Criminal question on Secondary application

[premed475]

Hi all,

This question has been asked before but it hasn't been very clearly responded to. My question to all those applying this cycle (starting med school in 2018) is whether the secondary application asks for arrests/charges and not only convictions. From what I have read, there are some schools that ask and some that don't. If any of you currently applying could check the criminal background question on their secondary and confirm whether it asks for arrests/charges and not only convictions and include the specific school that they are referring to, it would be GREATLY appreciated. This question has been asked many times without very clear information so I believe that any responses would be very useful to many people on this forum or applying in general. To reiterate, this is only referring to the secondary, not the primary AMCAS app.

P.S. Typically when this has been asked it has turned into a debate over whether adcoms care about criminal arrests/charges/convictions and whether those with criminal backgrounds should be allowed to become doctors and the real question did not get answered. If you guys could try to refrain from that and just respond with a specific school and their specific way of asking that would be great.

Thank you

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[mellie0]

Honestly, going through all of my secondaries and seeing what each one asks in specific is a lot of work.

Maybe someone else will be nicer and do it. 🙄

 

[TheBiologist]

either way all schools do a background check except the four in Massachusetts I THINK (UMass, Tufts, BU and Harvard), so if it's something serious you might as well take time on a secondary to write something about it or explain it because they'll find out anyway......

 

[truman1993]

If it asks, just answer it honestly. Your record is guaranteed to turn up when you get screened for your medical license and DEA license, and if you do military medicine or work at a VA hospital, and possibly sooner than that. If it's something minor and it happened a while ago it's not likely to impact your app that much anyway, if at all. I actually had to send an update letter disclosing a conviction I had from seven years ago to a bunch of schools after I didn't on their apps and I've still gotten 3 II's so far.

 

[Remotefuse]

If it asks, just answer it honestly. Your record is guaranteed to turn up when you get screened for your medical license and DEA license, and if you do military medicine or work at a VA hospital, and possibly sooner than that. If it's something minor and it happened a while ago it's not likely to impact your app that much anyway, if at all. I actually had to send an update letter disclosing a conviction I had from seven years ago to a bunch of schools after I didn't on their apps and I've still gotten 3 II's so far.

Sorry, new here. What do you mean by "II's"

 

[mellie0]

Sorry, new here. What do you mean by "II's"

II = interview invite