Multiple Institutional Actions Question...freaking out

[hopefulMD92]

I have 3 IA's on my record and I'm freaking out. I'm currently 25 and hoping to apply this cycle.

My junior year (2013) of college I received an alcohol violation. I was drinking in a friends room getting ready for a sorority formal. She had requested that I didn't disposed of the (beer) bottle in her room. So as we were all heading out to the buses to take us to the venue I had walked out of the room to dispose of the bottle in the receptacle in the hallway. As I left the room, the RA had just walked by and written me up for an open alcohol container in public and being in the presence of alcohol and having a drink since I was still underage at the time (I have to double check the exact report)

My next one was a year later (2014). One night some alumni had come to visit and we were all in a room catching up prior to going out to a bar and the volume of our talking was pretty loud and past quiet hours in the dorm we were in. So I then received a noise violation.

My last IA (summer of 2015) occurred as I just started my postbac program. I had just moved to a new state to begin my program and went out with some friends that I had made at work. While we were out we attempted to steal a "Do Not Enter". Someone had seen us and reported us and we were pulled over by the police. It was not put in our record, and we weren't charged with anything but we were sent to our community justice center and did a program to expunge our situation. However, the school I was at got wind of it and I received an IA. We then had to write a reflection paper that's it.

Everything was really immature and just a lapse in judgement. Since then I've finished my postbac program with a 3.91 GPA (2015-2016). My cumulative BCMP as a result of the program is a 3.16 and my MCAT is a 504. I have been working as a medical assistant for the past year. I've also volunteered at the children's hospital and did a semester of research (data collector) during my program. I have shadow experience and leadership experience as well as other work experiences. Sorry for the long winded post...but I'm freaking out. Am I screwed?

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[boogiecousins94]

Even besides the IAs the MCAT is pretty low for MD, I feel as though the first two IAs are more "excusable" but the 3rd one, and more recent one, is pretty bad. Idk how badly they will affect you

 

[Goro]

You are facing the mindset amongst screener and interviewers that you don't learn from your mistakes.

Sometimes, one had to apply with the app you have, warts and all.

If you don't apply, your rejection rate will be 100 %

 

[cactusman]

Those first IAs on their own would be pretty minor. The trouble is that even after having two IAs, you didn't become more careful. You can't explain it well as a maturity issue because you did something stupider after graduating college.

I don't think these would be lethal, but it may take a lot of time and community leadership to recover from them. @Goro @LizzyM @gonnif Thoughts?
Edit: Haha Goro already got here

 

[Goro]

You are facing the mindset amongst screener and interviewers that you don't learn from your mistakes.

Sometimes, one had to apply with the app you have, warts and all.

If you don't apply, your rejection rate will be 100 %

Also agree that the MCAT score is close to circling the drain for MD.

 

[hopefulMD92]

What's killing me is that I know I have matured so much since my last IA and I could kick myself for it. I've done the best I could in school all while working as a waiter then as a medical assistant. It was very early on in my post bac that this happened. Do you think how I ended the program along with working, volunteering, and doing some research shows that matured and learned from my mistakes?

 

[boogiecousins94]

I just feel like time is against you for this situation. Although 2/3 were minor, you had one IA for three years straight, and broke the trend by not having one in 2016. As previously mentioned that shows you didn't learn from your mistakes, and although the first two were probably bad luck that you didn't get a warning etc. but you should've been more careful for the last one. And I'm not sure one year without IA is enough to prove it to people even if you feel that way. Again idk how an adcom would interpret this as I'm nowhere near one I just think more "time" not having an IA would make it look better, as in maybe retake MCAT and wait to apply for another year or two

 

[ndafife]

What's killing me is that I know I have matured so much since my last IA and I could kick myself for it. I've done the best I could in school all while working as a waiter then as a medical assistant. It was very early on in my post bac that this happened. Do you think how I ended the program along with working, volunteering, and doing some research shows that matured and learned from my mistakes?

Words are cheap. Have you done anything to actually show you've matured.

Not getting in trouble for 2 years, doing well in school, doing research, working, and volunteering are pretty much the basics of what a medical school applicant should be doing. You need to go above and beyond. Your repeated lack of maturity, even after graduating from undergrad does not afford you the right to have the absence of bad behavior to be interpreted as good behavior. You need to be a step beyond what the baseline expectation is.

 

[Goro]

Strike 1: You have a total of 3 IA
Strike 2: including one after graduation
Strike 3: you have a very low GPA, even with great post bacc
Strike 4: you have a borderline MCAT

Applying this year will lead to rejection . So dont and dont worry about your age
You want to prove to a school that you are so motivated and committed that you can taste it and that they should take a chance on you. That only thing you have to fix any of this is time to redo the MCAT and kill it as in 10-15 point higher and add as much Volunteer/Community Service as you can. Give it a try next cycle. And if you think that is too much to bear, that is the answer to how committed and motivated you are,

To this sage advice, if possible, take positions of responsibility.

It's a seller's market and med schools will also think "why take a chance on this one.?"

Luckily, there are Adcom members who believe in redemption, but it is est to put more time between you and your transgressions.

 

[esob]

If you're still getting IA's during a post bac, at this point you lack the maturity to be responsible for the medical care of another human being. Honestly with 3 IA's you should be looking for a different career.

 

[P0ke]

2 of your 3 IAs are from breaking the law. Public drinking/underage drinking and attempting to steal a sign. Those paint the picture of of someone who makes poor decisions and possibly has an issue with alcohol, both qualities that are very bad for a doctor to have. Not only that, but your GPA and MCAT are very low... I don't know if you've reached the threshold for irreparability yet, but if you haven't, you are very close. One more mess-up proves that it wasn't just a phase, and you're absolutely done. I'd say you'd need several years of GPA repair whilst staying out of trouble in order to not seem like a glaring risk.