Minor Disciplinary Action

[kmnguyen1124]

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Hi everyone,

I am applying this cycle with a 4.0 GPA and a high-30s MCAT. I have all of the expected EC's including three years of research with publications and extensive international volunteer work.

My only concern is that I have one minor infraction on my disciplinary record from by undergraduate institution. I smashed some pumpkins on Halloween and received 10 hours of required community service and half a semester of judicial probation. I made honest and appropriate remedies to the situation in addition to completing the community service and finishing the probation without incidence. I wrote apology letters to the owners of the pumpkins and also cleaned the facilities where we had made our mess. I certainly learned from the situation, and these lessons are reflected on my AMCAS application.

My question is how heavily will this incident weigh on my application? Are there certain schools that will automatically ignore an application with a disciplinary action on it? How much emphasis should I put on the lessons I learned in my secondaries, interviews, etc?

 

[ZeusonRoids]

Hi everyone,

I am applying this cycle with a 4.0 GPA and a high-30s MCAT. I have all of the expected EC's including three years of research with publications and extensive international volunteer work.

My only concern is that I have one minor infraction on my disciplinary record from by undergraduate institution. I smashed some pumpkins on Halloween and received 10 hours of required community service and half a semester of judicial probation. I made honest and appropriate remedies to the situation in addition to completing the community service and finishing the probation without incidence. I wrote apology letters to the owners of the pumpkins and also cleaned the facilities where we had made our mess. I certainly learned from the situation, and these lessons are reflected on my AMCAS application.

My question is how heavily will this incident weigh on my application? Are there certain schools that will automatically ignore an application with a disciplinary action on it? How much emphasis should I put on the lessons I learned in my secondaries, interviews, etc?

You will be fine. People make mistakes and as long as you learn from them (and they are minor) you will be fine applying to medical school.

People with "minor in possession" are fine when applying to medical school. I believe the rule of thumb is that if the infarction is something that you only do when you are in college/high school (mip, fake ID, smashing pumpkin...) it is not that big of an issue. Lucky for you, you have great gpa and MCAT score...explain it, say what you learned of it, and assure you will not have that sort of lapse of judgement again and I think you will be fine.

 

[Catalystik]

If this is the only blemish on yor record, it will carry little weight. If it occurred a few years ago, I doubt it will carry any weight.

 

[ZeusonRoids]

...but if you are asking my opinion on the list of schools you are applying to... I would say add a couple more safety schools (It would totally suck to have to re-apply with the stats you have and be a year behind where you could be)

I know a person with a 3.9 and 40 on his MCAT who has great ECs and is a wonderful writer (and has ZERO blemishes on his record) who was offered no interviews last season because he only applied to top 15 schools

 

[Namedmymember]

B/c it's not a true academic problem it might not even be on your record. I had a similar problem. Call you school and just ask if it will show up when AMCAS checks. It might not show up at all, in which case you don't even need to mention it.

 

[ThaliaNox]

If the OP's school gave him community service, then it "took action." It is important to be honest about these things. Having it come up later and making it seem as though you were hiding something could come out far worse than than simply reporting it.

OP, something like smashing pumpkins isn't likely to derail your application. Be advised, however, that it will likely hold up your application, so you might spend more time "on initial hold" than other applicants. This is due to the extra screening many schools give applications with institutional actions. At some schools these applications have to wait for a special committee to meet before they go back into the general application pool.