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- Veterinary Student
I've been thinking about starting this thread for awhile and decided I finally would. My freshman year I was "written up" for underage drinking and a more serious offence my school labeled "alcohol abuse," but did not find out that I had been formally written up until the fall. That summer, being the hot-**** 18 year old, "adult," horseback staff member at a camp, I made the incredibly stupid decision to drink ON CAMP PROPERTY two days before my employment was over. I was caught, and I was terminated.
Aside from my parents being very disappointed in me, mature 18 year old me just did a lot of blame shifting (several people had been caught drinking at camp, but I was the only one fired, if I hadn't lived in the smallest dorm on campus the RA wouldn't have seen me, if my boyfriend had been thinking he would have used the side door, etc).
I was able to get the judicial violations off my record with a lot of community service and an indefinite probation period (i.e. don't screw up again between now and graduating) and I assumed no school was going to call references on every single job I'd had.
However, when I started filling out the VMCAS, the wording of the Honor Code violation made it such that I couldn't answer no honestly. My heart sank- I was devastated and convinced I'd never get in anywhere because of some stupid night freshman year. To make matters more confusing, the honest answer to the question as it was phrased for me was "yes," but as it was phrased on the print out that would go to the schools, "yes" would not be correct (hella confusing, I still have them saved if anyone wants the differences in wording). My pre-health advisor called VMCAS for me (so I could remain anonymous) and they said to err on the side of caution and answer yes. I put together a few thoughtful sentences describing the offence, punishment, and mentioning no further incidents. Whew, I was in the clear and felt fine about it, though recognized it would certainly hurt my chances (the pre-allo threads scared the crap out of me).
Then came the Cornell Supplemental. I still remember this moment. I was in the SPS lounge and had just put the finishing touches on that bitch of a supplemental. I click submit and it says "Error, you missed a question." I was certain I'd done everything, so I go back to the question it says I missed and there it is: "Have you ever been fired from a job, if yes explain." I broke down crying. I was certain my shot was gone. Luckily, I had a few days left before the supplemental deadline. I emailed the boss who had fired me and asked if she would be ok with me offering her contact information in the explanation section for that question. She said that was fine (I had written a very sincere apology letter to her and several other staff members after the event). Again, I wrote a very sincere explanation, crossed my fingers, and submitted the application (with tears because I thought it was never going to happen).
I ended up getting into Cornell, TAMU, NCSU, and Colorado. I was rejected from UPenn and VMRCVM. I don't think disciplinary action hurt me much at all, but I think I handled it well on my application. I just remember when I was applying I had no clue what to do and was really scared about it, so I thought I'd offer this story up for anyone who may be in a similar situation. Feel free to PM me with any questions about stuff and I'd be happy to share exactly what I wrote for the explanation sections and what not.
Love, FH
Aside from my parents being very disappointed in me, mature 18 year old me just did a lot of blame shifting (several people had been caught drinking at camp, but I was the only one fired, if I hadn't lived in the smallest dorm on campus the RA wouldn't have seen me, if my boyfriend had been thinking he would have used the side door, etc).
I was able to get the judicial violations off my record with a lot of community service and an indefinite probation period (i.e. don't screw up again between now and graduating) and I assumed no school was going to call references on every single job I'd had.
However, when I started filling out the VMCAS, the wording of the Honor Code violation made it such that I couldn't answer no honestly. My heart sank- I was devastated and convinced I'd never get in anywhere because of some stupid night freshman year. To make matters more confusing, the honest answer to the question as it was phrased for me was "yes," but as it was phrased on the print out that would go to the schools, "yes" would not be correct (hella confusing, I still have them saved if anyone wants the differences in wording). My pre-health advisor called VMCAS for me (so I could remain anonymous) and they said to err on the side of caution and answer yes. I put together a few thoughtful sentences describing the offence, punishment, and mentioning no further incidents. Whew, I was in the clear and felt fine about it, though recognized it would certainly hurt my chances (the pre-allo threads scared the crap out of me).
Then came the Cornell Supplemental. I still remember this moment. I was in the SPS lounge and had just put the finishing touches on that bitch of a supplemental. I click submit and it says "Error, you missed a question." I was certain I'd done everything, so I go back to the question it says I missed and there it is: "Have you ever been fired from a job, if yes explain." I broke down crying. I was certain my shot was gone. Luckily, I had a few days left before the supplemental deadline. I emailed the boss who had fired me and asked if she would be ok with me offering her contact information in the explanation section for that question. She said that was fine (I had written a very sincere apology letter to her and several other staff members after the event). Again, I wrote a very sincere explanation, crossed my fingers, and submitted the application (with tears because I thought it was never going to happen).
I ended up getting into Cornell, TAMU, NCSU, and Colorado. I was rejected from UPenn and VMRCVM. I don't think disciplinary action hurt me much at all, but I think I handled it well on my application. I just remember when I was applying I had no clue what to do and was really scared about it, so I thought I'd offer this story up for anyone who may be in a similar situation. Feel free to PM me with any questions about stuff and I'd be happy to share exactly what I wrote for the explanation sections and what not.
Love, FH
