Will AMCAS find out about classwork that you don't list?

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dpk211

dpk211

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I did a summer session several years ago at a community college and got a C in that class. That one C does a whole lot of damage to my gpa. What happens if I forget to report it to AMCAS? Will they find out about it?
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I would report that C to AMCAS. If the school ever found out about it, they could rescind your acceptance or kick you out from med school. I bet one C won't kill your GPA. You can always try to do a little better on the MCAT to compensate. Good luck!
 
Would you break into the lion cage at the zoo to pick up a dollar someone had dropped there? No, because the payoff doesn't even remotely justify the risk.

You may be able to think you'll make a good physician even with lousy ethics. I hope it is clear, however, that keen judgment and an ability to weigh the risks and benefits of a course of action are key skills for a doctor to have. Consider this practice for your future career. Do the right thing. Do the sensible thing. Send in the freaking transcript.
 
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phltz said:
Would you break into the lion cage at the zoo to pick up a dollar someone had dropped there? No, because the payoff doesn't even remotely justify the risk.

You may be able to think you'll make a good physician even with lousy ethics. I hope it is clear, however, that keen judgment and an ability to weigh the risks and benefits of a course of action are key skills for a doctor to have. Consider this practice for your future career. Do the right thing. Do the sensible thing. Send in the freaking transcript.
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Don't compare it to lousy ethics.
 
dpk211 said:
Don't compare it to lousy ethics.
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Why not? You want to submit an application which you sign electronically stating that everything in it is true to the best of your knowledge, including that it includes all post-secondary coursework ever taken. You want to submit it knowingly leaving out a bad grade. Its lying and deception.

How is that not unethical?

You may not like it because you didn't get the answer you wanted. But it is extremely sketchy ethically. Additionally, there are databases that know every school that your SS# was ever used at - so yes they will find out and it will go badly. Report the grade.
 
dpk211 said:
I did a summer session several years ago at a community college and got a C in that class. That one C does a whole lot of damage to my gpa. What happens if I forget to report it to AMCAS? Will they find out about it?
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This is a character issue. Not a GPA issue.

The C is exposing a damage in you, not in your GPA. I did GPA repair and did fine. Be honest and let everything work out in the right way.
 
alwaysaangel said:
Why not? You want to submit an application which you sign electronically stating that everything in it is true to the best of your knowledge, including that it includes all post-secondary coursework ever taken. You want to submit it knowingly leaving out a bad grade. Its lying and deception.

How is that not unethical?

You may not like it because you didn't get the answer you wanted. But it is extremely sketchy ethically. Additionally, there are databases that know every school that your SS# was ever used at - so yes they will find out and it will go badly. Report the grade.
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I think everyone would agree this is completely unethical. The question itself reveals the OP... "Will they find out?"

What if they couldn't find out? Would you then omit it.

Character is doing the right then regardless of who can or can't find out.
 
alwaysaangel said:
You may not like it because you didn't get the answer you wanted. But it is extremely sketchy ethically. Additionally, there are databases that know every school that your SS# was ever used at - so yes they will find out and it will go badly. Report the grade.
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Yah. National Student Clearinghouse, for one
 
OP reminds me of my brother who "bought" a BMW and put it in his garage and didn't make a single payment on it beyond the first payment. Sure you won't be charged with theft but that doens't make it not stealing.
One of my first posts on this site was about my first semester of college in which I failed all 3 of my classes, this was my only semester at this college. My father had died during the semester. Multiple people replied that I should simply not report those classes. Others encouraged me to appeal. I am very glad that I didn't choose to hide it and was able to take Spring break to visit the area and have the grades changed to W.
own up
 
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I have a VERY similar situation...I took a 2 unit online creative writing course from a community college for 'fun' during summer a few years ago, looked at the first assignment, wondered why the hell I thought creative writing would be fun, and never submitted any work. I also never withdrew... and got an F. You know how much it sucked to learn that I would need to report that after 4 consecutive semesters of 4.0 grades? I get where you're coming from. It's pretty ridiculous that there's no allowance for personal enrichment courses/courses you never intended to matter for anything. If, as a non-pre-med freshman, I had ANY idea that I'd have to send that random community college transcript to AMCAS, you'd better believe I'd have withdrawn...or actually turned something in. But I digress.
Unfair as it seems, you should definitely report it. Not just to be "ethical", but because people can have their medical licenses revoked for lying on their medical school application (I think). Probably not for something this minor... but still, do you want that possibility hanging over your head the rest of your career?

EDIT: Also, if that's your only C (as in my case, where this is my only grade below a B) I'm pretty sure you can simply state somewhere on your application that it is not reflective of your academic ability... and they'll believe you.
 
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Not saying I'm going to do it but you can't compare this to other ethical medical issues.

The C doesn't reflect me. If you get a C in a class and you re-take it and get an A, then I don't really know what the C means. You either understand the material or you don't. Having said that, if you repeat a course, the good grade should reflect your understanding of it. Even if you take it 20 times and then get an A, that means you got it. So if AMCAS is going to decide whether or not I become a doctor based on something like that, the thought will naturally cross your mind.

My idea of not revealing a bad grade is no different than a woman saying she is younger than she really is or men dying their hair to remove the gray.

It's not like I'm going to end up a doctor who performs third trimester abortions in my basement.
 
I was neurotic when I was applying but now looking back at it, do you really think they're double checking every applicants SSN to make sure they listed all colleges and classes attended? And even if they do, what do you say? Oops I completely forgot about that because it was 3 years ago and I never transferred the credits, bla bla...And idk some how I doubt a medical school will kick out a matriculated, in academic good standing student because they found out you got a C and didn't put it on ur AMCAS way back when..they'd be losing a lot of money for one, but idk I agree though for the poster with the F from a community college.. completely unfair.
 
You planning on 'forgetting' between now and when you apply? Maybe a better way to phrase that would have been "What happens if I choose not to report it to AMCAS?"
 
No question about it, report it. 3 credits' worth of 2.0 GPA in the midst of 124 credits does not affect your GPA enough to throw away your integrity on. Besides, even it if were, and you don't get acceptance, you can raise your GPA and re-apply. If they catch you lying, you are done.
 
dpk211 said:
Not saying I'm going to do it but you can't compare this to other ethical medical issues.

The C doesn't reflect me. If you get a C in a class and you re-take it and get an A, then I don't really know what the C means. You either understand the material or you don't. Having said that, if you repeat a course, the good grade should reflect your understanding of it. Even if you take it 20 times and then get an A, that means you got it. So if AMCAS is going to decide whether or not I become a doctor based on something like that, the thought will naturally cross your mind.

My idea of not revealing a bad grade is no different than a woman saying she is younger than she really is or men dying their hair to remove the gray.

It's not like I'm going to end up a doctor who performs third trimester abortions in my basement.
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You can spin it however you want, but it is still a judgement issue. Just because you don't like the rules does not mean you get to decide whether or not you want to follow them.

I have a 5 hour C from a community college in 2005 and it lowers my GPA, obviously. It sucks. This happens to plenty of people. Just deal with it.
 
what if you took like 2 college courses at the community college between senior year of high school and freshman year of college. These classes also don't count towards my major or for prerecs for med school (just for enrichment classes). I also did not take any other courses from this school. Would I still need to submit it? Or could I just not enter that school all together.
 
jcho91 said:
what if you took like 2 college courses at the community college between senior year of high school and freshman year of college. These classes also don't count towards my major or for prerecs for med school (just for enrichment classes). I also did not take any other courses from this school. Would I still need to submit it? Or could I just not enter that school all together.
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Report them. These are college courses. All post-secondary education must be reported. This includes college courses taking while still in high school. I recommend you all familiarize yourself with the FAQs section of the AMCAS.
 
dpk211 said:
Not saying I'm going to do it but you can't compare this to other ethical medical issues.

The C doesn't reflect me. If you get a C in a class and you re-take it and get an A, then I don't really know what the C means. You either understand the material or you don't. Having said that, if you repeat a course, the good grade should reflect your understanding of it. Even if you take it 20 times and then get an A, that means you got it. So if AMCAS is going to decide whether or not I become a doctor based on something like that, the thought will naturally cross your mind.

My idea of not revealing a bad grade is no different than a woman saying she is younger than she really is or men dying their hair to remove the gray.

It's not like I'm going to end up a doctor who performs third trimester abortions in my basement.
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Okay then, retake that class and show med school you know the material by getting an A the second time around. However, policy holds that you have to report that C regardless of how well you do on the retake. It's up to individual medical schools whether they want to consider that C as a reflection of your work ethic.

As much as you try to rationalize not reporting that grade, the fact of the matter is that if you do not report it, the schools you are applying to WILL find it and you will be in deep ****. End. of. discussion.

jcho91 said:
what if you took like 2 college courses at the community college between senior year of high school and freshman year of college. These classes also don't count towards my major or for prerecs for med school (just for enrichment classes). I also did not take any other courses from this school. Would I still need to submit it? Or could I just not enter that school all together.
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Any college courses you take, even if you were three years old and not yet able to tie your own shoes when you took them, will count towards your GPA on AMCAS.
 
you're college record is not a criminal record. AMCAS seems to think otherwise.
 
dpk211 said:
you're college record is not a criminal record. AMCAS seems to think otherwise.
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No, AMCAS is trying to even the playing field. If we could all just retake any of our courses and replace the grades, then it would select for the most OCD students and those with the most time and money to blow. So many people would retake their 1 B and have 4.0s that the GPA would be a useless comparison.

If you want to retake this C and have it replaced, DO schools will only take the new grade.
 
startswithb said:
No, AMCAS is trying to even the playing field. If we could all just retake any of our courses and replace the grades, then it would select for the most OCD students and those with the most time and money to blow. So many people would retake their 1 B and have 4.0s that the GPA would be a useless comparison.

If you want to retake this C and have it replaced, DO schools will only take the new grade.
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Do you think that is a fair way to "even the playing field?"
 
dpk211 said:
Do you think that is a fair way to "even the playing field?"
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Yes its fair. Everything you do counts.

Not every school requires a 4.0 GPA, many will take into account that you had one little C in a class you took 10 years ago. Its not that big of a deal to the schools. You're making a bigger thing of it than it is.

You're neuroticism is proving that posters point that if they didn't count everything then it would make it very hard on people with less time/money or those that work for a living and don't have thousands to dump on retaking a class.
 
doxycycline said:
I was neurotic when I was applying but now looking back at it, do you really think they're double checking every applicants SSN to make sure they listed all colleges and classes attended? And even if they do, what do you say? Oops I completely forgot about that because it was 3 years ago and I never transferred the credits, bla bla...And idk some how I doubt a medical school will kick out a matriculated, in academic good standing student because they found out you got a C and didn't put it on ur AMCAS way back when..they'd be losing a lot of money for one, but idk I agree though for the poster with the F from a community college.. completely unfair.
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From my experience, AMCAS actually DOES check up on everything. I took college courses during high school, but assumed they didn't count because they were also on my HS transcript and were therefore HS courses (I got A's, I wasn't trying to intentionally forget them). Lo and behold, after submitting AMCAS and waiting to be verified, AMCAS tells me I need to get this college to send transcripts to them. It was quite obnoxious because it delayed my verification and therefore app process but I probably should have called AMCAS before submitting to ask if I needed to submit those. Anyway, takeaway from this: they do check.
 
Read Forgive and Remember by Charles Bosk and you'll see how surgeons perceive and react to errors. Not all errrors are equal. Getting a C, owning it, learning from the mistake, moving on & not making that mistake again is fine and almost to be expected early in one's career. Lying about or covering up a failure (or a C), is almost unforgivable.
 
LizzyM said:
Read Forgive and Remember by Charles Bosk and you'll see how surgeons perceive and react to errors. Not all errrors are equal. Getting a C, owning it, learning from the mistake, moving on & not making that mistake again is fine and almost to be expected early in one's career. Lying about or covering up a failure (or a C), is almost unforgivable.
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What happens if you don't get an interview because you owned up to the C?

That's my point.
 
dpk211 said:
What happens if you don't get an interview because you owned up to the C?

That's my point.
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What happens when you get kicked out and blacklisted in the middle of M3 when they do find out?

That's everybody else's point.
 
QQm said:
What happens when you get kicked out and blacklisted in the middle of M3 when they do find out?

That's everybody else's point.
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Everybody's else's point is a bit too dramatic. My point is completely rational.

I'm not getting denied because some nerd can get a 4.0 by studying 20 hours a day.
 
silly SDN. Look at OP's post history, he's a troll.

man, people are a little slow this Sunday morning, eh? :laugh: where's bleargh already?
 
gravitywave said:
silly SDN. Look at OP's post history, he's a troll.

man, people are a little slow this Sunday morning, eh? :laugh: where's bleargh already?
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So, you don't like my post and I become a troll. You must be really smart.
 
dpk211 said:
What happens if you don't get an interview because you owned up to the C?

That's my point.
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If you don't get an interview it won't be because you made a single C. I'm guessing that this class was ethics because you clearly lack them and if you see nothing wrong with blatantly lying on your application then you deserved a far worse grade.

I'm going to take another guess that you have a sub-par application because your willing to risk so much for a little C. If you don't get an interview it's due to the fact that you had such a lousy app not do that C you got at community college.
 
OP, you asked us whether AMCAS would find out about the C you got in a class you took years ago. The answer is yes, they will. You can moralize all you want and convince yourself it's OK to "forget" to list that class on your AMCAS, but the fact of the matter is that there's no hiding bad grades.

Look at it this way: if you don't report the course you took at CC, when AMCAS invariably finds out about it, verification of your application will be delayed.
 
Well I guess we'll just have to wait and find out then.
 
dpk211 said:
What happens if you don't get an interview because you owned up to the C?

That's my point.
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Srsly? Is this a joke? Please take a deep breath.

I know people at TOP schools with a C. One C will not make the difference in getting an interview.
 
dpk211 said:
What happens if you don't get an interview because you owned up to the C?

That's my point.
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I have several Cs and an F on my transcript, and I interviewed at 3 schools ranked in the top 10 by US news and world report (plus another unranked school which is more selective than any of those). If one C is gonna keep you from interviewing anywhere, your application isn't so hot to begin with.

I think a big part of my success both in life and as an applicant is due to integrity, confidence, and a well developed identity. No admissions officer wants to admit a neurotic, weasly **** who tries to cheat their way into med school, and doesn't even have to self-awareness to realize it's inappropriate. They want a mature, responsible person who is prepared to own up to their mistakes. Be the kind of person they want to admit, not the kind of person they take pleasure in rejecting.
 
What is OP retroactively changes his SSN by using a time machine? Then, could he hide the bad grade?

#Troll
 
dpk211 said:
Not saying I'm going to do it but you can't compare this to other ethical medical issues.

The C doesn't reflect me. If you get a C in a class and you re-take it and get an A, then I don't really know what the C means. You either understand the material or you don't. Having said that, if you repeat a course, the good grade should reflect your understanding of it. Even if you take it 20 times and then get an A, that means you got it. So if AMCAS is going to decide whether or not I become a doctor based on something like that, the thought will naturally cross your mind.

My idea of not revealing a bad grade is no different than a woman saying she is younger than she really is or men dying their hair to remove the gray.

It's not like I'm going to end up a doctor who performs third trimester abortions in my basement.
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The C does reflect you because you earned it. If you don't include it, they will find out and you will not be accepted anywhere or removed from any schools that accept you. Bad idea.

And classes get easier each time you retake them. Schools deserve to know if you retook classes, while your peers succeeded the first time around.

Insert friend's opinion- "I wouldn't wait four hours in the ER for someone with this moral compass."
 
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OK, I read another thread about some success stories of people who got into med school with much worse stats than mind.

I will report my C and I will explain it in my personal statement.

I am going to do the right thing. I don't know what got into me.
 
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