36R 3.82 cGPA 3.79 sGPA, DUI at age 17

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Originally Posted by DanGee777

No prob. In the future, you should realize that when you +1 someone's comment after quoting it in full, you're +1'ing everything in it, including the insults. Almost everyone on the other end of it would have seen it that way. And yes, the reason I was snarky was because I thought you were +1'ing him calling me an idiot for the SECOND time. I hadn't insulted him before he called me one. It's against forum rules and it was disappointing to see yet another person jumping to the defense of someone who clearly hadn't even read my original post for understanding.

Ah I understand now. I'm always on my phone and don't know how to bold or quote one section, so I do apologize for the misunderstanding and will keep it in mind for the future. I'm sorry that you were misunderstood, I'm sure that was very frustrating for you, and I'm happy it's all been resolved.

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Originally Posted by DanGee777

I apologize as well for the misunderstanding between us, and for the mess that OP's thread became. FYI, I'm also typing from my phone, which is why I sometimes capitalize words that don't need it and leave off periods, etc. Lol.

Lol yes I do the same thing, it also makes it seem like some comments are extremely long and then I see them on my laptop and they're two lines if that. I love the convenience of it though.

And agreed, sorry OP about your thread. :-/

I enjoy reading these.

Originally Posted by gatorade848

"I received a DUI the summer after my junior year and that in collaboration with the death of my best friend only two weeks after my DUI charge due to his father driving intoxicated shocked me into a state of self reflection and unfortunate reality. "

so the OP didnt kill anyone but one of the poster's friend was killed by drunk driver... yea if the admission people have experiences similar to this guy i doubt you stand a chance

Originally Posted by Ismet

DanGee777 didn't misread the OP, everyone misread DanGee's post. DanGee's friend was killed by a drunk driver, so he's saying that if he were on adcom he would not be forgiving to a person with a DUI. Actual adcoms may feel the same way.

Originally Posted by DanGee777

Thank you! JFC! I hate premeds. It wasn't that unclear.

Originally Posted by Hemorrage

Dear Idiot,

It takes balls to come to SDN above all places and admit to a DWI; show some sympathy, fact is your future patients will probably have done even stupider things, are you going to be just as condescending towards them?

Ps: i spell my name the way i spell it on purpose.

hey, guess what? everyone arguing in this thread exemplifies the pre-allo forum's reputation.

Moving to the 'what are my chances?' forum.

Originally Posted by DanGee777

Not smart. If he doesn't disclose it and he's found out during med school or residency he's screwed.

Actually, expungements make convictions disappear. "If" med schools or a residency program found out it wouldn't be expunged, get it? How's someone going to be screwed over a juvenile conviction, especially if it doesn't exist any longer? Arguing is fine, just make some constructive sense if you feel like it. Obviously this future doc is not stupid enough to not disclose it (or whatever you're talking about), they just want to know what their options are. OP, check with certiphi and find out if you even have anything to worry about in the first place, my guess is that you probably don't since juvenile records are usually permanently sealed.

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I can't believe the replies in this thread are real...

Originally Posted by DanGee777

Actually, more and more counties and states are selling their records, "sealed" juvenile records included. My guess is that this DWI could possibly show up on the background check. Now, what the consequences of that would be are a different matter entirely. It is true that AMCAS does not require you to disclose crimes if they were adjudicated in juvenile court. Has the OP clarified if this was adjudicated in juvenile court or not? I know in quite a few states, 17 year old DWI can be in adult court, and in that case, the record would not be sealed, and it would definitely show up on a background check.

MD secondary applications also often ask if you have a criminal history. I don't believe that these secondary apps say that juvenile adjudications shouldn't be mentioned, especially for something as serious as DWI.

From what has been said, it seems that you have three options:

#1. Come clean on your personal statement and address it then. This may cause some adcoms to reject you, but if you have a strong PS and explain the circumstances around the situation and also have put a lots of time between you and the incident (which you obviously have) then you have a good chance. Especially since this happened when you were 17, it will most likely cause many people to think twice as to the circumstances around the DWI then if you had been in your mid 20s. Have you considered volunteering for a bit with an organization like MADD? This was an idea I read a long time ago on a similar topic, and it makes sense. Either that or maybe a mentoring program for at risk teens would further strengthen your application. I don't want to advise you to do check offs and only do it for your application, but I do want to help with some ideas as to how you can make the best out of your situation. George Bernard Shaw said "if you have a skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance." You can't undo what has been done, but you can take your mistake and help others from doing the same by promoting awareness and helping others. Just my 2 cents on that.


#2. You could not put it on your personal statement and hope its not noticed given that it happened when you were 17, but I wouldn't suggest this because regardless of what you've been told or have heard you will most likely have the fear of it being discovered and coming back to bite you for the rest of your career. I think you need to be honest with yourself and ask yourself if it's something you want hanging over your head for so long. Will you always have a certain level of stress regarding this? I personally would think that some rejections from being honest and being accepted with all your mistakes out in the open rather then always having it in the back of your mind, lurking there, would be healthier for you in the long run. You don't want to ever have to go into something like medicine holding parts of your past back and always stressing about it.

#3. Make an anonymous call to some of the schools and see what they say. I would personally do this one and then seriously consider your options. I STRONGLY feel that you have not fatally hurt yourself. You were going through a very hard time and made a big mistake years ago, but that doesn't mean you can't learn and move forward.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by sacapuntas

I can't believe the replies in this thread are real...

lol yea, it must be like an alien planet in here compared to the pre-dent forum. welcome to pre-allo, where the ego's are MASSIVE and the opinions 90% bullcrap.

When you read EVERYthing about the OP's post, he pretty clearly came from some $h!tty circumstances, and has done remarkably in triumphing over them. I don't know that I'd put the DUI in the PS, but the background should be a prominent part of it. Then, if you HAVE to include the DUI in the crimes portion of the AMCAS, you can tie it back to all the hardship you yourself said OOS college was an escape from.

With no disrespect for people like DanGee's friend, who have been permanently cheated out of life by the actions of others, you are an inspiring story of perseverance. Your stats clearly indicate the capacity for medical practice, and I think your background (not including the DUI, but the factors that have some responsibility for it) will be viewed as an asset to adcoms who try to recruit future physicians from all walks of life, for the benefit of patients. Your application will require delicacy, but I think you should definitely be able to get into a good school.

I do want to close, however, with one strong reprimand. Do NOT say you are "thankful" for the DUI, even as a learning experience or anything like that. I am SO glad, as I'm sure you are, you were not responsible for injury (to others), let alone death, but that is NOT sufficient grounds for even temporarily setting aside the real danger inherent in intoxicated driving, and you unintentionally disrespect your AND DanGee's best friends (as well as every other victim of drunk driving) by speaking that way. It's good you've learned your lesson, and you should definitely stress that, but there are far better ways to learn it, none of which involve the potential loss of life or function.

Originally Posted by pattycake25

when you read everything about the op's post, he pretty clearly came from some $h!tty circumstances, and has done remarkably in triumphing over them. I don't know that i'd put the dui in the ps, but the background should be a prominent part of it. Then, if you have to include the dui in the crimes portion of the amcas, you can tie it back to all the hardship you yourself said oos college was an escape from.

With no disrespect for people like dangee's friend, who have been permanently cheated out of life by the actions of others, you are an inspiring story of perseverance. Your stats clearly indicate the capacity for medical practice, and i think your background (not including the dui, but the factors that have some responsibility for it) will be viewed as an asset to adcoms who try to recruit future physicians from all walks of life, for the benefit of patients. Your application will require delicacy, but i think you should definitely be able to get into a good school.

I do want to close, however, with one strong reprimand. Do not say you are "thankful" for the dui, even as a learning experience or anything like that. I am so glad, as i'm sure you are, you were not responsible for injury (to others), let alone death, but that is not sufficient grounds for even temporarily setting aside the real danger inherent in intoxicated driving, and you unintentionally disrespect your and dangee's best friends (as well as every other victim of drunk driving) by speaking that way. It's good you've learned your lesson, and you should definitely stress that, but there are far better ways to learn it, none of which involve the potential loss of life or function.

+1

OP, is your first name Ray by any chance?

Originally Posted by DanGee777

No, I said myself that I DID read it. See, this is how the whole argument started. You misread my post just like hemorrage did.

Do you understand now? I don't think calling me an IDIOT for a second time is a very thoughtful comment. Do you? He said the OP showed balls (which I agree with) but then called me an idiot for the second time in this thread. I'm not upset about it. I approach things rationally. He had just made a second rude comment so I gave him some snark in return and then he responded. You agreed with his rude comment (calling me an idiot) when you weren't even involved in the conversation so I responded to you with some snark, and you acted a bit shocked by it. What did you expect me to say?

I'm fine with dropping it, but I don't like people insinuating that I started this poostorm because that is NOT what happened. Look at that guy's post history who you were defending.

I hate to restart this but i would like to ask, what do you mean by that? I'm not a troll, i've never gone on any thread at SDN and purposely insulted anyone. If you went through the trouble to filter through every one of my ~200 posts.. well that says enough about you as a whole. Im sorry your ego got hurt, i bet your not used to people telling you your "wrong". Guess what? I did. Most people will just put up with people like you in the hopes that you'll stfu at some point, but i'm not one of those people. If you have a problem with my defending of the OP then take it up with me via PM, don't start a full blown scene on his thread.

@Ashley: Thanks for backing me up, i appreciate it (sorry you had to deal with the backlash, i just re-read this thread today)

lol this thread is lol

first people, me included, quickly glanced over posts and misread them

then people started arguing

then one dude said something about it is pretentious/worrisome to feel insulted over an online forum, but then implied people shouldve apologized to him

Thank you everyone for the responses. Especially Pattycake25 and Ashley1989 for the constructive answers that gave me something to build off of. I have been painstakingly looking into everything and have found that due to the fact that I entered a diversion program after my DUI the actual case was dismissed so I actually don't have a criminal record. The charge will show up on a rapsheet but I don't have any convictions. This will help because I won't have to report it on my AMCAS. I am in the process of getting the traffic record expunged now but unfortunately if medical school secondary's inquire about charges or expunged records I will have to be honest about it and admit my fault as it will show up on certiphi when they run my driving record. I will also have to face this challenge in applying for licensing but that will be a bridge to cross when I come to it. Hopefully they will be understanding. To VinceViegel, no my name is not Ray. Thanks again for the answers and I appreciate everyone's responses, even those who were not in favor of my admission, as they give me a mindset of the roadblocks I may face in different people or circumstances in the future.

"I am in the process of getting the traffic record expunged now but unfortunately if medical school secondary's inquire about charges or expunged records I will have to be honest about it and admit my fault as it will show up on certiphi when they run my driving record."

Don't worry about it, expunged records absolutely do not show up on certiphi and if something's expunged you have the legal obligation to yourself to not bring it up, because it never happened. . . good luck.