Hi all,
I'm super nervous about even being accepted to grad schools because of my lower than average GPA (3.4 overall) and an unfortunate academic dishonesty case last year. I was accused of A.D. after turning in a rough draft of a paper for the honors section of a class. It contained material that was not appropriately cited. I wasn't maliciously trying to take the authors' work, I cited it poorly. To make up for it, I had to go through a restorative justice program which was a conversation with Academic peers and mentors to discuss happened and how we can mend the harm. After the program, I put on an academic integrity seminar for my dorm (as I'm an RA). My disciplinary record will be stored as "non-disciplinary" by my University, but I still put "yes" I've been reprimanded by my school on CSDCAS. I've explained the situation in a matter of fact way, trying not to dismiss it as less than it is. Honestly, it keeps me awake at night. I've definitely learned from my mistake, and I believe that I made a good effort after the fact to repair any harm that was done. CSDCAS only gives you 500 characters to describe the problem, so I really wish they'd give me more.
Obviously, to attempt to better my chances I applied at a wide variety of schools (23... which is nuts!). I think my stress about my applications is also coming from the fact that CSDCAS has yet to "verify" my academic update grades, and I've submitted my apps... Though, I do know that schools don't even begin looking for a couple of weeks because CSDCAS processing times do take a while and I submitted everything from my end. Besides that, I've been told I am a competitive applicant... uGPA: 3.46, CSD GPA: 3.75, Last-60 GPA: 3.80, GRE: 157 V, 154 Q, 4.5 AW.
I am a CS&D major with an Education minor. I have been involved in 2 research labs during undergrad; one for three semesters studying bilingual language acquisition and language development and the other studying Parkinson's Disease using rat models. I currently serve on the executive board of NSSLHA as the Secretary. I was a Camp Counselor at an overnight summer camp for kiddos on the autism spectrum. I am working as a conversation volunteer in our school's speech and language clinic. I also am enrolled in a service-learning course as a mentor for children in our public school district who experience homelessness. Finally, I have been an RA for our dorms for the past 2 years. I think I have a diverse amount of leadership and research experiences which could help that lower GPA.
Anyways, do any of you have advice to get through this waiting period? I have tried to pick up reading for fun and I know that I should try and limit my time on social media especially with decisions around the corner...