Hidden Transcripts of Shame

[Hume]

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After graduating college I underwent a series of existential crises. Part of this entailed enrolling in several community colleges in a distant city far away from my undergrad institution, taking classes, and dropping out half way through the semester. I either received a "W" or simply stopped going (which I'm sure equated to the grade of "F")

Long story short, I grew up a lot, finished my pre-reques at a 4 year college, did well, and will be applying to medical school soon. I have no intention of incorporating these past transcripts into my application.

My question is this: to what extent to medical schools look past your submitted application folder to verify its materials. Will these unsubmitted transcripts ever arise?

Thanks and Happy Holidays,
Hume

 

[FrkyBgStok]

You HAVE to include them. If you don't , they can kick you out of school. And I have heard of people getting kicked out in their 4th year for reasons similar. Unfortunately, checking about the classes and is super easy so they will look and rescind any acceptance. Every class you have ever taken you must report and from every college you have ever attended or enrolled in.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Include them and retake the F. If your social security was ever involved with any of the school's financial aid, they will catch you when they run you in medical school.

 

[costales]

http://www.aacom.org/Documents/AACOMASInstructions.pdf

AACOMAS User Agreement
I understand that if false or missing data are discovered in my application, such discovery may constitute grounds for dismissal from an osteopathic medical college at any time, even after matriculation.

Colleges and Coursework
List all colleges and universities attended or currently attending, whether for degree programs or for coursework not leading to a degree. Include foreign colleges unless the foreign college was attended as part of a study abroad program and coursework appears on the transcript of the sponsoring U.S. college or university. Failure to list all colleges and universities may delay processing of your application and may be considered a violation of your Application Certification Agreement.
​

Never hide, omit, or misrepresent your education. You WILL get caught sooner or later - by your school, your residency program, your state licensing board. Don't even think about it.

 

[IDFsoldierboy]

i don't know about DO schools and the AACOMAS but if you are caught in a lie on your app with MD schools they are required to tell AAMC and you will never get into a med school...I assume it is the same with DO schools...they WILL find out about it and report it to AACOM

do the right thing...report the grades and either replace them by retaking the course or prepared to write in your personal statement what happened.

 

[group_theory]

Sometimes the act of omission (or lying) is worse than the actual crime.


If at any point the fact that you hid your transcript - your school reserves the right to either expell you from school (if you are still a student) or even revoke your degree (if you graduated) - if they can say that your omission was critical and would have affected your chance of admission.

You may get away with it. But it will be a skeleton in the closet that can always be used to haunt you. Any friend, classmates, or ex-girlfriend (or ex-boyfriend) may turn you in. If you received any federal aid, state aid, or loans - you may have a papertrail. Do you want to spend the rest of your working life afraid that you may be discovered, and if the school takes action (such as revoking your degree) - not only will you not have a degree, but you will not have a medical license (since you will no longer be a graduate of an accredited medical school) ... but don't worry, you will still have your student loans to repay

 

[NurWollen]

As everyone else has said, Don't omit any transcripts. Not only is it risky but it's also dishonest.

On the bright side, if your grades in undergrad are decent, and your post-existential crisis pre-reqs are good, I think you probably still have an excellent shot at med school.

 

[DrWily]

After graduating college I underwent a series of existential crises. Part of this entailed enrolling in several community colleges in a distant city far away from my undergrad institution, taking classes, and dropping out half way through the semester. I either received a "W" or simply stopped going (which I'm sure equated to the grade of "F")

Long story short, I grew up a lot, finished my pre-reques at a 4 year college, did well, and will be applying to medical school soon. I have no intention of incorporating these past transcripts into my application.

My question is this: to what extent to medical schools look past your submitted application folder to verify its materials. Will these unsubmitted transcripts ever arise?

Thanks and Happy Holidays,
Hume

Yea don't do this unless you want to be in huge amounts of debt with no way to repay them back.

Man up to your mistakes. Schools will look past it if you demonstrate maturity now.

 

[UpwardTrend]

http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/

Retake the F's. Its not easy but you have to do it. Many of us have been there and put in the effort to fix the past.

 

[ManBroDude]

What's sad about this story is that the OP today came to the realization that his actual AACOMAS GPA has to include his multiple failed classes, dropping it into the non-competitive range.

Hume, not all hope is lost. There are many, many people on this board who worked their rears off for 2-3 years fixing their grades for reasons similar to yours.

The good news (yes, there is good news) is that if you ended up (re)taking those failed classes at your new four-year institution (whether they knew about it or not), AACOMAS will use the grade replacement policy to essentially strike your "classes of shame" from affecting your records. Assuming your string of failed classes were all taken again, you're actually in good shape, believe it or not. Yes, you will have to explain this glaring red flag if/when you get an interview, though. There's plenty of threads about grade replacements for DO schools here, but the skinny is that they must be the same name and credit hours (or more) for it to work.

Good luck, and PM me with any questions. I have "classes of shame" of my own and I have 2 interviews in the next 2 weeks, so I can relate.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

What's sad about this story is that the OP today came to the realization that his actual AACOMAS GPA has to include his multiple failed classes, dropping it into the non-competitive range.

Hume, not all hope is lost. There are many, many people on this board who worked their rears off for 2-3 years fixing their grades for reasons similar to yours.

The good news (yes, there is good news) is that if you ended up (re)taking those failed classes at your new four-year institution (whether they knew about it or not), AACOMAS will use the grade replacement policy to essentially strike your "classes of shame" from affecting your records. Assuming your string of failed classes were all taken again, you're actually in good shape, believe it or not. Yes, you will have to explain this glaring red flag if/when you get an interview, though. There's plenty of threads about grade replacements for DO schools here, but the skinny is that they must be the same name and credit hours (or more) for it to work.

Good luck, and PM me with any questions. I have "classes of shame" of my own and I have 2 interviews in the next 2 weeks, so I can relate.

Hell yeah man. That rocks. Congrats.

 

[Whosis]

I too have classes of shame in my past. At my first ug institution I transferee with a 2.1. Then in the first semester of the transferred school I had below a 2.0. Now this as 15 years ago and I've got a 3.9 in my postbacc classes now. Also I will be at DMU with fry next year. I also got into four other DO and interviews at two MD's so it can be done.

 

[gatorfann14]

Do not try to hide it. I got Fs from a community college while in the middle of my UG education. And everything was fine for me. I didnt even have to retake them. As long as you recover well and don't make a habit of these things it should be ok. I know the temptation I thought about it myself, but I thought better of it.

 

[biohazard86]

I took 1 class at a community college, which I never completed. I just withdrew and received a "W", was I supposed to include this as well?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Yep

 

[biohazard86]

Crap. Any idea of what I'm supposed to do, if I was already accepted and the school is requesting my transcripts. If I send it to them would I get in trouble for not putting it on my primary app?

 

[Iliketoytles]

Crap. Any idea of what I'm supposed to do, if I was already accepted and the school is requesting my transcripts. If I send it to them would I get in trouble for not putting it on my primary app?

Was it from a required class, or just an elective? Either way... send the transcript, and if it's from a required class, you'll need to take the class during the summer before medschool starts. If it's not a required class, they might not even bring it up.

 

[biohazard86]

It wasn't a required class. I ended up taking the class later anyways, at a different school. Should I call up the school and explain it to them or just submit?

 

[Iliketoytles]

It wasn't a required class. I ended up taking the class later anyways, at a different school. Should I call up the school and explain it to them or just submit?

Perhaps do both... just in case.

I don't see it being a huge deal tbh.

 

[biohazard86]

thanks. I hope you're right. I rather not call, wouldn't want to lose my acceptance. I honestly believed we only had to turn in transcripts when credits were earned for AACOMAS, and now I received an email from the school for deposit and transcripts from all the schools I've ever attended.

 

[costales]

For example, this past March I had intended to take an EMT class at a community college. I was in communication with the professor that was teaching it, but I ended up deciding against taking it, opting for a class this fall closer to my university.
I never paid for the class - never attended any of the classes. Am I okay to omit that?

If you dropped yourself before their drop/add deadline, then there is no official record of your enrollment in the class - nothing to speak of. But you should call them and verify.