Applying to Graduate/ Professional School FAQ

You will see an internal notation next to the grade of the impacted course on your unofficial transcript/academic history (an A1, A2, A3, or A4). However, you should not use this academic history to apply for scholarships, honors, jobs, or further education. Instead, you should use your Official Transcript because violations do not show on it unless you are currently suspended or dismissed. Suspension notations will remain on your official transcript until your suspension is completed and Dismissals appear permanently.

We encourage you to be honest on your applications and in interviews. We also suggest focusing on how you have grown from the experience. Look back at your Apply Your Learnings assignment from the AI Seminar – it is a great outline of what you should discuss.

You can touch on the following items:

• What led to the violation? And knowing what you know now, what could you have done differently back then to have made a different choice?
• What have you learned through this process? Be very specific here. Discuss the self-reflection you have done and the skills and knowledge you have developed that can help you make integrous choices in the future (even when it is difficult to do so).

Many factors go into deciding whether or not to offer admission to an applicant; a violation is only one of them. We have no way of knowing how severely an AI violation affects all applications at all graduate or professional schools. We can tell you that we know students with violations who have gone on to graduate school, which tells us that there are institutions out there that view academic integrity (AI) violations as we do – learning opportunities that one can grow from and move past.

Yes, some schools will check your disciplinary record (e.g., medical and law). But regardless of that, we encourage you to disclose so that you are living the values of integrity, which include courage, honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, trust and trustworthiness. Almost all graduate school applications will ask about prior disciplinary actions. They will also give you space (though sometimes only a little) to explain. Try to look at this as an opportunity to share more about yourself. By going through this experience and our trainings, you have gained insights and tools to face ethical dilemmas moving forward. Tell the admissions committee about this valuable growth and knowledge. It is far better to be honest about your past missteps while sharing your learning than being found to have lied on your application!

Many institutions do not have a separate category for academic integrity (AI) violations. AI violations do not really fit into either of these categories, but these may be the only options you are given. Academic performance issues have to do with GPA. So, we suggest marking it as a conduct violation but explaining that it was an AI violation in the provided space (while also sharing what you have learned – see How should I discuss my violation on an application or during an interview?).

It depends on the question. We don’t report Warnings to graduate/ professional schools/ employers unless you have been found responsible for a subsequent violation. Academic integrity (AI) violations that resulted in a formal warning are removed from your disciplinary record after you graduate. However, this is done on an annual schedule during the summer. Depending on when you graduate, your violation may remain on your record for some time afterwards. If you had a formal warning and have specific questions about your records, please contact us at aio@ucsd.edu.