Screwed up during today's MCAT..learn from my mistake

[gildude86]

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So I might be potentially screwed....I should've just listened when I was told to turn off my phone before taking the exam. Instead I just switched it to silent. Between the break of the essay and bio section I went to my locker to get some food and water, and I simply made the mistake to touch my phone's middle button completely out of habit. When my phone isn't being used it becomes locked and lights up when the middle button is pressed and i can see "missed called" or an "envelope icon" that shows I had received a text. It was completely out of habit and I never even held my phone or removed it from the locker. It was just laying on the locker and I pushed one button and that caused it to light up, and immediately the proctors took my phone away ..wrote down the type of phone I had and said she was going to have to report it and they were going to have to check the tapes. It's so frustrating, as I never cheated...I never even held my phone to send a text or make a phone call...simply touched a button that only showed the time. Now I'm potentially screwed. To make things worse, I couldn't even focus on my bio section after as I was really nervous just thinking about being blacklisted from med schools as a cheater. Ugh, I hope none of you guys have to go through this...just leave your stuff at home ...

Sorry for the length, just needed to get it off my chest. I'm still feeling very nervous about all this.

 

[iceman132]

So I might be potentially screwed....I should've just listened when I was told to turn off my phone before taking the exam. Instead I just switched it to silent. Between the break of the essay and bio section I went to my locker to get some food and water, and I simply made the mistake to touch my phone's middle button completely out of habit. When my phone isn't being used it becomes locked and lights up when the middle button is pressed and i can see "missed called" or an "envelope icon" that shows I had received a text. It was completely out of habit and I never even held my phone or removed it from the locker. It was just laying on the locker and I pushed one button and that caused it to light up, and immediately the proctors took my phone away ..wrote down the type of phone I had and said she was going to have to report it and they were going to have to check the tapes. It's so frustrating, as I never cheated...I never even held my phone to send a text or make a phone call...simply touched a button that only showed the time. Now I'm potentially screwed. To make things worse, I couldn't even focus on my bio section after as I was really nervous just thinking about being blacklisted from med schools as a cheater. Ugh, I hope none of you guys have to go through this...just leave your stuff at home ...

Sorry for the length, just needed to get it off my chest. I'm still feeling very nervous about all this.

That sucks. Thanks for the tip

 

[Ssina]

WOOOWWW that's totally something I would also do out of habit!!! thanks for sharing and good luck!

 

[gildude86]

Yea it sucks so bad. They said everything is recorded and they will have to look at the tapes...hopefully they will be lenient...I don't see how I could've cheated in the one second it took to push down on a single button, especially when my phone isn't even a smartphone...

 

[pakidoc87]

So I might be potentially screwed....I should've just listened when I was told to turn off my phone before taking the exam. Instead I just switched it to silent. Between the break of the essay and bio section I went to my locker to get some food and water, and I simply made the mistake to touch my phone's middle button completely out of habit. When my phone isn't being used it becomes locked and lights up when the middle button is pressed and i can see "missed called" or an "envelope icon" that shows I had received a text. It was completely out of habit and I never even held my phone or removed it from the locker. It was just laying on the locker and I pushed one button and that caused it to light up, and immediately the proctors took my phone away ..wrote down the type of phone I had and said she was going to have to report it and they were going to have to check the tapes. It's so frustrating, as I never cheated...I never even held my phone to send a text or make a phone call...simply touched a button that only showed the time. Now I'm potentially screwed. To make things worse, I couldn't even focus on my bio section after as I was really nervous just thinking about being blacklisted from med schools as a cheater. Ugh, I hope none of you guys have to go through this...just leave your stuff at home ...

Sorry for the length, just needed to get it off my chest. I'm still feeling very nervous about all this.

Something very similar happened to me during my test last year. They did the same thing with me ie. write down what phone I used, if it had internet access or not (it did), and what they saw (just a text msg from my bf saying good luck lol). I was soooo scared they would void my score or put something permanent on my record but about 2 weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying they did their investigation and did not find anything that constituted cheating...and they basically reiterated their cell phone should be off policy. I think you should be fine. I know its hard but try not to worry.

 

[gildude86]

Something very similar happened to me during my test last year. They did the same thing with me ie. write down what phone I used, if it had internet access or not (it did), and what they saw (just a text msg from my bf saying good luck lol). I was soooo scared they would void my score or put something permanent on my record but about 2 weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying they did their investigation and did not find anything that constituted cheating...and they basically reiterated their cell phone should be off policy. I think you should be fine. I know its hard but try not to worry.

Thank you for your response. It made me feel A LOT better. Mine doesn't even have internet and all that was seen when she looked at it was the time. Didn't have any missed calls or texts. What exactly did you do if you don't mind me asking? And I wouldn't mind the voided score....haha but putting something in my record would kill me.

 

[MindtheGlottis]

Oh man, thanks for the tip. I'd be really nervous too if that were to happen. Hope you still did good on the bio section.

 

[pakidoc87]

So basically a week before I took my test, my friend took hers and called me during a break asking me what she should do because she ran out of time in one of the sections. So for some crazy reason I was under the impression we could use cell phones during breaks!! I went to my locker and had the light flashing for an unread text, so just as I opened it, the lady saw me and asked me to bring my phone etc. I told her I didn't know about the policy because a friend who btw tested at the same test center actually called me the week before in the middle of her test. She was like you're not supposed to do that etc and did what I mentioned above. Thank goodness it all worked out because obviously I wasn't cheating but I'm definitely turning my phone OFF if I do take the test again!

 

[kryptonian]

Everything will be okay. Don't worry too much. Clean hands want no washing. They have to have evidences that you cheat before they can have some action against you right ? I think the tape definitely cannot show any evidences of cheating since you only accidentally touched the button. I think one thing you can do is calling up AAMC, describe in details the entire issue, ask what procedures will happen after the report is filed and what may possibly be in your record regardless the outcome of the investigation.

Good luck. Everything will be alright. Don't stress yourself out.

 

[gildude86]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I feel much better now knowing that others have been in a similar situation and nothing bad really happened. Its hard not to worry, but it has certainly helped prevent a mental breakdown lol. Thank you all, and for those still waiting to take your test, just leave your damn phone in your car or at home. If I had to take the test over again, I wouldnt even feel comfortable having the damn thing in my locker even if the battery was removed.

 

[Cinclus]

You'll probably be just fine. I know it's tough, but try to relax.

 

[MedPR]

So I might be potentially screwed....I should've just listened when I was told to turn off my phone before taking the exam. Instead I just switched it to silent. Between the break of the essay and bio section I went to my locker to get some food and water, and I simply made the mistake to touch my phone's middle button completely out of habit. When my phone isn't being used it becomes locked and lights up when the middle button is pressed and i can see "missed called" or an "envelope icon" that shows I had received a text. It was completely out of habit and I never even held my phone or removed it from the locker. It was just laying on the locker and I pushed one button and that caused it to light up, and immediately the proctors took my phone away ..wrote down the type of phone I had and said she was going to have to report it and they were going to have to check the tapes. It's so frustrating, as I never cheated...I never even held my phone to send a text or make a phone call...simply touched a button that only showed the time. Now I'm potentially screwed. To make things worse, I couldn't even focus on my bio section after as I was really nervous just thinking about being blacklisted from med schools as a cheater. Ugh, I hope none of you guys have to go through this...just leave your stuff at home ...

Sorry for the length, just needed to get it off my chest. I'm still feeling very nervous about all this.

That sucks. I'm sure it would've been fine, but I hope you voided since you couldn't focus on bio.

 

[gildude86]

Just to update this thread. Yesterday I received a letter from AAMC, they told me there was a cell phone incident, but that no further action would be taken. So everything is Okay. They just reiterated their cell phone policy. 🙂

 

[yellowperil]

Just to update this thread. Yesterday I received a letter from AAMC, they told me there was a cell phone incident, but that no further action would be taken. So everything is Okay. They just reiterated their cell phone policy. 🙂

that is good to hear and glad they didnt do any further action. Hope you learned from it

 

[kimicurtis]

So I might be potentially screwed....I should've just listened when I was told to turn off my phone before taking the exam. Instead I just switched it to silent. Between the break of the essay and bio section I went to my locker to get some food and water, and I simply made the mistake to touch my phone's middle button completely out of habit. When my phone isn't being used it becomes locked and lights up when the middle button is pressed and i can see "missed called" or an "envelope icon" that shows I had received a text. It was completely out of habit and I never even held my phone or removed it from the locker. It was just laying on the locker and I pushed one button and that caused it to light up, and immediately the proctors took my phone away ..wrote down the type of phone I had and said she was going to have to report it and they were going to have to check the tapes. It's so frustrating, as I never cheated...I never even held my phone to send a text or make a phone call...simply touched a button that only showed the time. Now I'm potentially screwed. To make things worse, I couldn't even focus on my bio section after as I was really nervous just thinking about being blacklisted from med schools as a cheater. Ugh, I hope none of you guys have to go through this...just leave your stuff at home ...

Sorry for the length, just needed to get it off my chest. I'm still feeling very nervous about all this.

Aww! Thats terrible. Thats certainly something I would do, I check my phone for the time in exams all the while.