DUI/Misdemeanor - Advice

[taylorgeiser1]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I’m a non traditional student and graduated with a biomedical undergrad degree in 2021. I’m in my mid 20s and got my first DUI. I have never been in trouble with the law and a clean record. I have a decent transcript and plan to go to graduate school to pursue a masters or PhD in neuroscience. I have been working towards volunteering with at-risk kids, at a rehab center, and the drunk tank. I have made it a focus to understand what got me into this situation as I never want to hurt anyone or myself. I have been to AA classes and consoling to fully understand what I was thinking.

I have dreamed of becoming a neurologist and going to a DO school. Are my dreams ruined? Do I give up now and find a new career? Any advice would be extremely appreciated.

 

[LunaOri]

After a few years, assuming you own your mistake and have given up drinking, you will probably be okay. I think you do need to demonstrate an understanding of what led to the event, as well as an extended period of sobriety.

 

[AJS59]

I’m a non traditional student and graduated with a biomedical undergrad degree in 2021. I’m in my mid 20s and got my first DUI. I have never been in trouble with the law and a clean record. I have a decent transcript and plan to go to graduate school to pursue a masters or PhD in neuroscience. I have been working towards volunteering with at-risk kids, at a rehab center, and the drunk tank. I have made it a focus to understand what got me into this situation as I never want to hurt anyone or myself. I have been to AA classes and consoling to fully understand what I was thinking.

I have dreamed of becoming a neurologist and going to a DO school. Are my dreams ruined? Do I give up now and find a new career? Any advice would be extremely appreciated.

It's certainly not ideal, but many DO schools will be willing to give you a fair shake if you show self-improvement, which seemingly you have.

As an aside: Why the PhD in neuroscience before DO school? It's definitely not necessary to become a neurologist, but just curious about your path here.

 

[Goro]

I’m a non traditional student and graduated with a biomedical undergrad degree in 2021. I’m in my mid 20s and got my first DUI. I have never been in trouble with the law and a clean record. I have a decent transcript and plan to go to graduate school to pursue a masters or PhD in neuroscience. I have been working towards volunteering with at-risk kids, at a rehab center, and the drunk tank. I have made it a focus to understand what got me into this situation as I never want to hurt anyone or myself. I have been to AA classes and consoling to fully understand what I was thinking.

I have dreamed of becoming a neurologist and going to a DO school. Are my dreams ruined? Do I give up now and find a new career? Any advice would be extremely appreciated.

Maybe not ruined, but definitely in stasis. You're at the age where you should have known better. You'll be facing the mindset of "people like you kill families like mine", so you'll need to put a good deal of time between the DUI and application. And follow the wise LunaOri's advice to the letter.

 

[taylorgeiser1]

It's certainly not ideal, but many DO schools will be willing to give you a fair shake if you show self-improvement, which seemingly you have.

As an aside: Why the PhD in neuroscience before DO school? It's definitely not necessary to become a neurologist, but just curious about your path here.

I didn’t want to do a PhD… but the timeline here seems to make more sense. I could stack 3-5 years of academic and community excellence to enhance my chances of showing my maturity from the situation. Would you recommend I try going straight to DO before the PhD… I assumed it wasn’t a possibility after the DUI

 

[AJS59]

I didn’t want to do a PhD… but the timeline here seems to make more sense. I could stack 3-5 years of academic and community excellence to enhance my chances of showing my maturity from the situation. Would you recommend I try going straight to DO before the PhD… I assumed it wasn’t a possibility after the DUI

If the DUI was recent (i.e. this year) then you still need to build in time. My point though is that there are other ways to build credibility beyond a PhD.

 

[RangerBob]

I agree with the above that time distancing yourself from the DUI is critical in your application, so applying now would be a no-go.

If you're open to it, consider the Peace Corps, military, or a religious mission. Those are typically multi-year efforts that people come out of with a very changed perspective on life--the very sort of thing you want to prove to admissions committee members.

Don't to any of those for that reason alone. But if you're open to any of them, I think they're more likely to impress AdComs than a PhD, particularly at DO schools which are typically more clinically focused and not as big on research.

If the PhD is something you genuinely want and would use as your backup if you couldn't get into medicine (ie, maybe you'd teach somewhere, do research, etc), then go for it.