As "right" as it sounds to hear people say, "you're ****ed, buddy", and be glad another person who's trying to get credit for more than he's earned got what's coming to him, take into consideration the perspectives of these people. These are people who've slaved away for the same grade. They remember how hard they had to work for that A. They remember their buddy who did the same and got the B ("...but man, he only missed it by 1 point!"). They are so brimming with premed idealism that they think basic truths include: adcoms are uncompromising, and only the most just will/should succeed in medicine, and who can blame them. They have to have this mindset to survive. They have to tell themselves that the bar they've got to clear to be successful is at the outer reaches of their ability. They've got to assume any slip could be the end of your career.
The fact is, the same ideas hold in being successful in medical school. You've got to chase every detail and every avenue and every resource you can muster to get the A, and you've got to do it on every test. You have to assume the residency you want will be closed to you if you fall short somewhere along the line, you assume that the judicious hand of god will come down on you in the future if you fall short when you could have excelled further. You have to assume, you have to believe. You've got to.
But the truth is, when you are making those assumptions, when you've got your aim set so intently at that level of performance, at that level of accomplishment, you're bringing in a new pressure. So you've told yourself that you're willing to do (pretty much) anything to get the job done. You know what you have to do as a premed to get in. You know what you have to do as a medical student to get the residency you're gunning for. You know how high the bar is. You entertain the possibility of making a tiny adjustment in your favor, given the opportunity.
"It's so arbitrary anyway, the grading", or
"Plenty of people do so much worse, and they don't seem to care...", etc.
And you're probably right. So what's the difference? The difference is conscience. I'd like to believe that you people are chastising him out of the conscience in you that tells you what he did was wrong. But look at his story. Was it so wrong to **** up his whole life? Is your purity so much more worthy than his soiled visage to you? More importantly, who made you judge of that? The answer, of course, is no one. You're not a residency director, and you're not an admissions committee. But you assume. You assume that what you hold dear and what you have told yourself is expected of you holds true to everyone. That everyone in a position of power believes it and that it's right for you to believe it. So why is conscience "the difference", as I've so glibly suggested? Because don't you dare tell me your conscience has never been challenged by the above thoughts. Don't you dare say you've always known what side of fair vs. unfair you've landed on. You're used to gunning to succeed - deep down you know how he feels. It's not so big of a leap to put yourself in his shoes, and maybe it scares you. It should.
But my opinion? My opinion is that, yes, he will have explaining to do. He will have to convince people (yes, people, adcoms and residency directors are people, who need convincing) that his conscience is alive and well, and that he is very much a sensitive person of conscience, whose integrity can't be bought by 2 extra points on a Bio essay. I'll be damned if I know how he'll do it. But anyone here who says it's impossible is merely reflecting what they believe should be true, not the truth. It's not impossible, but it is up to you. Just like any other difficult task that's given to you in this path, you'll have to find a way to get the job done. And my advice is to do it with the sharpest of conscience and the picture of integrity...from now on.
