Need an opinion (not a "what are my chances" topic)

[kimmieg]

I hope I'm not posting this topic in the wrong forum, but here's the situation. I applied to medical school last summer for matriculation this fall, and so far all I have are waiting lists. There's this one particular school (let's call them Bofo School of Medicine) that I feel might have violated some kind of privacy law, but I'm not a lawyer nor an expert in the area, so I can't really say. I have a nosy relative (let's call them Nosy) who called Bofo SOM to see why I didn't get accepted and apparently asked about my stats. Now Nosy knows all of my numbers, such as overall GPA, science GPA, biology GPA, MCAT score, etc. I found out that Nosy did this after my mom told me. I feel completely violated that the school would give this kind of information out to a third party. Isn't this kind of information personal and supposed to be private and protected? It's sort of like when you need to order/pick up a transcript. Schools will not give a person other than yourself the right to your transcript unless you give them the authority to, usually with a signature.

Am I completely wrong in assuming that this particular school has stepped way out of bounds and violated my privacy? I'm not trying to be litigious or anything; I would just like some thoughts on the matter.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bkmonkey]

It is ILLEGAL for schools to release your info without your permission. That's a big no no.

 

[TexPre-Med]

"You got served!" That is funny! However, what happened isn't. I would be royally peeved!

 

[MoosePilot]

It definitely stinks.

The undertone I'm getting is "Do I get to get something in return for them violating my privacy?" Is that part of the question?

Ooops, now I see the last line in your post says you're not suing. So yeah, it is definitely out of line, but you knew that right?

 

[kimmieg]

It definitely stinks.

The undertone I'm getting is "Do I get to get something in return for them violating my privacy?" Is that part of the question?

Ooops, now I see the last line in your post says you're not suing. So yeah, it is definitely out of line, but you knew that right?

Thanks for your sympathy. Yeah, I'm definitely not one to be litigious (and I'm not planning to be in this situation), but since you brought it up, could the school and person who divulged my info stand to get "in trouble," so to speak? Because as bkmonkey stated above, it's "illegal." I'm just extremely peeved, and what I'd like to do is call this school and open a verbal can of whoop ass.

 

[Medikit]

Does it really matter? The person is a relative, not a stranger. While what they did is technically wrong there is not much you can do about it.

 

[beanbean]

I would call the Dean of Admissions at the school and tell them what occured. At least by making the Dean aware of what happened perhaps you can prevent it from happening to another applicant. Approach the situation as a "FYI- here is something I thought you should know about" and indicate that you would still like very much to attend the school (if that is still the case). It is important to let the school know that you had nothing to do with the phone call and had not given permission. Depending on what the nosy person said the school may believe that you particpated in the phone call or gave you permission. I had a friend had a parent who was "over-involved" in the application process. It is important to distance yourself from any activities by crazy relatives. Make sure the school knows that you taking steps to ensure this type of behavior does not occur again.

If you are still waitlisted you could use the opportunity to discuss what you can do to improve your application. As long as you are not accusatory or flaming mad the Dean will probably appreciate hearing about the breach that occured.