Institutional Action and Expungement

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chutrudrur

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During my freshman year, I became interested in psychedelics and decided to try some out at a friend's on-campus dorm. I had a bad reaction and my friends called EMS, which transported me to the ER. I was discharged a few hours later.

The University discovered this and decided to sanction (institutional action) me with a warning, which required me to attend some counseling. A year after the incident I filed an application for an expungement and was granted one, on the basis of my academic success and community service. The expungement resulted in the warning being removed from my disciplinary record (no record currently exists).

Besides my disciplinary history, I am a competitive applicant (35/3.9+/ORM) otherwise. My only question is: how bad does this look? I plan to disclose everything on the AMCAS. I have had no other institutional action placed upon me.
 
During my freshman year, I became interested in psychedelics and decided to try some out at a friend's on-campus dorm. I had a bad reaction and my friends called EMS, which transported me to the ER. I was discharged a few hours later.

The University discovered this and decided to sanction (institutional action) me with a warning, which required me to attend some counseling. A year after the incident I filed an application for an expungement and was granted one, on the basis of my academic success and community service. The expungement resulted in the warning being removed from my disciplinary record (no record currently exists).

Besides my disciplinary history, I am a competitive applicant (35/3.9+/ORM) otherwise. My only question is: how bad does this look? I plan to disclose everything on the AMCAS. I have had no other institutional action placed upon me.

Check with your school, but if no IA is being reported, then I probably wouldn't put it on your application.
 
Agree with TG I wouldnt report it if its not there
 
So @Goro he should not report the IA if its been expunged?


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So @Goro he should not report the IA if its been expunged?


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I know some schools ask that you report expunged misdemeanors, but that's completely different than your school's internal record.
 
Per the AMCAS instructions it states " you must answer yes even if the action does not appear on or has been deleted from your official transcript." This is the reason I'm asking.


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Per the AMCAS instructions it states " you must answer yes even if the action does not appear on or has been deleted from your official transcript." This is the reason I'm asking.


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OP can legally answer no, if it is expunged. Most would. But morally, you must answer yes. Let's see what kind of person you are, op.
 
Agree 100% with my learned colleague.
what. In every other thread I've seen related to IAs and the process of expungement, haven't you and other Adcomm members stated that it says explicitly on AMCAS that you must report even if the IA was expunged?
 
Thank you for reminding me of this. OP, I change my answer to one of that you must explain, even is not asked for. The risk, and I have seen this happen, is that some LOR writer might let slip something about the charges, and you'll get an instant reject after that.

Just explain, own, and this will be overlooked.


what. In every other thread I've seen related to IAs and the process of expungement, haven't you and other Adcomm members stated that it says explicitly on AMCAS that you must report even if the IA was expunged?
 
I had 2 IAs expunged (both for violating dorm quiet hours, but still IAs). I didn't report them after checking with my schools Prehealth Committee first. My SO had the same problem (it wasn't a drug IA, but it was an IA that had been expunged), but decided to follow the runles and report it. She was only asked about it in one interview, where the interviewer asked "why in the world would you report an expunged offense?!".

Check with your committee or prehealth advisor, but Id say dont report. If you do report it was the result of immaturity and your exemplary conduct and community service had you granted an expungement. Makes it sound like you learned from it
 
As others have stated, check with your school first.

Second, be mindful of who you get to write your letters.

Third, if it's not on your records and you've atoned for it, why bother?
 
As others have stated, check with your school first.

Second, be mindful of who you get to write your letters.

Third, if it's not on your records and you've atoned for it, why bother?

The rules say you must report even if the IA has been wiped from your record. If you sign off on your AMCAS stating that it is true and complete but it is not true and complete according to AMCAS instructions, who is going to suffer if for any reason you are ever found out?

In my experience, IAs for booze and petty dorm rules do not in any way hurt your chances of being interviewed and admitted.
 
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