I think I am in a big trouble...

[archonsbk]

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I am in the 2nd semester of general chemistry class.
My professor emailed me and my lab partners that we plagiarized our lab report, so we will receive a zero on that report and she will send a letter to Dean.

I talked to Dean about it and she said that it is not going to be on my transcript, but if dental schools require to see it, the University will send it out.

It kinda stinks. First, it was one sentence from our rough draft (we did perfectly on our final draft after spending 8 hours on it). Second, one of my lab partners plagiarized. Since this happened, I feel like my dream is gone.

The question here is do dental schools take this seriously?
Should I give up applying for dental schools and think of doing something else?

 

[Tini]

I am in the 2nd semester of general chemistry class.
My professor emailed me and my lab partners that we plagiarized our lab report, so we will receive a zero on that report and she will send a letter to Dean.

I talked to Dean about it and she said that it is not going to be on my transcript, but if dental schools require to see it, the University will send it out.

It kinda stinks. First, it was one sentence from our rough draft (we did perfectly on our final draft after spending 8 hours on it). Second, one of my lab partners plagiarized. Since this happened, I feel like my dream is gone.


The question here is do dental schools take this seriously?
Should I give up applying for dental schools and think of doing something else?

I must say that dental schools do take this very seriously. If it was a lab partner that plagiarized and not you, I will still apply. There is a part of the app the asked if you have ever been part of any disciplinary action or involved in anything like this, which, in your case, you would have to say yes. You are then given the opportunity to explain this. I guess I am saying is that schools will find out. You will just have to be very thorough and explain to them the situation. (which, from my understanding, you actually did not copy anything, your partner did. I dont see how copying a sentence from your rough draft, that you wrote yourself, is plagiarizing). I dont think this is a death sentence, but be prepared to explain yourself. Also, make sure you have some solid LOR from science professors that can verify that you are indeed a good student. Try talking to the professor and say that it wasn't you that copied, and it was your lab partner.

I hope the situation works out for you for you in the future!

 

[psi169]

.

 

[fsddsms]

Since you're in contact with the dean and your professor, ask if they can include in there the DETAILS of the case in your file. If your lab partner is the one doing it, I'd be so pissed. Damn I'd even try suing aha for ruining your possibility of getting into dental school. I'd raise hell if it was me.

 

[s2agrado]

This sounds a little odd...aren't you supposed to go before an honor council and have an opportunity to defend yourself?

 

[FutureDent020]

This sounds a little odd...aren't you supposed to go before an honor council and have an opportunity to defend yourself?

Yea, you can appeal the offense or like you said, you have a hearing. Just explain yourself then, if what you say is the truth.

 

[aurumgrl]

Plagiarism is bad, but it's not the end of the world. If you still want to become a dentist, you can! However, you need to improve yourself and learned from your mistake. The good thing is that you made this mistake in your early days of college, so you still have lots of chances to show your academic abilities and maturity. When you do apply for dental school, just be honest. There is a section for you to explain this. You can tell them that it is not on your transcript, but it's your school file. And that in 1st/ 2nd year of college you made a mistake.....(talk about stress, pressure, etc..), but since then you have worked hard to maintain your academic integrity, etc... (show how)

For now, if you can, I would try to fight it off my record. See if you can present yourself in front of an honor panel or a review board. It's always worth a shot if you can prove that you did not plagiarized.

Whatever you do, don't let this put an end to your dream. There's so many ways to improve from this. Volunteering in the dental field, work harder in your future classes, do well on your DAT, etc... Best of luck to you!

 

[biorenaissance]

Sue for defamation of character. This is easy especially if the professor is not tenured. They will give you what ever you want even before going before an arbitrator and most certainly a judge.

 

[DrDDSman]

Sue for defamation of character. This is easy especially if the professor is not tenured. They will give you what ever you want even before going before an arbitrator and most certainly a judge.

Law suit? Lets be real, the professor was just doing her job and caught plagiarism in the act. You have to questions both parties involved here, and since she most likely doesn't know who plagiarized who, shes just being fair by reporting both. I do agree that OP should have a chance to explain his/her case to the dean/professor/honor council. Yes, shes being tough but academic dishonesty is a big deal in academia and has serious consequences. If the OP is innocent then getting this dismissed shouldn't be a problem. Its a crappy situation, but the professor was just doing her job. Good luck to you OP.

 

[peerless218]

I am in the 2nd semester of general chemistry class.
My professor emailed me and my lab partners that we plagiarized our lab report, so we will receive a zero on that report and she will send a letter to Dean.

I talked to Dean about it and she said that it is not going to be on my transcript, but if dental schools require to see it, the University will send it out.

It kinda stinks. First, it was one sentence from our rough draft (we did perfectly on our final draft after spending 8 hours on it). Second, one of my lab partners plagiarized. Since this happened, I feel like my dream is gone.

The question here is do dental schools take this seriously?
Should I give up applying for dental schools and think of doing something else?

I am just curious. If it's not going to be on your transcript, then how would dental schools know?

 

[failedmagician]

I am just curious. If it's not going to be on your transcript, then how would dental schools know?

PRobably just going to give an F instead of a FF. So, in that case, they WON'T know...but they will likely ask during an interview because it's such a bad grade. But who knows.

IF the OP really did not plagiarize then do something about it. I mean honestly, if you are innocent, why would you let them ruin your academic records? It does not add up at all. If your lab partner did it, you should not be held accountable. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Regmata]

You had a single sentence from a rough draft that was the same or similar to another paper? A sentence that did not make it to the final paper ? Your professor considered it plagiarism?

 

[DentalTrain]

I am in the 2nd semester of general chemistry class.
My professor emailed me and my lab partners that we plagiarized our lab report, so we will receive a zero on that report and she will send a letter to Dean.

I talked to Dean about it and she said that it is not going to be on my transcript, but if dental schools require to see it, the University will send it out.

It kinda stinks. First, it was one sentence from our rough draft (we did perfectly on our final draft after spending 8 hours on it). Second, one of my lab partners plagiarized. Since this happened, I feel like my dream is gone.

The question here is do dental schools take this seriously?
Should I give up applying for dental schools and think of doing something else?

I am not accusing you, but I highly doubt that as big of a deal would be made of it if you only had one sentence of your rough draft plagerized. Is this the full story?

 

[D.D.S.]

Went through the same problem 2nd year, except a bio lab class...

It doesn't show up on your transcript so you're fine. Ended up with a C- in that class because of a 0 on the paper and had to show up in front a judicial affair committee and explain the situation... obviously they werent going to back down... but whatever... had to write an essay and do online crap...

I never explained it to the dental schools.. they never asked..

5 interviews, got into 3 of the schools...

So dont worry... jus make sure this doesnt happen again and work hard to ace your other classes!

Good luck!

 

[coffinhaed]

Went through the same problem 1st year, except a bio lab class...

It doesn't show up on your transcript so you're fine. Ended up with a C- in that class because of a 0 on the paper and had to show up in front a judicial affair committee and explain the situation... obviously they didnt consider anything i was saying/explaining ... but whatever... had to write an essay and do online crap...

However, this was a huge turn around for my undergrad career.... Because of this incident, I started working harder to cover up the C- and aced every class...

I never explained it to the dental schools..

5 interviews, got into 3 of the schools...

So dont worry... jus make sure this doesnt happen again and work hard to ace your other classes!

Good luck!

I think we got it the first time.

 

[Svart Aske]

ADEA is exploring the possibility of incorporating disciplinary record verification in the AADSAS next year, so you'll probably have to own up.

Look at the last page
http://www.adea.org/dental_education_pathways/Documents/ADEA_AADSAS_PASS_SPRING_09.pdf

 

[skylark]

interesting. about the disciplinary record verification, i thought your undergrad comments on this once you are accepted. dont you need to turn in a form to say everything checks out ok? i havent been accepted yet so i dont know.

reading that ADEA section, the paragraph makes it seem that students have gotten away with not saying they screwed up...

anyway, OP, if the story you are telling is true, fight for your innocence. if its not true, own up to it. Adcoms are somewhat forgiving. otherwise the app would say "anyone who has a misconduct should not apply. end of story."

 

[Svart Aske]

i thought your undergrad comments on this once you are accepted. dont you need to turn in a form to say everything checks out ok? i havent been accepted yet so i dont know.

A few schools require you to give a disciplinary form to your undergrad office to submit.

 

[archonsbk]

You had a single sentence from a rough draft that was the same or similar to another paper? A sentence that did not make it to the final paper ? Your professor considered it plagiarism?

Yeah...🙁
That is what my professor told me and my lab partners. This is her 2nd or 3rd semester teaching chemistry, so I assume that she is more strict.. But yeah my lab partners and I talked to Dean another day and dean told us that we can appeal or accept my professor's decision.

But anyway, thanks people to give me advice! I will try to appeal, but even if I fail, I would just try to get a good GPA and good DAT score and tell admission committee what my fault in my first semester of sophomore year honestly.

Hopefully, this mistake does not ruin my dream!

p.s. It is just one sentence... to be honest, it is just one sentence that my lab partner forgot to quote...