The next section of your Institutional Action essay should address why the situation happened.
Sticking with the noise violation example, perhaps you were having fun hanging out with some people you met in class. You might write something like this:
My roommate and I invited some friends we met in class back to our room. Suddenly there was a knock on the door; it was the Resident Assistant there to inform us that we were disturbing some of our neighbors. We had undeniably been loud and were written up for the incident.
In this section, I added context to the noise violation. Notice I did not make excuses to take the blame off of myself. I am still stating facts and being as honest as possible.
Lastly, the essay should have an element of growth. This is where you reflect on the incident, convey contrition, and describe how you have matured. For Institutional Actions that are minor like this noise violation, there isn’t a lot of contrition necessary, so be careful not to lay it on too thick.
Here is how I would close out the noise violation.
I felt bad for disturbing others on my floor and made sure to apologize to them the next day. Reflecting on my experience, I am sorry it happened but grateful for the growth I have since made. I am not the same person I was in my first year of college. In addition to no other incidents or violations, in the years since, I have gone on to serve as co-captain of the swimming team, TA for two general chemistry labs, and an after-school tutor at an under-resourced elementary school. As I look to medical school and beyond, I will continue to grow and make a positive difference in my community.
The last part of the essay demonstrates maturity, remorse, and an attempt to make things right.
Here is the Institutional Action example essay altogether:
I received a noise violation my second week in college. My roommate and I invited some friends we met in class back to our room. Suddenly there was a knock on the door; it was the Resident Assistant there to inform us that we were disturbing some of our neighbors. We had undeniably been loud and were written up for the incident. I felt bad for disturbing others on my floor and made sure to apologize to them the next day. Reflecting on my experience, I am sorry it happened but grateful for the growth I have since made. I am not the same person I was in my first year of college. In addition to no other incidents or violations, in the years since, I have gone on to serve as co-captain of the swimming team, TA for two general chemistry labs, and an after-school tutor at an under-resourced elementary school. As I look to medical school and beyond, I will continue to grow and make a positive difference in my community.
This essay is 926 out of a possible 1325 characters in length. It is concise, avoids excuses, and sets a straightforward and mature tone.
Now that you have read through this post, you should have a good idea of how to report an Institutional Action.
If you report an Institutional Action with honesty and maturity, you will minimize the negative effects it could have on your application.
Based on the example essay above, here is a list of guidelines you can use should you ever have to report an Institutional Action in your medical school application:
This is the approach I recommend you follow if you find yourself having to report an Institutional Action.
Now that you have read through this article, can you guess the number one mistake applicants make when reporting Institutional Actions?
Not being sincere:
A sincere response encompasses everything we have talked about. A sincere essay is honest and straightforward (no excuses or backstory that makes it difficult to understand what took place). Finally, a sincere response demonstrates maturity (ownership of the mistake and evidence of remorse).
I hope this article has been helpful.
I wish you the best in all your aspirations.
Adam Lowrance, PhD
Let me know in the comment section if you found this article helpful. Where are you in the process? Are you applying to medical schools this cycle, or thinking about doing so in the future?
I have worked at public and private universities across the country. Since 2013 I have focused on medical school admissions. I built my expertise by helping medical schools evaluate their applicants. To date, I have read and made admissions decisions on more than 20,000 medical school applicants. Additionally, I have conducted research on topics related to applicant selection and behavior. I now help students and their families prepare for medical school. Families can begin working with me even before college (senior year of high school is a great time to start). I am also available to work with schools and organizations.
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I recently read your page about institutional actions and would greatly appreciate some advice. Recently I was falsely accused of cheating by a professor. He made me sign a form, but the university did not take any actions because it was my first ever accusation and there wasn’t any tangible evidence to truly prove that I cheated since I didn’t cheat. My first question would be if this situation is considered to be an IA? And then additionally, if it is an IA, I don’t exactly know how to address it in my application. It’s true that I grew from it but I can’t own up to it if I truly didn’t do anything. Thank you.
Dr. Adam says:Hi S,
I am so glad that you reached out!
Regarding the accusation of academic dishonesty, I think the first step is to confirm whether the incident rose to the level of an Institutional Action. Make a formal inquiry at your university. Contact your advisor and/or office of student conduct/dean of students. They should know how to help you verify whether you have an IA. In the event that you do have an IA, cover it just as I discussed in this blog post. Contact me if you need any help. I hope you have found my website helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions or topics you would like me to cover on an upcoming blog post. Feel free to contact me if you would like additional help.
I wish you all the best,
Adam
Hello Dr Adam, In regards to this response. Does it matter whether their school considers it an IA or not. I am in a similar situation but I was confused on whether to report it since I’m not sure if it’s an IA or not. But then I read online that so far as there was an action (like being invited to a meeting by prof) AAMC wants it reported whether or not your school considers it one. Need help determining what to do please
Dr. Adam says:Hi Minda, If I understand correctly, you are unsure if your situation rises to the level of an IA. The AAMC’s instructions for reporting institutional actions can be a bit tricky as the official language is a bit unclear. So what counts as an IA? An IA encompasses any official incident. It doesn’t matter if the incident resulted in a punishment such as a grade reduction, suspension, or any required learning/growth exercises. It also doesn’t matter if the incident is expunged from your record, or if the school simply says, “look, this happened, but we are not going to put it in your official record.” In all of those cases, the AAMC requires you to report what happened. However, if your faculty took mercy on you and decided not to report the incident, and instead opted to handle it with you one-on-one, then that individual made the decision that whatever transpired did meet university guidelines for further action. The particular part of the AAMC’s instructions to pay attention to is as follows: “… select Yes even if the action does not appear on, or has been deleted or expunged from, your official transcripts as a consequence of institutional policy or personal petition.” Not appearing in your record because the incident didn’t rise to that level is not the same as not appearing because of some sort of appeal or institutional policy. I recommend that you contact your office of student conduct for a definitive answer, as they will be able to tell you if there is anything in your record. Whether you have an IA or not, it is always good to get it in writing from your school. This is the best way to feel confident about your decision regarding whether or not you have an IA to report. Additionally, I recommend reaching out to your professor to ask if there is anything you can do to demonstrate your sincere contrition. Who knows, through this experience you might build a stronger relationship with this individual. I hope this has been helpful. If you need any additional help, feel free to email me and I would be happy to discuss your circumstances in greater detail. I wish you all the best. Sincerely,
Adam
Hello, thank you for this. May I have your contact information please. I would like some advice with am issue
Dr. Adam says: You can email me at [email protected] .Hi! Do warnings count as institutional action?
– I received a warning with a threat of probation because I forgot to hand in a COVID test one week at the beginning of the school year.
– I received a warning for violating of the University’s copyright policy (downloaded a movie from the internet). “This warning does not affect your status at the University, nor will it appear on any official record…. however… a second violation of the copyright policy will result in a minimum
of six months of disciplinary probation” Moreover:
– I was once fined by housing for my room being too messy.
– I received 2 parking tickets (“university parking violations”)
Hi Sarah, Thanks for your questions.
To start with, let me first state that, it is always best to get an official response in writing (email is fine) from your university, that way you have something to support either why you did or did not report an Institutional Action. On to your specific questions: Warnings likely do not need to be reported. I use the word “likely” because it depends if the warning was documented. If the warning will not be included in your record, and you have that in writing, then you should take it for what it was, a warning, no need to report it.
If both the COVID test situation and the movie download each resulted in warnings and clear statements that they do not rise to the level of further action or appearance on your record, I see no need to report them in AMCAS (same goes for AACOMAS and TMDSAS).
Regarding parking tickets and messy rooms, you are likely fine there as well.
I smiled when I read about the messy room…I think we have all been there before, but I can safely say that in the many thousands of applications I have evaluated for different medical schools, I have never read an Institutional Action essay about messy rooms (or parking tickets for that matter).
In closing, I appreciate your questions. It does not look like you have anything that rises to the level of an institutional action. With that said, I will re-state the importance of checking with your university. Get it in writing. Send them an email. Share with them that you will be applying to medical school and you will be asked whether you have been the recipient of any Institutional Actions.
If you need anything else, feel free to message again, or reach me via email: [email protected]
I wish you the best! Sincerely,
Adam Lowrance, PhD
Hello Dr.Adam! Thank you so much for this informational passage, this gave me much needed insight about Institutional Action and medical school. This past semester, I was given a point (my college has a point system, 10 points leads to suspension) for trespassing campus during winter break. (Students are not allowed on campus during winter break.) I was on campus because my friends dropped something off in front of my dorm so I went to go pick it up but was fined for trespassing. Based on your point of view, how severe would you consider this case? I am very worried that this could affect me as a candidate. Thank you in advance!
Dr. Adam says:Hi Maria, First off, sorry for the late reply.
Thank you for sharing your situation.
While it is clear (which I gather you already understand) that you have an IA to report, based on what you shared, it is not something I would consider as serious. As long as you are/were open and honest about what happened (no excuses), this Institutional Action is minor and should have a commensurately minor impact (if any) on you competitiveness. I hope all is well and I wish you the very best Maria!
Reach out if you have any other questions, or if you need additional help. Sincerely,
Adam Lowrance, PhD
Hi Dr. Adam!
My first year of college I went with a friend to her friend’s birthday party to make sure she would be okay and look out for her. Apparently there were drinks in the room and I hadn’t noticed as they were only in one area of the room. The RA came the first time for a noise complaint and left (not seeing the alcohol as I did). My friend and I, who us both do not drink, were about to leave when the RA came again and saw someone have a canned alcoholic drink (which I had no idea was alcohol either). Everyone in the room was written up and received emails for conduct service. I attended the meeting and was found not guilty and told by my institution this was not a violation and the violation will not be present anywhere and I would not have to report it on AAMC. Would I still have to report this incident as I received an email and went to the meeting but it was decided that I was not in violation of their conduct and will not show up in transcripts or records?
Hi Lamar, Happy New Year.
I hope your 2023 is off to a wonderful start. Thank you for sharing your story.
While the AMCAS instructions stipulate that all institutional actions must be reported, even if forgiven or expunged as a matter of institutional policy, in your case, since you were found “not guilty” and that your involvement did not rise to the level of a violation, it sounds like, based on your description, your involvement at the party will not show up in your records. Put simply, based on what you shared, this is not something that you need to report when applying to medical school.
Feel free to send me an email if you have any other questions or would like to talk more. Sincerely,
Adam
What if there was an investigation on your record but you were found not in violation of the student code and received no formal discipline. Do I still have to disclose the investigation? Could it count as withholding information?
Dr. Adam says:Hi Cairie, Great question!
There is no doubt that the instructions for the Institutional Action section in AMCAS are ambiguous at best. I think we all would like to see some improvements to the wording on this section of the application. For you, the key word to focus on in the official instructions is “recipient.”
“If you were ever the recipient of any institutional action by any college or medical school for unacceptable academic performance or conduct violation, you must answer Yes to the question about institutional action, even if such action did not interrupt your enrollment or require you to withdraw.”
The IA reporting requirements are specifically in place for applicants who were found guilty of some violation, however minor. The instructions go on to make clear that even if an incident has been removed from an applicant’s records, they are still required to report it. However, I want to reiterate, applicants who go through a review process at their school and are found to be not guilty do not need to report an institutional action. Lastly, I always recommend reaching out to your school to get an official response in writing (email is fine). You can share with them that you will be applying to medical school and you want to make sure that you do not have any institutional actions, conduct violations, or any other incidents in your record or on your official transcript. I hope I have addressed your concerns. If you have other questions or need additional help, feel free to reach out to me via email. If you think you might benefit from more help, one-on-one advising, and/or in-depth work on your primary and secondary applications, I have a few slots left for the 2024 application cycle.
jack says:Hi Adam, Thank you for the insightful words! I am currently finishing up a gap year. I have two institutional actions, both of which were in october of my freshman year (almost 5 years ago). One was for possession of a fake id (although I was not using it) and the other was for witnessing destruction of campus property in my freshman dorm. I am curious about what medical schools will think of these. I believe I have learned from them and will write a good essay with your advice, however, I am worried about how my IAs look from an objective standpoint. Please let me know your thoughts
Dr. Adam says:If you had a serious infraction but it was expunged. Can you report it vaguely, when it was, what you learned without going into details? Will they investigate to find out what your infraction was? How does this affect your chances of getting into med school? It was freshman year, disciplinary action was completed and nothing is on the record.
Dr. Adam says:Hi Mike. Great question. While AMCAS requires applicants to report infractions, “even if the action does not appear on, or has been deleted or expunged…” from your transcripts, AMCAS does not specify the amount of detail you should include. In general, without knowing your circumstances, I recommend the following: Share enough detail to paint a clear image of what happened to warrant disciplinary action. If you share too little and it is not readily apparent why you received disciplinary action, you run the risk of coming across as uncooperative or even dishonest. If you are comfortable, share your essay with a few people you trust and get their feedback. Having not lived your experience, they should be able to tell you if you have provided enough detail. If you need additional help feel free to send me an email. Best of luck Mike! Sincerely,
Adam Lowrance, PhD