Criminal charges and potential for rescinded offer

[Thowaway689624]

My question is, can a medical school rescind my application after acceptance for a pending or dismissed criminal charge, even when they do not explicitly ask me to disclose it in secondaries? When filling out the primary for both AMCAS and AACOMAS, I discovered I was allowed to click “no” on misdemeanors because the charges did not result in a conviction, but later found at that secondaries may sometimes ask about criminal history including any charges, etc. When asked I of course disclose, but I would prefer not to draw attention to something that could severely hurt my application if it is not asked, so I have chosen not to say anything if I can avoid it since it is legally not required. Could this end up being an issue for me down the road anyways? To provide more information, the charges are still currently pending for dismissal and are non violent, and are for petty larceny for taking street signs one night (please do not lecture me on the ethics of this, I have heard it all). Please help.

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[LizzyM]

No one can fault you for failing to report something that was not reportable. If it does become reportable, you must report it immediately and AMCAS instructions have more information on this topic.

If you are offered admission, the school is likely to do a criminal background check. If anything lights up and is not covered in your application, you will be asked about it. At that point, a school wants the option of backing out of their offer to you if it is discovered that you are the mastermind of a drug cartel and a child molester but they are also aware that it could be a case of mistaken identity or a case of charges that did not result in a conviction (innocent until proven guilty and all that).

Hang tight and keep your hands off of street signs.

 

[Med Ed]

Follow the directions and you'll be fine. There are no awards for oversharing.