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*U-Wire member papers have full permission to reprint all or part of this column. Enjoy! This Week: • How do I get a cheating charge off my transcript? • Can I possibly balance school and a full-time job? • My school's disabled-students department is ignoring me. How do I get through? (questions may have been edited for length, grammar and/or to maintain the sender's privacy.) Dear Professor K: I am a student at a top university with solid GPA and MCAT scores. I am very involved in extracurriculars and have won numerous awards for my research. However, I cheated on an exam and was caught. My transcript says that I have violated academic integrity. I have continued to deny that I cheated. This is my only violation of any kind. If I admit, the violation stays and I gain nothing. What should I do? Oy. What were you thinking? What could possibly be so important that it was worth risking your future on? I'll give you whatever advice I can, but first, I have to say that I have little patience for cheaters. I'm afraid you're going to have to eat the penalty, unless you really didn't cheat. There's no point in staging an appeal just for the record. As far as your file goes, you should work really hard on a penitent letter that is sincere in its apology for your bad judgement. As for med schools, I really can't predict. I suspect you made a life choice the day you cheated on that exam. As an admissions file reader, I probably would not vote to accept a student who had cheated. However, if you write a really eloquent declaration that you violated every principle you hold dear, and an explanation of what anxieties possessed you in that moment and how much you have learned from your mistake, and how much better a doctor you will be for your misstep into human frailty, perhaps someone will believe you. But you'd better be sure that *you* believe what you're saying, or no one else will. And whatever you do, don't compound your cheating with lying about it. If there's a way out, it's only through honestly owning up to what you've done. I started my 1st semester of grad school while working full-time at my first job. I took three classes and had to take W's at the last second because I couldn't handle the load along with my new job. I missed registering for spring semester and now I think the soonest I can take classes is in the summer term. I need to go back to school. I know I can handle the work, but my job seems to sap my energy and I don't know if I can do it and work. Any advice? This is not an uncommon experience. The shift from undergrad to grad is traumatic for many of us, not unlike the shift from high school to college. Expectations are much higher, and understanding and sympathy in many ways lower. And while many grad programs accommodate working students, others do not. So here's my advice:
The trick to studying and working at the same time is to be as systematic as possible. The more you organize yourself, the more you can accomplish in your limited time. Let me know how you do! I am currently enrolled as a first-year student at law school. I have been trying to get in contact with the advisor for students with disabilities for over a month and half. I have called and left many voice messages; today, I finally got in touch via e-mail and received a four-word response - no signature. I feel my needs have been neglected and I am extremely upset. What is your advice? Indeed, your needs are being neglected. I would recommend that you take several steps, all simultaneously, to signal to the school's administration that you mean business.
This should show everyone that you're serious, a perfect candidate for studying the law, and very knowledgeable about your rights and their responsibilities. Write me back and let me know what happens! I bet they respond pretty quickly... Dr. Anahid Kassabian is a professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University in New York.
© 2001 Virtually Advising |
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