Most absurd IA situation ever...need help

[worriedpremed21]

I'll make this as brief as possible. Two of my random freshman roommates were actual idiots and were drunk one night and I kid you not throwing full beer cans across the hall and it dented a wall and hit a girl who wasn't badly hurt thank god but the RA showed up. During this whole ordeal I was peacefully laying in bed watching a movie but he came in and talked to me too and I told him I was not involved at all and he seemed to understand as it was pretty obvious since i was sober and under a blanket and unaware. He still took my name down and my ID but I thought this was normal. My roommates got in some serious trouble short of suspension and I ended up getting called in too just to say what I knew which was nothing and how I wasn't involved . Dean was very nice and said he was sorry for troubling me but was gathering details and he let me go.

Fast forward 4 years I completely forgot about the situation, I submitted my AMCAS and checked no to the IA box and sent it to 40 SCHOOLS. One of the schools I applied to asks for a dean's certification so I take a glance before I send it fully expecting it to be clear but NO, THE ENTIRE TERRIBLE SITUATION IS DESCRIBED and it says I was "INVOLVED AND WARNED" and it doesn't make clear that I just happened to be in the room they were next to; tbh it just sounds really bad! And get this, when I emailed the Dean, he had no memory of the situation and is "obligated to send what is in the report." This is complete BS because now because of my idiot roomates and incompetent dean/RA, I am in a terrible situation.

I spoke to an mentor/former adcom who was very empathetic with my ridiculous situation and told me not to worry since this type of conduct violation is not on my transcript and only in a confidential file and that there's some law protecting it but schools who request a dean's certification will be able to see it. I do NOT want to update all 40 schools on something that sounds this bad and I don't have a committee letter so he told me just don't apply to schools that request this form.

Only one school I am applying to requests this form as part of application so I am not applying there anymore so my question is what schools require a dean's certification post acceptance/pre matriculation. I have heard tufts, temple, and MCW all of which I am applying to but I'm not sure if that's only for certain people or everyone. Please let me know if any of you had to do one?

I consider myself a very ethical and moral person but this is actually ridiculous and I have never been more mad/nervous in my life. Thanks!

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[KnightDoc]

EVERY school will require it pre-matriculation. There is no law protecting anything here. Take a good look at the fine print included in the primary and every secondary. You are granting permission for the med schools to gather this information from each school you attended, without having to go through you to get it. The entire application isn't on the honor system. Reported grades, IAs, criminal record, etc. are independently verified before enrollment, if not immediately upon application.

It is unusual for a school to require it this early in the process, but they all require it before they enroll you, so there is no escaping it. Unfortunately, you are screwed, because there is no such thing as an appeal 4 years later. the time to take care of this was at the time of the incident, but you apparently did not understand that you were formally warned, and was not merely questioned as a potential witness who saw nothing and was not involved.

 

[Ezryk]

I would email your Dean back and explain the severity of the situation - try to set up a video meeting so he can see and (hopefully) remember your face. Maybe ask them to try to contact the RA on file or something. Best outcome would be pulling all strings you can think of to get a revised and clear Dean's letter that you can then submit.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

MCW , Tufts, Temple ask for this. If it’s easier to just not apply to these then don’t. Your Ia won’t hurt

 

[LeeSin]

MCW , Tufts, Temple ask for this. If it’s easier to just not apply to these then don’t. Your Ia won’t hurt

The IA itself won’t but idk about the not reporting it part…I can imagine that adcoms don’t like surprises coming up mid cycle

Needs expert advice

 

[worriedpremed21]

EVERY school will require it pre-matriculation. There is no law protecting anything here. Take a good look at the fine print included in the primary and every secondary. You are granting permission for the med schools to gather this information from each school you attended, without having to go through you to get it. The entire application isn't on the honor system. Reported grades, IAs, criminal record, etc. are independently verified before enrollment, if not immediately upon application.

It is unusual for a school to require it this early in the process, but they all require it before they enroll you, so there is no escaping it. Unfortunately, you are screwed, because there is no such thing as an appeal 4 years later. the time to take care of this was at the time of the incident, but you apparently did not understand that you were formally warned, and was not merely questioned as a potential witness who saw nothing and was not involved.

well i confirmed this is false with an adcom, you need to sign a release form at your undergrad or get a dean's cert and send it since it's protected under FERPA, med schools can't just call up and say "give me everything you have on him/her." Also just to make it clear; I never got any email, any type of notification and the dean didn't even say the word warning let alone say he was putting it in my record when I met with him he was very apologetic for the situation so how exactly could i have known to appeal? Of course if I had known, I would have appealed.

 

[LeeSin]

well i confirmed this is false with an adcom, you need to sign a release from at your undergrad or send a deans cert since it's protected under FERPA, med school can't just call up and say "give me what you have on him/her." Also just to make it clear; I never got any email, any type of notification and the dean didn't even say the word warning let alone say he was putting it in my record when I met with him he was very apologetic for the situation so how exactly could i have known to appeal? Of course if I had known, I would have appealed.

This is also true. They can’t just get the dean’s certificate at their whim they need ur approval. But they will still require it pre matriculation most likely.

This is messed up man I’m sorry

 

[KnightDoc]

well i confirmed this is false with an adcom, you need to sign a release form at your undergrad or get a dean's cert and send it since it's protected under FERPA, med schools can't just call up and say "give me everything you have on him/her." Also just to make it clear; I never got any email, any type of notification and the dean didn't even say the word warning let alone say he was putting it in my record when I met with him he was very apologetic for the situation so how exactly could i have known to appeal? Of course if I had known, I would have appealed.

I'm sure something was miscommunicated, most likely on the school's end, since it would have made no sense for you to know how they were handling it and to have let it just go until now.

With respect to FERPA, etc., I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the releases you sign as part of AMCAS and secondaries cover this. Maybe I'm wrong, but, if I'm right, the med schools certainly can say "give me everything, here is a release." This is not unique to you. This applies to everyone, everywhere, and is why most people are paranoid about the smallest discrepancies on their applications.

Most of the worrying is needless, but failing to disclose an IA that the school has a formal record of is a big deal and, as I said, I am pretty sure all schools require a cert at some point before, or maybe even after, enrollment. Most schools don't bother until we PTE/CTE, since thousands apply and a tiny fraction enroll, but I don't know of any school that does not conduct due diligence on its incoming class, and just takes our word for everything on the application.

 

[deleted771945]

Potentially even years from now when medical schools have to Clear you per the requirements of whatever hospitals that you will have medical rotations at.

Forgive me for my ignorance but why would clerkships care about undergrad IAs? What does that clearance process look like, especially ones that involve searching for undergrad IAs?

 

[LizzyM]

Forgive me for my ignorance but why would clerkships care about undergrad IAs? What does that clearance process look like, especially ones that involve searching for undergrad IAs?

You signed the AMCAS application saying it was correct and complete. If it was neither, you falsified your application and that is a mortal sin in the eyes of some adcoms/residency directors.