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A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:09 pm
by Mynameis
I had a record of disciplinary violation in my freshman, which is plagiarism. I quoted something in a freshman writing assignment but not in APA style, so the instructor said it was plagiarism...So he gave me an 0 on that assignment. I got an A- in that course and my transcript is clean, which means it doesn't show on my transcript.
My GPA is 3.99, with only one A-
But I am really concerned about whether graduate schools will ask about all my disciplinary history or not, because I indeed have a record of that.

Anyone can help?

Thanks

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:29 pm
by midwestphysics
Something doesn't add up, you have a record of disciplinary violation yet it doesn't show up on the only record that matters. You were disciplined for plagiarism yet still got an A- in the class. Craziest of all, you were a freshman who made a common freshman mistake in a writing assignment and ended up with a record because of it? Most schools, when it comes to real plagiarism, won't just give you a zero on an assignment, they'll fail you in the class and possibly expel you. This just sounds like a rookie mistake that the teacher decided to set you straight on by giving you a zero on the assignment, nothing more. It's not really a record if it doesn't show up in the records they're going to send to the schools.

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:03 pm
by Mynameis
midwestphysics wrote:Something doesn't add up, you have a record of disciplinary violation yet it doesn't show up on the only record that matters. You were disciplined for plagiarism yet still got an A- in the class. Craziest of all, you were a freshman who made a common freshman mistake in a writing assignment and ended up with a record because of it? Most schools, when it comes to real plagiarism, won't just give you a zero on an assignment, they'll fail you in the class and possibly expel you. This just sounds like a rookie mistake that the teacher decided to set you straight on by giving you a zero on the assignment, nothing more. It's not really a record if it doesn't show up in the records they're going to send to the schools.
Thanks for your reply

Unfortunately, it is really a record that kept in my university.
It is for record keeping purpose, and if I have further violation, I will be expel etc.
since it was my first violation and I was not intended to do so, they only gave me a zero on that assignment.
Do graduate schools ask for the disciplinary record or something like that?

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:11 pm
by TakeruK
I don't think any schools ask for you to submit a disciplinary record with your application. The only thing I had to ever send from one of my previous schools directly was official transcripts (some schools will even accept unofficial ones for the application and only require an official copy when you are admitted). I think some applications asked me if I ever had to withdraw from a program . So if it does not show up on your transcript, then you don't need to mention it, I think. It sounds like the record that was kept was an internal record only?

If you want to be sure, you can order an extra official transcript and open it and see what it says. If it's clean, then explaining it in your application won't do any good and someone misreading your application might think it was more serious than it was.

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:41 pm
by Mynameis
TakeruK wrote:I don't think any schools ask for you to submit a disciplinary record with your application. The only thing I had to ever send from one of my previous schools directly was official transcripts (some schools will even accept unofficial ones for the application and only require an official copy when you are admitted). I think some applications asked me if I ever had to withdraw from a program . So if it does not show up on your transcript, then you don't need to mention it, I think. It sounds like the record that was kept was an internal record only?

If you want to be sure, you can order an extra official transcript and open it and see what it says. If it's clean, then explaining it in your application won't do any good and someone misreading your application might think it was more serious than it was.
Great reply!!!

Yea, it was for kept for internal record only. But the school officer told me that if graduate school ask about that they will say I have violated academic integrity.

You mean graduate school will not ask for any school report except official transcript?

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:07 pm
by TakeruK
In all the schools I've applied to, the only documents I had to submit that I did not write myself are:

-Letters of Recommendation: In all cases, the supervisor submits this to the school directly, usually online
-GRE scores: In all cases, ETS, the company that administers the GRE, submits these scores to the schools directly, for a fee. You usually find out the institution code and department codes for each school you're applying to and you give them to ETS, pay about $23/school (the first 4 schools and your undergrad school are free though).
-Transcripts: Some schools required official transcripts, which you can usually get your own school to mail them directly to the school you're applying to, or pick them up and mail them yourself. I've heard that some schools won't issue transcripts directly to their students, so check with your own school(s)! About half the schools I applied to just wanted unofficial transcripts for the application.

I've never heard of any other report requirement for US and Canadian schools. Usually major infraction appear on the student's transcript. I'm not sure about other countries, but in Canada, your school records are confidential and school officials should not reveal anything about students unless the student has given their authorization (not even to your spouse, parents, whatever). So, a school that you are applying to should not be able to just call up your current school and ask about your academic record. If everyone plays by the rules, you should know exactly what is in your application package, except for your reference letters.

I guess one way the information can be "leaked" is if you asked a school official to write one of your reference letters -- since they don't know you, they probably will use the information they have on record. But you don't want to do this anyways, since you should ideally have research supervisors as reference letter writers, or at least a professor in your department that knows your work.

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:35 pm
by admissionprof
I agree. Most applications won't ask about it, and nobody will know. It's different for medical school applications, which explicitly ask if there are any violations. For those, you must answer correctly. But realistically, grad schools aren't going to ask.

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:32 pm
by Mynameis
TakeruK wrote:In all the schools I've applied to, the only documents I had to submit that I did not write myself are:

-Letters of Recommendation: In all cases, the supervisor submits this to the school directly, usually online
-GRE scores: In all cases, ETS, the company that administers the GRE, submits these scores to the schools directly, for a fee. You usually find out the institution code and department codes for each school you're applying to and you give them to ETS, pay about $23/school (the first 4 schools and your undergrad school are free though).
-Transcripts: Some schools required official transcripts, which you can usually get your own school to mail them directly to the school you're applying to, or pick them up and mail them yourself. I've heard that some schools won't issue transcripts directly to their students, so check with your own school(s)! About half the schools I applied to just wanted unofficial transcripts for the application.

I've never heard of any other report requirement for US and Canadian schools. Usually major infraction appear on the student's transcript. I'm not sure about other countries, but in Canada, your school records are confidential and school officials should not reveal anything about students unless the student has given their authorization (not even to your spouse, parents, whatever). So, a school that you are applying to should not be able to just call up your current school and ask about your academic record. If everyone plays by the rules, you should know exactly what is in your application package, except for your reference letters.

I guess one way the information can be "leaked" is if you asked a school official to write one of your reference letters -- since they don't know you, they probably will use the information they have on record. But you don't want to do this anyways, since you should ideally have research supervisors as reference letter writers, or at least a professor in your department that knows your work.
Great!! Thanks man (or woman)!

It is really helpful!

Re: A question on disciplinary violation

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:33 pm
by Mynameis
admissionprof wrote:I agree. Most applications won't ask about it, and nobody will know. It's different for medical school applications, which explicitly ask if there are any violations. For those, you must answer correctly. But realistically, grad schools aren't going to ask.
Great point!
Thank you!