PharmCas application and code of conduct violation question

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mehru94

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So I applied last year for pharmacy schools and submitted by pharmcas application but my pharmcas application was put on hold due to plagiarism found in my personal statement. I appealed but still they didn't let me proceed for last year and told me that I can apply again next year and told me that I'll have to click yes to this question in the background section.. "Were you ever the recipient of any action (e.g., a grade lowering penalty, failing grade, disqualification, suspension, probation, dismissal, etc.) by any faculty member, college, or university, PharmCAS or health licensing board for academic or professional misconduct (e.g., cheating, plagiarism, harassment, misuse of university facilities, stealing destroying or damaging university property etc.)?" Now the thing is the I wrote my personal statement in my OWN words. I didn't copy anything. I just looked at some examples online and I don't know how only one sentence was invertedly copied. It accounted for only 11% plagiarized, but they still put my application on hold and didn't let me go ahead in the process and I had to wait one more year. Now I am starting a new pharmcas application and this year, they weren't able to carry on the information from last year's pharmcas because of the new technology platform change for this year. So I had to create a new profile and I have a new CID and everything now. My question is that do you think that they will still be able to tell if I violated the code of conduct with pharmcas last year considering that I had to start a whole new application this year? I am just trying to avoid any type of problems that might arise if I answer yes to that question. I am not exactly sure how the AACP and PharmCas work in such issues. If I answer No for the question, how will they be able to tell that I ever got in trouble? I know this is about being honest and the best thing to do is to explain my situation but at this point, I was just wondering about how PharmCas keeps tracks of any past violations? Thank you for your help.

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There aren't that many people who get flagged for plagiarism in PharmCAS every year. You'd be a damn fool to try, and you'll get a lifetime ban when they catch you.
 
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Assuming everything OP is saying is true (I know, big assumption), that seems quite bizarre that you would have been found guilty of plagarism because of 1 sentence. I mean, there are only so many combinations of words, and by randomness, sentences are going to be repeated unknowingly. Be that as it may, Pharmcas has already told you that you must answer Yes to the question, if you try to hide it, then you will be knowingly guilty of lying, and give further justification to their action against you last year (and their future actions against you.)

Best thing you can do at this point is--complete honesty. And in your explanation, you need to phrase it better than you did to Pharmcas last year, since they obviously didn't believe you.
 
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Assuming everything OP is saying is true (I know, big assumption), that seems quite bizarre that you would have been found guilty of plagarism because of 1 sentence. I mean, there are only so many combinations of words, and by randomness, sentences are going to be repeated unknowingly. Be that as it may, Pharmcas has already told you that you must answer Yes to the question, if you try to hide it, then you will be knowingly guilty of lying, and give further justification to their action against you last year (and their future actions against you.)

Best thing you can do at this point is--complete honesty. And in your explanation, you need to phrase it better than you did to Pharmcas last year, since they obviously didn't believe you.

So, there was this "service" going around writing personal statements that had British diction for the applicants (probably hired some cheap labor elsewhere) and more or less wrote identical statements. PharmCAS does flag those before they show up, but a question or two outs the applicant.

You know, please do the profession a favor and answer this in the way you would have if you had not seen the honest advice above. Just thinking about this as a choice, if you don't get at least that much in terms of ethics, why not play the odds if you didn't think you ought to have been punished last time? You'll be given plenty of opportunities to really cheat the system later, and it'd be for the best that you showed your true colors now.

More bluntly, if you consider this an actual dilemma, I would say that you did not learn from your past experience. Maybe you ought to contemplate that before you apply now.
 
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OP, pharmcas has already told you to answer yes. There's no need to question it. If you answer 'no' and they found out, which they will, you will NOT get into any PharmD program that uses pharmcas. You could still have a chance answering 'yes'. A small chance, but any chance is better than NONE.

You're saying you didn't plagiarize, and at the same time, asking if you should lie on your application..........
 
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