Language surrounding secondaries about IAs

[gonavy1234]

Hello all,

So I was accused of plagiarism in undergrad and went through my school's review board. They found me not responsible and no institutional action was ever taken. I reached out to my Office of Student Conduct, and they said that I would not have to list this as an IA in the primary application.
But I know that in some secondaries, the questions asks (for example from Pritzker's secondaries last year) "Has any of your previous behavior(s) resulted in any review or action by a judicial committee? Have you ever received an honor code and/or conduct violation at any time while enrolled as a full or part-time student?" or somehting along these lines.

In this case, I am thinking that I would have to write about my experience. If I do so, will this negatively impact me or be seen as a "red flag?"

Also, do most schools use this kind of language of asking about a review even if it didn't surmount to anything?

Thanks

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Has any of your previous behavior(s) resulted in any review or action by a judicial committee?

Seems like a pretty clear yes in this case. Most don’t ask like this.

Yes, it will probably be seen as a negative. That is why most states have passed laws that forbid asking about non convictions (obviously these laws don’t apply to med school admissions and or for IA type questions)

 

[LizzyM]

If you write that you were accused and exonerated, I doubt it will be a red flag. If the committee determined that you didn't break the rules, despite being accused, then why would the adcom punish you? I hate to think that someone would falsely accuse someone to derail their chances of admission but that would be the upshot if adcoms considered mere accusations to be a red flag. We don't want to go there. Innocent until proven guilty is the standard in the US judicial system and pretty much the way forward in dealing with IAs, too.