Background check

[Global Warming]

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So if I was arrested for underage drinking (prior to age 18), but had it expunged...do I still have to report it on AMCAS? The woman that handled my situation at the time told me that I could legally answer "no" if someone asked me if I was ever charged w/ anything.

Anybody have experience w/ this? I would call a lawyer, but I can't afford it....

 

[Naijaba]

In almost all cases you must report it. You definitely don't want it to be discovered later after you've already interviewed/been accepted.

 

[Naijaba]

. duplicate post

 

[LizzyM]

Read the AMCAS instructions. http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/amcas2010instructions080409.pdf

pages 45-47 of the document appear to be the pertinent section.

Depending on your State, you may not need to report.

Even if you must report, my experience has been that the adcom will not hold this sort of thing against you (one time thing when you were under 18).

 

[Global Warming]

Read the AMCAS instructions. http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/amcas2010instructions080409.pdf

pages 45-47 of the document appear to be the pertinent section.

Depending on your State, you may not need to report.

Even if you must report, my experience has been that the adcom will not hold this sort of thing against you (one time thing when you were under 18).

In your experience, assuming that I had to report this, is this something that will keep me out of med school? Everything post-18 is clean...excellent grades & hopefully decent MCAT.

 

[Dr McSexy]

If it happened prior to 18, wouldn't his records be sealed anyway, with no way of knowing what was in said records?

 

[Global Warming]

If it happened prior to 18, wouldn't his records be sealed anyway, with no way of knowing what was in said records?

I'm not sure.

 

[Lewist02]

It also depends on the state. In some states underage drinking is a misdemeanor..in some it is a summary offense. If it is a summary offense, you would not have to report on your application if the app states "List all felony or misdemeanor charges" even if you were over 18 when the offense occurred.

Juvenile offenses usually don't count against you anyways. My boyfriend received an underage in PA (summary offense..reduced to disorderly conduct summary offense) and his attorney said to NEVER disclose something that you do not have to.

 

[SoundofSilver]

Good news: AMCAS specifically states that you don't have to report misdemeanor offenses that have been expunged or sealed by a court. You are also not required to report offenses that have been dismissed upon completion of probation (such as a deferred adjudication program).

Bad news: You may have to report this on some secondaries depending on how they are worded. Even if you do have to report this, I would assume that an adcom would be able to look past such a petty offense, although I can imagine some schools might use this as a quick way of weeding out the overabundance of qualified applications they recieve.

I hate to imagine that we live in a country where having a beer before the age of 21 can have the potenetial to devestate one's future.