Quoted: Help with grade error & possible institutional action error on AMCAS

[Doodledog]

A question about AMCAS errors:

I made a huge error on my AMCAS application due to not reading instructions thoroughly. I once got an F in a course and later got the grade retroactively dropped a year later by petition so there is no grade on my transcript but the course is listed and the date I dropped this course is also listed. While completing the grade section I listed everything exactly as they appeared on my transcript and listed a W for withdrawal instead of F for this course. I was also put on academic probation because of this for a quarter. The registrar’s office at the undergraduate institution I attended stated that no academic institutional action was taken against me so I stated NO for this question on the AMCAS application (specific AMCAS question: were you ever the recipient of any institutional action by any college for unacceptable academic performance or conduct violation?) . But I learn now that perhaps I should have entered this course grade. Does probation count as an institutional action even though the resistrar’s office clearly stated that no academic institutional action was ever taken against me? I graduated from this institution four years ago. I want to change my incorrect answers but I am not sure how to go about this. I am extremely stressed about this as it would be wrong not to provide the schools with the correct facts. Should I send an addendum to the medical schools I applied to or should I withdraw my application and apply next year? If I submit changes to the individual schools directly will they view this negatively? I am afraid of contacting the schools without obtaining advice from an experienced person. I would appreciate your advice in this matter.

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[xanthines]

If your school doesn't view probation as institutional action, then I wouldn't worry about that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I interpret probation to mean something like you had a meeting with an academic dean or dean of students and they said "screw up one more time and you'll wish you hadn't." Basically, your probation was a warning to you, an expression of your school's concern, and a period of observation.

As for your F vs W situation, I'm not entirely sure what the correct procedure is. On the one hand, your transcript was altered at a later date sanctioned by the school. On the other, if you got an F you should have an F on your transcript. You didn't put any particulars into your description of why you got an F, so it's hard to say if you truly deserved it or not. For example, if you got an F because you or a family member got sick and you just didn't show up, then the school was probably correct in giving you a W (although personally, I would have marked as an I for incomplete, but that's neither here nor there). So only you know whether or not your transcrpt should really say F or W.

I don't think it hurts to call a school and ask them a hypothetical situation. I never asked anything this heavy, but the few times I called about mundane adminitrative things, they never asked for my name. So call them anonymously. If they ask for your name, politely decline. In almost every secondary application, there's a section to for to add additional comments. If need be, this probably where your story would go. I think if you word it right, it won't be that big of deal. Owning up to mistakes and taking responsibility go a long way in the medical world.

Just my $00.02.

-X

 

[NotAProgDirector]

It seems to me that if your school was willing to change your transcript from an F to a W due to your petition, then you did not officially fail this course and hence you are fine listing it as a W.

You will almost certainly be asked about the W in any case, so you will need to relate the whole story in the end.

 

[xanthines]

I'm not entirely sure this is true. I'll admit that I'm an N=1 and I don't have anything to do with admissions, but I had 2 W's on my transcript and no asked about it. For that matter, I had one C in general chemistry! I think students withdraw from courses all the time. It's kind of the point of college, in some ways. You know, to try and figure out what you like and what you want to be when you "grow up."

-X

It seems to me that if your school was willing to change your transcript from an F to a W due to your petition, then you did not officially fail this course and hence you are fine listing it as a W.

You will almost certainly be asked about the W in any case, so you will need to relate the whole story in the end.