Currently applying and arrest? Will this kill my application?

[Avalokitesvara]

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So I am applying this cycle and have currently sent off my primary and some secondaries, and even gotten an interview already.

However, I was recently arrested and charged with Public Intoxication.

What should I do? I obviously have to alert medical schools to this, right?

How bad will this affect me? I had disciplinary action at my school for alcohol violations but I explained those on my applications and I -HAVE- changed since then. But I was in the wrong place at exactly the wrong time... I am worried that now I look like I'm a raging alcoholic and repeat offender and someone who never learns from their mistakes.

I am sick with worry. I just dropped from the highest point in my life to the lowest.

 

[chman]

There are a lot of threads on this. I wrote a rather lengthy response to one of them. I will try to find it for you, but you can try as well by using the search.

By the way, I will tell you right now that you will not get a for sure answer on here. Find a better source, such as the schools you are applying to (anonymously), the state board, a lawyer etc.

 

[Tutmos]

Interesting first post. Have you ever spent any time under bridges?

 

[txprodigal]

Interesting first post. Have you ever spent any time under bridges?

maybe he wanted anonymity. i don't think everyone is a troll...

 

[Avalokitesvara]

maybe he wanted anonymity. i don't think everyone is a troll...

The above is correct.

And I know this isn't going to garner me legal advice or a full answer...but I am like, having problems sleeping and doing normal stuff at the moment.

 

[BlueElmo]

The above is correct.

And I know this isn't going to garner me legal advice or a full answer...but I am like, having problems sleeping and doing normal stuff at the moment.

Like above poster said, maybe contact the schools directly, perhaps anonymously if you're worried. Or talk with a lawyer.

 

[Beta Cell]

Like above poster said, maybe contact the schools directly, perhaps anonymously if you're worried. Or talk with a lawyer.

If you're calling anonymously, see if you can speak with an admissions officer or someone more knowledgeable than the person picking up the phone. That's not to knock them, but this type of question probably requires someone with more familiarity of actual application evaluation.

 

[Tutmos]

Okay if you're not a troll and want an honest answer, you'll want to verify this since I'm just going off the top of my head but...


The AMCAS statement and school applications ask if you have ever been CONVICTED. You are being completely honest answering NO at this point in time and until convicted you most certainly would have no obligation to notify anyone of anything. If you are really concerned about it you should talk to an attorney about pleading it down to a petty misdemeanor or city ordnance violation or something that falls to the level below that required in the AMCAS or school specific questions.

You could probably also save a buck and deal directly with the city prosecutor and ask about pleading this down to an offense level below the level required to report and perhaps paying an elevated fine in consideration. Most districts are digging for money anyway they can get it, he'll probably really like the idea.

 

[chman]

Okay if you're not a troll and want an honest answer, you'll want to verify this since I'm just going off the top of my head but...


The AMCAS statement and school applications ask if you have ever been CONVICTED. You are being completely honest answering NO at this point in time and until convicted you most certainly would have no obligation to notify anyone of anything. If you are really concerned about it you should talk to an attorney about pleading it down to a petty misdemeanor or city ordnance violation or something that falls to the level below that required in the AMCAS or school specific questions.

You could probably also save a buck and deal directly with the city prosecutor and ask about pleading this down to an offense level below the level required to report and perhaps paying an elevated fine in consideration. Most districts are digging for money anyway they can get it, he'll probably really like the idea.

Most ask if you have anything pending as well. Either way it will come up later on down the road. Talk to a lawyer that specializes in this kind of thing OP.

 

[Tutmos]

What level of offense is public intoxication in the district where you are being charged? This may all be a moot point.

1. Find out the level of offense.
2. Check AMCAS and school releases you've signed to see what level they specify for disclosure.
3. If below the level of both forget about it and get some sleep.
4. Don't lie to anyone.

 

[chman]

What level of offense is public intoxication in the district where you are being charged? This may all be a moot point.

1. Find out the level of offense.
2. Check AMCAS and school releases you've signed to see what level they specify for disclosure.
3. If below the level of both forget about it and get some sleep.
4. Don't lie to anyone.

#4 is the most important of all these.

 

[kia ora]

You could probably also save a buck and deal directly with the city prosecutor and ask about pleading this down to an offense level below the level required to report and perhaps paying an elevated fine in consideration. Most districts are digging for money anyway they can get it, he'll probably really like the idea.

Um, no. fines are set by statute and no (honest) prosecutor/court is going to accept an "elevated fine" in exchange for a reduction in charge. that's not how it works. and if that happened off the record, that is called a bribe

and word to what JJ Foshay said. your issue with alcohol is your biggest problem right now, OP

 

[FlowRate]

Um, no. fines are set by statute and no (honest) prosecutor/court is going to accept an "elevated fine" in exchange for a reduction in charge. that's not how it works. and if that happened off the record, that is called a bribe

and word to what JJ Foshay said. your issue with alcohol is your biggest problem right now, OP

They do this with traffic violations all the time?

 

[kia ora]

They do this with traffic violations all the time?

I don't know what jurisdiction you're thinking of, but such a thing would be highly irregular. fines generally are set by statute

 

[FlowRate]

I don't know what jurisdiction you're thinking of, but such a thing would be highly irregular. fines generally are set by statute

It's common knowledge around here that you can get traffic violations moved to a different sort of violation; less/no points on your record, but higher fine. I've heard of this being done in other places, as well.

 

[BBender716]

It's common knowledge around here that you can get traffic violations moved to a different sort of violation; less/no points on your record, but higher fine. I've heard of this being done in other places, as well.

I've heard something lack that, too. That and the term "expunged" thrown around, lol

 

[kia ora]

It's common knowledge around here that you can get traffic violations moved to a different sort of violation; less/no points on your record, but higher fine. I've heard of this being done in other places, as well.

well, if it's a different violation, it may have a different (and maybe a higher) fine than the original violation. that's not the same thing as "paying extra" for a reduction in charge

this is totally off topic now. OP, talk to a lawyer. I don't know where you were cited, but a public intoxication charge may or may not be considered a criminal offense (in some jurisdictions it may be a misdemeanor - a crime, in others an infraction - like a traffic ticket). if it is a misdemeanor, try to get a deferred prosecution if possible (if you get some substance abuse treatment and pay a fine and don't get arrested/cited again, the charge will be dismissed after a time certain). if it's just an infraction, that is not considered a crime for which you can be "convicted" and you wouldn't have to worry about it for amcas purposes

 

[Tutmos]

Um, no. fines are set by statute and no (honest) prosecutor/court is going to accept an "elevated fine" in exchange for a reduction in charge. that's not how it works. and if that happened off the record, that is called a bribe

I hate to break it to you but it is very normal and happens all the time. It's the prosecutor's (city attorney normally) discretion and entirely up to him/her. Provided you're a first time offender and don't act like a dink, there's a good chance it can be plead down. You could run into one that is just a hard ass but usually they want things to go smoothly without dispute to collect the money and plea.

A bribe? huh? If you offered to give him money to stuff in his pocket that would be a bribe and criminal. If you agree to pay a larger fine to the city / county / state it's perfectly fine.

to the OP >If you think you're out of your element asking for this you might want to talk to an attorney and pay him a couple hundred bucks to make the deal for you.

to the OP >As others mentioned, you really need to look at the abuse problem though. To be honest I skipped the part about the previous problem in your first post so I didn't notice it.

 

[kia ora]

I hate to break it to you but it is very normal and happens all the time. It's the prosecutor's (city attorney normally) discretion and entirely up to him/her. Provided you're a first time offender and don't act like a dink, there's a good chance it can be plead down. You could run into one that is just a hard ass but usually they want things to go smoothly without dispute to collect the money and plea.

A bribe? huh? If you offered to give him money to stuff in his pocket that would be a bribe and criminal. If you agree to pay a larger fine to the city / county / state it's perfectly fine.

if we were talking about traffic tickets, yes, it is possible to mitigate (if you have no recent infractions) and end up with, say, a ticket for 60 in a 55 zone, rather than 75 in a 55, resulting in fewer points on your driving record. however, it would be highly unusual to have to pay a HIGHER FINE for a LESSER VIOLATION. however, the OP does not have a speeding ticket s/he has a citation for public intoxication. depending on where this occurred, there may or may not be a lesser violation to which it could be reduced (perhaps disorderly conduct?).

as for your second paragraph, we are in agreement. you're just using different words to say the same thing I said. what do you think "off the record" means?

 

[FlowRate]

if we were talking about traffic tickets, yes, it is possible to mitigate (if you have no recent infractions) and end up with, say, a ticket for 60 in a 55 zone, rather than 75 in a 55, resulting in fewer points on your driving record. however, it would be highly unusual to have to pay a HIGHER FINE for a LESSER VIOLATION. however, the OP does not have a speeding ticket s/he has a citation for public intoxication. depending on where this occurred, there may or may not be a lesser violation to which it could be reduced (perhaps disorderly conduct?).

as for your second paragraph, we are in agreement. you're just using different words to say the same thing I said. what do you think "off the record" means?

I've heard of plenty of stories where people go from "20 over" to "wasting gas." No points, higher fine.

 

[oaklandguy]

I've heard of plenty of stories where people go from "20 over" to "wasting gas." No points, higher fine.

Learning from a policeman who works in a certain city in Michigan (lets just say Lake Angeles), 'We'll give five over if they were under twenty over but speeding. We won't show up to court, the judge will change it to impeding traffic which is 0 points and 100 dollars more than a speeding ticket.'

I wonder how many impeding traffic tickets have ever been handed out as a traffic incident, and how many have just been transferred to as the result of a speeding ticket, because both of my traffic tickets were changed to impeding traffic. All I did was show up to court in a suit. However, while being there one cop was a dick, unfortunately he did not know that the person he had pulled over was a lawyer. The cop did not mention that he had calibrated his radar, and the guy (lawyer) said that any evidence the radar showed had to have been false due to lack of calibration. The officer made a statement about how they are taught how to measure speed based on vision alone in the police academy, and made a thorough judgment that the defendant was speeding. The guy (lawyer) proceeded to throw a pen across the courtroom and ask the plaintiff (the cop) how fast the pen was going. I thought it was the coolest thing I've ever seen and really made me want to become a lawyer, until I realized that law school is the most boring thing ever and that the decision all depends on the judge and the judge's bias.

The moral of the story? Impeding traffic sure as heck beats getting points and having your insurance get paid. As the Lake Angeles cop told me, "We don't work for the insurance companies, we work for the government 🙂"

 

[kia ora]

well, "impeding traffic" is an entirely different thing than a speeding violation. it's apples to oranges. it's not a lesser violation, it's a different one altogether. so it's not like it's a lesser offense with a higher fine

you're all fined $50 for derailing this thread entirely from its original topic. I guess I have to fine myself, too...

 

[LiveUninhibited]

What level of offense is public intoxication in the district where you are being charged? This may all be a moot point.

1. Find out the level of offense.
2. Check AMCAS and school releases you've signed to see what level they specify for disclosure.
3. If below the level of both forget about it and get some sleep.
4. Don't lie to anyone.

Unfortunately it will show up on the Certiphi screen, even if it is only a violation or pending. Everything except traffic violations shows up there. Whether adcoms would make a big deal of it would probably vary and it will be necessary to talk to each school about it, even if anonymously at first.

 

[punktux]

that's it. you're done. your future is ruined by being irresponsible for yourself. even if you can get in a school you wont get through the board. and even if you somehow become a practicing physician, patients will be at risk in your hands.

 

[LiveUninhibited]

that's it. you're done. your future is ruined by being irresponsible for yourself. even if you can get in a school you wont get through the board. and even if you somehow become a practicing physician, patients will be at risk in your hands.

What makes you so sure about that? edit: (by that I mean all of your contentions)

 

[Dantheman1828]

Maybe this will help put you at ease...

I have two disorderly conduct infractions related to alcohol (not misdemeanors or felonies) so I had to disclose them to any schools whose secondaries asked if I've ever been convicted of a crime other than a traffic violation. I applied to 20 schools and had to reveal this to 7 schools. Of my 5 interview invites so far, 2 of them were from schools where I revealed this to them. I already interviewed at 1 of these 2 schools, had 2 separate interviewers, and neither of them even brought this issue up. Also, this school only interviews about 5% of all applicants OOS, and its not like I have insane stats either.

So in short...relax, schools realize people make mistakes. I would just be honest with them.

 

[Avalokitesvara]

That's reassuring...how recent were your citations to your application?

 

[STLINI]

Unfortunately it will show up on the Certiphi screen, even if it is only a violation or pending. Everything except traffic violations shows up there. Whether adcoms would make a big deal of it would probably vary and it will be necessary to talk to each school about it, even if anonymously at first.

Do you know if city ordinance violations show up on their screen. Thats what my alcohol ticket was. A lady at that city's police dpt. told me it wouldn't show up as did my uncle who works for the state police.

 

[Dantheman1828]

That's reassuring...how recent were your citations to your application?

One the summer after my senior year in college and one after my freshman year. I'm a senior in college now

 

[Tutmos]

Do you know if city ordinance violations show up on their screen. Thats what my alcohol ticket was. A lady at that city's police dpt. told me it wouldn't show up as did my uncle who works for the state police.

Absolutely not. I'm extremely familiar with the criminal background check industry and you'd be surprised how much won't show up. Since Certiphi is not a law enforcement agency, just a commercial screening company, they do not have access to CJIS. They are forced to use state by state criminal checks or county level checks which vary greatly in what information is included. In virtually all cases only convictions will appear, although some states do allow access to all case information. In some states they can only search county by county, which is prohibitively expensive and anything beyond a single county check is unlikely. Unfortunately there's no real way to tell if they check state records only or county as well. It's a pretty good bet anything pending will not show up and also very unlikely anything under a misdemeanor will show up.