Wrongfully Expelled. Please Help

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medstudent6335

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You have no choice but to report this information when applying to medical school. These are obviously unusual circumstances and you should call admissions offices directly to clear the situation up when you submit your application. Present them with your evidence that unequivocally clears your name, and be sure to emphasize that point when given an opportunity to talk about "other things" on secondaries.
 
medstudent6335 said:
Hey everyone,

I was hoping you guys could help me out with a major problem. Up until this last spring I was enrolled in a top 20 school pursuing a pre-med track. I only had one class left to graduate, but right before I could take I was contacted by the dean. Throughout the entire semester I had been receiving emails from a Professor (ProfA) from the account [email protected], and when I met with the dean she informed that this was a fake account not operated by the professor. I told her I had no idea and was only responding because I thought it really was the professor, but she didn't listen and told me I had been expelled because she thought I had been operating the fake account (since I was the first to get an email) and had 1 week to submit an appeal. I wrote her a lengthy appeal stating that I had no idea the email was fake and providing her copies of all the emails I received. I even spoke to my parents and filed the subpoena with Google to obtain the records for the that email address to clear my name. These were once again ignored and the dean denied the appeal. The Google subpoena took over a month to arrive (the appeal was thus over), and even though Google identified another individual as the owner and operator of this account (an individual who had a dispute with me for years), the Dean stated that since the appeal was over her decision was final and it was University Policy. Even though the Google subpoena and other technical evidence we obtained unequivocally cleared my name and implicated the other student.
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Yikes. What was so bad about this account? Its a little late now, but was there no one else you could appeal to like a board of regents or the university president?

Online everyone says to admit your mistake and say you learned from it, but what if I actually was wrongfully expelled and have evidence to prove it? Do you think any medical school will take the time to read through the essay and give me a chance?
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I would contact deans of admissions at various medical schools anonymously to talk about the situation and how it would affect a potential applicant.


P.S. - a lot of people have told me to take legal action against the university that expelled me. i have hired a lawyer and we're doing everything we can but since the university is so much more powerful and has much greater resources I have no idea how long it will take or what the outcome will be.
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I think this is the right step, particularly if you were wrongly accused.
 
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Sue the university and fast. This is freaking ridiculous.
 
xXIDaShizIXx said:
Sue the university and fast. This is freaking ridiculous.
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Yea that's what I'm trying to do. But my family doesn't make a lot so we were only able to hire one lawyer and when he contacted my old school they had him meet with their entire legal team of 7 lawyers…so i don't know how long this will take and if it will be decided before I apply.

So in general you guys think I should contact the admissions offices at each medical school and explain the situation to them? and if i write an essay about how this made me grow as a person you think I have a chance?

just for some numbers, before this happened I had a 3.9 Science GPA and a 37 MCAT. couple of publications. worked at an NIH and DOD lab. 3 shadowing experiences.
 
I'd like to know what the content of the emails was; and why if it was something that the University felt warranted your dismissal you went along with it.

Even if you thought it was a professor, it seems by what you told us that there must've been something bad going on in those emails.
 
Wtf were you sending in these emails that they thought was so bad? Even if you were operating the account, what did they think you were going to get out of it?

Anyway, this is clearly an insane situation (if it's true). You have all the evidence to prove it but you'll have to report it on AMCAS. However, I would call every school you apply to after you send your primary and explain these very unusual circumstances so you don't get tossed into the trash bin automatically for having an expulsion on your record. There's no reason to call schools anonymously about it before you send in your application. They'll just think you're insane when you start telling them this "hypothetical" story and they'll know who you are when you send your app in anyway. Just call after you've sent in the primary and make sure to talk to someone who can adjust your file accordingly (an admissions officer, dean of admissions, etc.). I might call some ahead of time to see what they say about it but there's no real reason to be secretive about who you are...they'll be able to figure it out easily enough.

You clearly have a strong application number-wise and in research so as long as you can explain this to schools you should be alright. It could be a big "if" though. Is there a reason you'd be doing a masters program after (is your cGPA low)?

Edit: Just saw your post above. That's really...weird. I don't even get why they thought you were operating the account. How did they jump from you getting the first email to you must be operating the account? I know you don't know but this story gets stupider the more you tell it.
 
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This seems fishy. At my school there needs to be solid evidence for the expulsion of a student. Your story makes it seem as if you were just expelled on a whim.

Didn't the school you were attending have student services that included lawyers that fight these sorts of accusations? I know that mine does and I don't even go to an Ivy League.

Until you get this sorted out with a lawyer it will most definitely need to be brought to light on your application which may or may not affect your chances at medical school.
 
This is why you only communicate with professors via their official university email and/or the email they put on the syllabus.
 
calvnandhobbs68 said:
Wtf were you sending in these emails that they thought was so bad? Even if you were operating the account, what did they think you were going to get out of it?
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Actually, recently my school has been having a lot of issues with students posing as professors through email.

This semester alone there have been THREE professors in electrical engineering get their email accounts compromised by students. Two of the times the students just sent out a mass mail that was a joke and making fun of the professor (I assume they got suspended at least). But just last week a student sent out a mass mail to the students in the class from the professors email that said an exam had been cancelled, so no students went to the exam (causing mass chaos of course).

I think that impersonation of a professor is probably a pretty serious code violation at most universities.
 
Josh7 said:
Actually, recently my school has been having a lot of issues with students posing as professors through email.

This semester alone there have been THREE professors in electrical engineering get their email accounts compromised by students. Two of the times the students just sent out a mass mail that was a joke and making fun of the professor (I assume they got suspended at least). But just last week a student sent out a mass mail to the students in the class from the professors email that said an exam had been cancelled, so no students went to the exam (causing mass chaos of course).

I think that impersonation of a professor is probably a pretty serious code violation at most universities.
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Wow I didn't even know this was a thing.
 
This seems fishy to me as well. If the dean saw your emails as a response, she wouldn't have acted to harshly on a whim. And if everything pointed to someone else, I doubt she would have said "too bad" out of spite. This seems like it is legally cut and dry which a dean is smart enough not to put the school in that position.
 
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basically the student who had a dispute with me - the same student who the subpoena later proved operated the email account - went and complained to the dean that he had been getting fake emails and that he suspected me of operating that. so when they checked my email account and saw i had been getting these "fake" emails for a while and did not report it they thought i must be operating it. then a panel of 3 people met and thought that since i was impersonating a professor i should be expelled. I even had university IT check my computer and say there was no evidence i was using this email, but that piece of evidence was also ignored.

i understand it's a crazy scenario. i literally have pages of evidence from google and cyber investigators saying i didnt do it but it's all being ignored per "university policy." when i spoke with the lawyer he said the university probably made their original decision and now they have to stick with it no matter what evidence you bring them. because if they change their decision they could sued for their initial mistake.

and i went to a fairly small school so they told me that if i wanted to fight the case i had to enlist outside help…hence my current situation.
 
FrkyBgStok said:
This seems like it is legally cut and dry which a dean is smart enough not to put the school in that position.
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That's exactly what my lawyer and i thought! but she just sent back a letter saying i should have brought it up in the appeal (which i had only had a week to create and google takes over 3 weeks to produce information).
 
calvnandhobbs68 said:
Is there a reason you'd be doing a masters program after (is your cGPA low)?
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I'm only doing a masters program because while this was all being sorted out (this summer) i wasn't able to apply for medical school, so i needed something to do for the year or so following graduation.
 
medstudent6335 said:
basically the student who had a dispute with me - the same student who the subpoena later proved operated the email account - went and complained to the dean that he had been getting fake emails and that he suspected me of operating that. so when they checked my email account and saw i had been getting these "fake" emails for a while and did not report it they thought i must be operating it. then a panel of 3 people met and thought that since i was impersonating a professor i should be expelled. I even had university IT check my computer and say there was no evidence i was using this email, but that piece of evidence was also ignored.

i understand it's a crazy scenario. i literally have pages of evidence from google and cyber investigators saying i didnt do it but it's all being ignored per "university policy." when i spoke with the lawyer he said the university probably made their original decision and now they have to stick with it no matter what evidence you bring them. because if they change their decision they could sued for their initial mistake.

and i went to a fairly small school so they told me that if i wanted to fight the case i had to enlist outside help…hence my current situation.
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You are a great applicant. If you get this off your record, then you'll be fine. Focus on suing them and keep us updated. This is your main concern right now, because if you don't get it handled, it won't go away.
 
xXIDaShizIXx said:
You are a great applicant. If you get this off your record, then you'll be fine. Focus on suing them and keep us updated. This is your main concern right now, because if you don't get it handled, it won't go away.
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My lawyer said the case could take over a year to be brought to court and my family personally doesn't know how much we'll have to face in legal fees if that happens. should i hold off applying to medical school till then? or is it worth it to apply and explain the scenario and that it is currently being pursued in court?
 
Hmmm...I am really sorry this happened to you. And I really hope you get things sorted out and that they do not affect your medical school app in any way.

That being said, a quick warning: Try to keep yourself, the other student involved and the school as anonymous as possible in this thread and anywhere else you are posting this information on the internet.

Seeing as the school has taken the position they have, the last thing you want is to give them any reason to try to get you for defamation or slander or something like that. Keep details you don't have to share to yourself. Odds are people are going to want the dirt and you might slip up and reveal something. You do not know who is on this forum and what/who they know

Quite honestly, this thread is a bad idea... We know only your side of the story and will offer opinions and suggestions based on what you have told us. However, there must be much more to it than this, for the school to be taking such a hard line.

Good luck!
 
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medstudent6335 said:
My lawyer said the case could take over a year to be brought to court and my family personally doesn't know how much we'll have to face in legal fees if that happens. should i hold off applying to medical school till then? or is it worth it to apply and explain the scenario and that it is currently being pursued in court?
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In all honesty it is worth the time, because this will follow you academically for the rest of your life. Take the time to get it settled. In the mean time do other things to make your application even better. More volunteering/shadowing or anything else you can think of. I'm sorry about your situation, but I believe it may be best to wait so it doesn't cause you to waste money on an application cycle.
 
medstudent6335 said:
basically the student who had a dispute with me - the same student who the subpoena later proved operated the email account - went and complained to the dean that he had been getting fake emails and that he suspected me of operating that. so when they checked my email account and saw i had been getting these "fake" emails for a while and did not report it they thought i must be operating it. then a panel of 3 people met and thought that since i was impersonating a professor i should be expelled. I even had university IT check my computer and say there was no evidence i was using this email, but that piece of evidence was also ignored.

i understand it's a crazy scenario. i literally have pages of evidence from google and cyber investigators saying i didnt do it but it's all being ignored per "university policy." when i spoke with the lawyer he said the university probably made their original decision and now they have to stick with it no matter what evidence you bring them. because if they change their decision they could sued for their initial mistake.

and i went to a fairly small school so they told me that if i wanted to fight the case i had to enlist outside help…hence my current situation.
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It just sounds like the dean believes she was right in her decision and does not want to even entertain the thought she could be wrong. Otherwise, she would have accepted your appeal because you have evidence.
 
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My concern would be that the other party, the university, would use tactics to create busy work for your attorney in an attempt to bankrupt you or "starve you into a settlement." I think you are wise to post on the internet because you might find yourself free legal help or direction as to where to get that. Depending on what admissions says, you might want to skip the legal part. Winning in a lawsuit is as much about money as it is about anything else. I suspect that if you have expulsion totally visible on your transcript, the dean of admissions might recommend a short cover letter quickly explaining that you can prove your innocence if given a chance. On the other hand, if you were to find free help, the free counsel or attorney could work with your paid attorney. 211 may or may not be able to help. Local free legal clinics may or may not have suggestions.

Hope everything works out and that you end up with some extra money for the trouble, some restitution, if you proceed the legal route. Good luck!
 
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You might consider going to the press, if things are really the way that you said they are. You are likely to get a MUCH quicker response from university officials if they think you might be able to damage their reputation.

Obviously, though, do what your lawyer says is best.
 
medstudent6335 said:
i understand it's a crazy scenario. i literally have pages of evidence from google and cyber investigators saying i didnt do it but it's all being ignored per "university policy." when i spoke with the lawyer he said the university probably made their original decision and now they have to stick with it no matter what evidence you bring them. because if they change their decision they could sued for their initial mistake.
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This is ridiculous. If the situation is actually how you describe it, you could hit them really hard for this. Not only in terms of legal compensation for losing such a case, but also in terms of damage to their reputation. Seems it would be just plain stupid on their part.
 
Josh7 said:
Actually, recently my school has been having a lot of issues with students posing as professors through email.

This semester alone there have been THREE professors in electrical engineering get their email accounts compromised by students. Two of the times the students just sent out a mass mail that was a joke and making fun of the professor (I assume they got suspended at least). But just last week a student sent out a mass mail to the students in the class from the professors email that said an exam had been cancelled, so no students went to the exam (causing mass chaos of course).

I think that impersonation of a professor is probably a pretty serious code violation at most universities.
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Good thing those students got punished. Those criminals should be thrown away in a federal prison. What they did was completely illegal.

Now, OP, I agree with josh7 that this seems odd. It sounds that the dean and the university are corrupt and decides to punish you without substantial evidence. Well, there's more to the story which you won't give since you cleared your original post. In that case, sue them and let's see what happens. I actually want to know law2doc's idea on this.
 
Agent B said:
Good thing those students got punished. Those criminals should be thrown away in a federal prison. What they did was completely illegal.
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Right, I think we can all agree that we need more people in prison for minor infractions. I hear that's going well in California.
 
mcloaf said:
Right, I think we can all agree that we need more people in prison for minor infractions. I hear that's going well in California.
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So what would you propose? A stern lecture?



OP - If you are thinking about applying to med schools before this is completely solved, you should absolutely contact the adcoms ahead of time and get their opinions on applying. And keep them updated with recent developments.

Good luck.
 
Spinach Dip said:
So what would you propose? A stern lecture?
.
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There's a lot of options between a stern lecture and federal prison; liberal use of the second has already caused plenty of problems.
 
Something doesn't add up here....

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile
 
It sounds like the dean has a vendetta against you. File a suit and hope for the best.
 
This is one of those few times where I will say "Sue the living hell out of that place so you can go start your own medical school".

If this happened to me, i honestly wouldn't know what to say. I feel like i'm missing something. Your Dean cannot be THAT stupid...
 
Josh7 said:
Neither did I until it happened three times this semester lol. Apparently some student is targeting professors computers and somehow stealing their email passwords. Whoever gets caught for doing that is going to get in some legal trouble for sure.
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In all honesty, it is very hard to catch someone doing this (if they're somewhat experienced). Doesn't take much to go to a random public library computer and logging unto the professors email account from there, not to mention you can also proxies to hide yourself.
 
SpecterGT260 said:
Something doesn't add up here....

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile
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AestheticGod said:
This is one of those few times where I will say "Sue the living hell out of that place so you can go start your own medical school".

If this happened to me, i honestly wouldn't know what to say. I feel like i'm missing something. Your Dean cannot be THAT stupid...
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My thoughts exactly. There is a lot to this we do not know.

Again OP, proceed with care. You don't wanna give them anything to use against you if it came down to that...
 
Without us knowing the content of the message your claims are invalid as incomplete.
There is likely something missing from the story that you're neglecting to tell that probably places you at fault.
 
Sorry, I had to delete the content because since it is most likely going to court i was told it wasn't a good idea to post the story online. and the reason i was being placed at fault was that i never reported the fake emails (they didn't believe that i thought it was a legitimate email address) and because the other student outrightly went to the dean and reported that he thought i was impersonating the professor. also the dean told me that my new evidence wasn't 100% proof because i could've tricked google and the cyber investigator as well. obviously theres a ton of evidence we got but i didnt have the time or room to go through it all here.

at this point, according to the lawyer, the dean won't change her decision bc then she'll definitely lose a lawsuit. this way they can fight it out with their superior resources and maybe i'll fold.

thanks for all the advice. i guess i'll talk to some of the admissions officers next year and get their take on it before applying. hopefully by then there'll be some new developments i can report. i know one person seemed to suggest a masters wasn't the best idea. does anyone have any suggestions on what to do with the year or two before applying?

and i know you guys are saying it seems fishy and i completely agree. thats what the lawyer and investigator said when we started the case but after going through everything he ended up with the same mindset as i have. also there would be no point of me lying to you guys here since i'm honestly asking for advice on what to do. the adcoms will obviously know the entire story so basing my response off misinformed advice would be a stupid thing to do.
 
I'll be looking for your swift return and acceptances in the near future.
 
medstudent6335 said:
Sorry, I had to delete the content because since it is most likely going to court i was told it wasn't a good idea to post the story online. and the reason i was being placed at fault was that i never reported the fake emails (they didn't believe that i thought it was a legitimate email address) and because the other student outrightly went to the dean and reported that he thought i was impersonating the professor. also the dean told me that my new evidence wasn't 100% proof because i could've tricked google and the cyber investigator as well. obviously theres a ton of evidence we got but i didnt have the time or room to go through it all here.

at this point, according to the lawyer, the dean won't change her decision bc then she'll definitely lose a lawsuit. this way they can fight it out with their superior resources and maybe i'll fold.

thanks for all the advice. i guess i'll talk to some of the admissions officers next year and get their take on it before applying. hopefully by then there'll be some new developments i can report. i know one person seemed to suggest a masters wasn't the best idea. does anyone have any suggestions on what to do with the year or two before applying?

and i know you guys are saying it seems fishy and i completely agree. thats what the lawyer and investigator said when we started the case but after going through everything he ended up with the same mindset as i have. also there would be no point of me lying to you guys here since i'm honestly asking for advice on what to do. the adcoms will obviously know the entire story so basing my response off misinformed advice would be a stupid thing to do.
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Just tell your lawyer to tell the dean you'll settle. They remove any and all records of the expulsion, grant you your degree, and in return you sign a non-disclosure agreement and agree to never sue the school over this.

Look for the quickest way out, not the way that may make you rich.

PS: You may start by paying the gold donor fee and deleting this thread...
 
Wow. Hopefully after this is over, you will OWN that university lol.
 
Josh7 said:
This seems fishy. At my school there needs to be solid evidence for the expulsion of a student. Your story makes it seem as if you were just expelled on a whim.

Didn't the school you were attending have student services that included lawyers that fight these sorts of accusations? I know that mine does and I don't even go to an Ivy League.

Until you get this sorted out with a lawyer it will most definitely need to be brought to light on your application which may or may not affect your chances at medical school.
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We aren't getting the full story. If you want help remotely helpful advice you will need to be more honest, OP.
 
Why don't you try taking your story to the media? That would be a good way to put pressure on the school.
 
medstudent, did you actually graduate?
I was hoping you guys could help me out with a major problem. Up until this last spring I was enrolled in a top 20 school pursuing a pre-med track. I only had one class left to graduate...
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IF your story is true, and you were expelled, you'll need to have graduated from a college/university before you can start your medical degree. That will be another problem for you to work out, since where then can you finish? Most schools require transfer students to earn 120 credits minimum at their school before they'll award a degree.
 
I wasn't saying a masters was a bad idea, I was just asking why you were doing it. People usually do them for a specific reason not just to do something (because they cost money).
 
I have feeling there is much, much more to this story. OP seems to be playing the victim card here...
 
pre med 2014 said:
Someone monitors your emails? That's scary. How did the university even discover them?
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I don't think they monitored his private email. His 'enemy' showed the dean of the emails.

But some universities/CC's DO have the right to check your email account. And some universities don't, mine for example uses Gmail, so i don't think they ever check.
 
AestheticGod said:
I don't think they monitored his private email. His 'enemy' showed the dean of the emails.

But some universities/CC's DO have the right to check your email account. And some universities don't, mine for example uses Gmail, so i don't think they ever check.
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Ok. This is what I was thinking. But if his 'enemy' turned it in then why wouldn't they just contact said professor and he would say he never wrote those emails?

I can't imagine the emails having been about anything illegal or against the university code, why would you talk about cheating with a professor for example?
 
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