One of my activity contacts is dead. Just found out. What should I do?

[FigmundFreud]

EDIT: Question answered, but moral of the story: Always make sure your references are still breathing.

This person and I hadn't been in contact for quite some time, but he was the person who made the most sense to list as a contact for this particular activity, and I still had his email address on file. Unfortunately, he was already dead when I submitted the AMCAS. I recently found out about his passing through someone else I knew through the activity. It's an old activity (5+ years old), nonclinical, and not an important part of my applicant profile, so it's probably unlikely that a school would choose to verify it, but I can see this looking very strange if they do.

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[SoppyElk]

Wait till it comes up. No need to contact schools over this at all. 99.999% sure that schools won't check into the activity any deeper(They almost never do unless its pretty suspicious). You'll be fine.

 

[FigmundFreud]

Wait till it comes up. No need to contact schools over this at all. 99.999% sure that schools won't check into the activity any deeper(They almost never do unless its pretty suspicious). You'll be fine.

Thanks, I'll do this.

 

[Med Ed]

Wait till it comes up. No need to contact schools over this at all. 99.999% sure that schools won't check into the activity any deeper(They almost never do unless its pretty suspicious). You'll be fine.

We routinely audit the reported activities of accepted students.

 

[Med Ed]

EDIT: Question answered, but moral of the story: Always make sure your references are still breathing.

This person and I hadn't been in contact for quite some time, but he was the person who made the most sense to list as a contact for this particular activity, and I still had his email address on file. Unfortunately, he was already dead when I submitted the AMCAS. I recently found out about his passing through someone else I knew through the activity. It's an old activity (5+ years old), nonclinical, and not an important part of my applicant profile, so it's probably unlikely that a school would choose to verify it, but I can see this looking very strange if they do.

Don't worry about it. These things happen from time to time.

 

[ReapPremed]

We routinely audit the reported activities of accepted students.

Is this via spot checking or only if something looks fishy?

For a job I worked during undergrad I just put the company's number and name of my supervisor at the time. Not sure how well he remembers me but what I did can surely be verified. I did not even think to reach out and make sure the company could vouch for me and say I'm amazing.

Where has this gone wrong for people or resulted in problems? Outright lying?

 

[Catalystik]

Is this via spot checking or only if something looks fishy?

For a job I worked during undergrad I just put the company's number and name of my supervisor at the time. Not sure how well he remembers me but what I did can surely be verified. I did not even think to reach out and make sure the company could vouch for me and say I'm amazing.

Where has this gone wrong for people or resulted in problems? Outright lying?

Some schools check activities thoroughly. Some if they're too good to be true. Some if they're fishy, Possibly, some not at all. This may not happen before matriculation to the med school.

The point of checking isn't to ask for a reference that will claim you are amazing, or not, it's to check the time frame and level of involvement. If your supervisor of that time couldn't answer that question, he could have referred the caller to the hiring or payroll people, who could do so.

When listing a Contact it's a good idea to check ahead of time to be sure they recall your details. And that the contact info hasn't changed. If a school reaches out to a contact without success, you are likely to get an email asking for updated information or an explanation rather than assuming you lied.

 

[ReapPremed]

If a school reaches out to a contact without success, you are likely to get an email asking for updated information or an explanation rather than assuming you lied.

That's reassuring, thank you. After a year of being waitlisted I suddenly was wondering if I put an activity contact that couldn't be reached!

 

[Catalystik]

I suddenly was wondering if I put an activity contact that couldn't be reached!

There are many reasons why a contact can't be reached that would not reflect negatively on you.