Do I have a chance with this red mark on my academic history...

[Procaffeination]

Hi all,

I'm super nervous to apply to grad school after being accused of academic dishonesty last year. I was accused of it 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 peers and mentors on what 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. 

Other than this incident, people say I'm a competitive applicant. I'm very nervous that my schools won't even consider me, though... 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. 

Anyways, do any of you have advice? (Please do not be condescending or rude, I know what I did wasn't right. I did, however, genuinely try and fix my mistake)

[smileyslp]

I think the explanation you submitted will definitely help. I would recommend including the seminar you hosted in your resume or in some other note because that will show the admissions team that you care about academic integrity and have showed other students how to cite correctly, etc. Also, LORs from professors who know you well would be beneficial because if you were truly dishonest, then a professor wouldn't recommend you... so I think a letter from a professor would show admissions that you're valued/trusted in your program and just made a mistake. Maybe you could request an additional letter from the justice program that shows you're in good standing and have gone through all the steps to restore your record?

[Procaffeination]

25 minutes ago, smileyslp said:

I think the explanation you submitted will definitely help. I would recommend including the seminar you hosted in your resume or in some other note because that will show the admissions team that you care about academic integrity and have showed other students how to cite correctly, etc. Also, LORs from professors who know you well would be beneficial because if you were truly dishonest, then a professor wouldn't recommend you... so I think a letter from a professor would show admissions that you're valued/trusted in your program and just made a mistake. Maybe you could request an additional letter from the justice program that shows you're in good standing and have gone through all the steps to restore your record?

Thanks for the advice. I actually have 3 letters coming from professors I've had, two were also the PI's of labs I have been in/am in.

[smarieSLP2b]

I think you will be fine, believe it or not it's common to have been in situations like that. I had a classmate that was kicked out of a university because another student cheated off his test and he didn't "put enough effort to conceal his answers". They assumed he conspired with the cheating student. He was still able to get into medschool after going through a remediation process and attending a different university! That's why that box is there, because these things happen frequently. Don't lose sleep over this.