Criminal history and med school

[kuziamoisha]

So in my second year of college I was stupid and got arrested. I went through the pretrial diversion program which lead them to dismiss the case, therefore the arrest is on my record but not the official conviction.
After my whole arrest situation, I really got my stuff together and would be the perfect candidate for medical school except for arrest. Do I still have a chance to get in? Thanks for the help.

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[efle]

If you were arrested but the case dismissed, do you even have to report this? Pretty sure they only ask about convictions and Institutional Actions.

 

[kuziamoisha]

I'm not sure. That was what I was wondering because I have to apply next year already and I'm not sure what they ask exactly on the apps.

 

[northernlights15]

Yes, on the primary, you are only required to report convictions.

Schools may have secondary essays that may ask about it but that will of course vary from school to school.

 

[DokterMom]

So in my second year of college I was stupid and got arrested. I went through the pretrial diversion program which lead them to dismiss the case, therefore the arrest is on my record but not the official conviction.
After my whole arrest situation, I really got my stuff together and would be the perfect candidate for medical school except for arrest. Do I still have a chance to get in? Thanks for the help.

Get a good lawyer involved. In some states pretrial diversions can count as a guilty or no contest plea, and the records remain unless and until expunged. (Have you assured they have been expunged?) Even then, they may still show up, depending on the type of background check.

Print out the exact wording on the AMCAS application, and the exact wording for your secondaries and bring them to your lawyer. Err on the side of full-disclosure if in any doubt. Also order yourself a Certiphi (brand name) background check to see what it says. You do not want to be surprised here...

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

What were you arrested for? And was the record expunged?

 

[kuziamoisha]

It was for a petty theft and all they said was that after the diversion program the case would be dismissed, which in the end it was. I don't know if I should get it expunged because apparently expunged records still show up?

 

[kuziamoisha]

I did some research and in the state of California get it expunged will only hide it from the public but the record will still be there. The only thing that changes is that the case will be dismissed and that no guilt was found. Which in my case already happened.
I'm guessing a lot of medical schools will reject me then...

 

[kuziamoisha]

This happened last year. I already went through the diversion program and the court ruled that the case was dismissed upon completion of the diversion program, which it was. So I know it was dismissed, but yea getting a record may help with all of this. I'm just really hoping that medical schools won't flat out reject me because of this.

 

[Goro]

Some schools DO ask for arrests.

You'll get a box to explain.

And OP, you're fine.

If you were arrested but the case dismissed, do you even have to report this? Pretty sure they only ask about convictions and Institutional Actions.

 

[NeuResurgens]

If you're asked for specifics and are given t=room to explain, go ahead and mention that you got into some trouble, and while the charges were kept off your record, the experience showed you that you needed to get on track and then you got your act together by... the story goes on. It doesn't sound like a major infraction, but good to mention if the application or secondaries ask for any specifics for the sake of honesty.