating to the person in charge of the judicial board. Instead, she called the student into her office to discuss it. Her plan was if the student owned up to it and apologized, to give the student an F for the exam and have it be a learning experience for him/her. The student denied it. So the student not only got an F but is now being referred to the judicial board. That all could have been avoided if the student had not been a liar in addition to being a cheater.

OP, I would recommend owning up to it, being extraordinarily apologetic, noting that you would like to attend medical school and this one mistake could ruin your career, appreciating that you require some sort of punishment, and offer suggestions for that punishment. One suggestion you could make would be some kind of "probationary status" where if you cheat again, both instances go on your record, but if you are clean for the rest of undergrad you have no official IA noted.

And then, of course, be a stand up guy. Don't do anything, in your personal or academic life, that you wouldn't want the board seeing. Also, if you're on Facebook make sure the settings are as private as you can make them, right now. Judicial officials have Facebook too and there's nothing that says this guy is truly a stand up guy who deserves a second chance like drunk frat party photos.
Click to expand...
I think this is solid advice.
 
jamcat said:
My mom (a professor) just had this happen. A student cheated on her final, and my mom knew. She is supposed to immediately report any cheating to the person in charge of the judicial board. Instead, she called the student into her office to discuss it. Her plan was if the student owned up to it and apologized, to give the student an F for the exam and have it be a learning experience for him/her. The student denied it. So the student not only got an F but is now being referred to the judicial board. That all could have been avoided if the student had not been a liar in addition to being a cheater.

OP, I would recommend owning up to it, being extraordinarily apologetic, noting that you would like to attend medical school and this one mistake could ruin your career, appreciating that you require some sort of punishment, and offer suggestions for that punishment. One suggestion you could make would be some kind of "probationary status" where if you cheat again, both instances go on your record, but if you are clean for the rest of undergrad you have no official IA noted.

And then, of course, be a stand up guy. Don't do anything, in your personal or academic life, that you wouldn't want the board seeing. Also, if you're on Facebook make sure the settings are as private as you can make them, right now. Judicial officials have Facebook too and there's nothing that says this guy is truly a stand up guy who deserves a second chance like drunk frat party photos.
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You have a very intelligent and kind mom!
 
Honesty, OP. Pure honesty.

Bit off the log, now you have to chew. Be thankful the professor emailed you immediately, and you didn't wake up to an email from the disciplinary committee. In the end, the professor knows you cheated. Talk to them, and maybe work on it.

You've owned up to it in your post by admitting it. Step 1 (err, bad choice of words). But I agree with the individual whose mother is a professor.

Be honest, be direct, reach out to that professor, and learn from this.

Easier said than done, but the alternative sucks.
 
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The fact that the professor emailed you instead of just reporting the cheating"behind your back" means that maybe she's willing to talk.

I would ask for an F not only for the exam but for the entire class, be extremely apologetic, say that you will retake the whole course, etc.
 
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