Got arrested for shoplifting and am supposed to matriculate come July?

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Get a lawyer. What was the value of the item. Is it s misdemeanor or a felony? Try your best to not have it turn into a conviction. If you do end up with one you will have to disclose within 10days.
 
This has been talked about before (summary offenses). Perhaps you can find some information there. Many of the recommendations seem to say it won't come up, but I wouldn't know personally.
 
libertyyne said:
Get a lawyer. What was the value of the item. Is it s misdemeanor or a felony? Try your best to not have it turn into a conviction. If you do end up with one you will have to disclose within 10days.
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Apparently, the summary offenses are less than a misdemeanor. Most of the time people just pay a small fine. It would be on OP's record though.
 
SydSing said:
This has been talked about before (summary offenses). Perhaps you can find some information there. Many of the recommendations seem to say it won't come up, but I wouldn't know personally.
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regretablemistake said:
To my understanding summary offenses DO come up on criminal background checks, because they are non-traffic citations and you are fingerprinted for them. But my background check had already gone through and approved by the school since I had no priors. It says on the AAMC website I have to report misdemeanors or felonies, but will withholding this summary offense effect me?
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Forgive me, I meant it may not come up before you matriculate or between now and graduation. Someone with more knowledge needs to address that for you.

As far as future checks and questions related to them... It will likely affect you the same way minor, 'adcom overlooked' crimes have affected others.

Perhaps look into that.


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Hospitals associated with your medical school may require an additional (or repeat) screen before issuing an ID that allows you access to patient care areas. If it shows up then, the school could reasonably be concerned that is was not reported.
 
Princeton Medical Student said:
Stop taking advice from anyone here
Get a lawyer yesterday.
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1000000% agree.

I think the mods should start locking threads like these with the mention "SDN is not for legal advice"!

EDIT: I do worry that OP's medical career is over, though. This is an incredibly bad lapse in judgment.
 
Goro said:
1000000% agree.

I think the mods should start locking threads like these with the mention "SDN is not for legal advice"!

EDIT: I do worry that OP's medical career is over, though. This is an incredibly bad lapse in judgment.
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regretablemistake said:
Hi I understand, legally I will be handling this with a lawyer - I was more looking for advice on whether I am obligated to report this to the school or not since the AAMC website only highlights misdemeanors and felonies to be reported...thank you
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Check your school's admissions website to see if they require anything extra.
 
If I were in this situation, I would not be sleeping at night until I had it figured out.

Call the school on a burner phone*. Explain that you have been admitted but have a question you are asking anonymously, "is it obligatory to report a summary offense which does not rise to the level of a misdemeanor?" If they say "yes" you have your answer. If they say "No" ask if you can email someone (get an email address) and ask that question in writing and get a response in writing for your records.

*or on a borrowed phone so that your own name doesn't show up on caller-id
 
I'm a full believer in erring on the side of honesty, but if you are only required to disclose felonies and misdemeanors and this "summery offense" you have been convicted of is neither a misdemeanor nor a felony, then I don't see why you would feel obligated to disclose it.

My state does not have "summary offenses" so I have no idea what one is. I do know, however, that in some states every thing down to traffic tickets is a misdemeanor. In others, minor stuff like possession of small amounts of marijuana and public intoxication is classified as some type of sub-misdemeanor infraction or violation.

If I were convicted of a sub-misdemeanor infraction and I knew for a fact that it was not a misdemeanor, I would have absolutely no problem answering "no" to the question of whether I've ever been convicted of a misdemeanor of felony.
 
Get a lawyer and do not call the school or tell them anything. Don't be in contact with the school about this at all until it's all settled. Don't feel guilted by SDN into telling the school because it's the right thing to do. This is your future. Yes it was an incredibly poor choice but don't do anything rash hoping for forgiveness from the school. Good luck
 
LizzyM said:
If I were in this situation, I would not be sleeping at night until I had it figured out.

Call the school on a burner phone*. Explain that you have been admitted but have a question you are asking anonymously, "is it obligatory to report a summary offense which does not rise to the level of a misdemeanor?" If they say "yes" you have your answer. If they say "No" ask if you can email someone (get an email address) and ask that question in writing and get a response in writing for your records.
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LizzyM said:
If I were in this situation, I would not be sleeping at night until I had it figured out.

Call the school on a burner phone*. Explain that you have been admitted but have a question you are asking anonymously, "is it obligatory to report a summary offense which does not rise to the level of a misdemeanor?" If they say "yes" you have your answer. If they say "No" ask if you can email someone (get an email address) and ask that question in writing and get a response in writing for your records.

*or on a borrowed phone so that your own name doesn't show up on caller-id
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If you are going to email, send it from a local library... yes, some schools will have their tech guys give them am IP address... which can lead to you. So take one extra step and protect yourself there. (In some cases they can already have that info in their email and what type of device sent it... (my Father's work uses a program that does this.))
 
regretablemistake said:
I just wanted to also clarify that I called AAMC and they said that summary offenses are not obligated to be reported in writing to the schools accepted and matriculated - so is this policy set in stone for all schools or will that not apply?
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Well, perhaps all the schools have agreed to this policy when they are a part of AMCAS. It sounds like you've done your due diligence in checking out your obligation.
 
I do think you should also read the information on the secondary application regarding arrests and any information in the student handbook. The only thing worse then getting an acceptance rescinded right now is getting expelled after two years and 100k plus in student loans.
For the above reason I would disclose a conviction , if it occurs. But once again ,lawyer up, delete Facebook, and hit the gym.
 
libertyyne said:
I do think you should also read the information on the secondary application regarding arrests and any information in the student handbook. The only thing worse then getting an acceptance rescinded right now is getting expelled after two years and 100k plus in student loans.
For the above reason I would disclose a conviction , if it occurs. But once again ,lawyer up, delete Facebook, and hit the gym.
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sleepyhead22 said:
I had the understanding that you need to notify schools within 10 days of a conviction... If you still have a chance of having this expunged/dropped, I would wait. Others on here are far more knowledgeable than me, however, so don't take my word as truth. I would definitely consult the student handbook of the school you will be attending- they should have more information there.
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Maybe it's just me, but you did something as stupid as shoplifting 3 months before you start medical school? at age what? 21-25? Seriously?

I have worked a lot of retail in my life and caught a bunch of shoplifters in a variety of situations for stealing a variety of items. It takes a lot for a store to call the police. Usually the shoplifters are just 86'd from the store without getting the police involved. So you must have been stealing something fairly valuable...not a candy bar or a tube of mascara. I'm having a very hard time believing you have never done this before.
 
Toutie said:
Maybe it's just me, but you did something as stupid as shoplifting 3 months before you start medical school? at age what? 21-25? Seriously?

I have worked a lot of retail in my life and caught a bunch of shoplifters in a variety of situations for stealing a variety of items. It takes a lot for a store to call the police. Usually the shoplifters are just 86'd from the store without getting the police involved. So you must have been stealing something fairly valuable...not a candy bar or a tube of mascara. I'm having a very hard time believing you have never done this before.
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When is your court date? I know you hope to be found not guilty and have whole thing expunged but what if it doesn't go down this way? Will you have started Med school by then?


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libertyyne said:
Can we just take a moment to acknowledge the elephant in the room? The fact that adcoms know what burners are.
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o-GOODMAN-PHONES-570.jpg
 
candbgirl said:
When is your court date? I know you hope to be found not guilty and have whole thing expunged but what if it doesn't go down this way? Will you have started Med school by then?


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gonnif said:
I would find the both the AMCAS policy and the specific policy and run it past your lawyer. But as I reread your original post, if you do indeed have a a summary offense, it is equivalent to a traffic violation. There does not appear to be a need to report that, even upon conviction, unless you can find language in a student handbook that states as such.
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regretablemistake said:
Hi thank you for your response. The secondary I just looked into asks about any convictions, when I had submitted the secondary there were obviously none. I have not YET been convicted, there is still a chance I will not be (as of now, I am charged with a secondary offense)...
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You are still looking at this the wrong way. You are looking at the secondary requirements as if you are an applicant.

You are not an applicant.

You need to consult the school handbook and find out what the school policy is for acceptee's,not applicants.
 
Goro said:
You are still looking at this the wrong way. You are looking at the secondary requirements as if you are an applicant.

You are not an applicant.

You need to consult the school handbook and find out what the school policy is for acceptee's,not applicants.
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regretablemistake said:
Hi thanks for your response again. I looked at the student code of conduct and it says prior to rotations or other experiences they can dismiss you if a conviction for (again) felony or misdemeanor is shown to come up - no mention of charges or summary offenses
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You are on the right side of luck so far.

If stress is what cause you to regress or relapse, you had better be aware that medical school is a furnace
 
miniman said:
If you are going to email, send it from a local library... yes, some schools will have their tech guys give them am IP address... which can lead to you. So take one extra step and protect yourself there. (In some cases they can already have that info in their email and what type of device sent it... (my Father's work uses a program that does this.))
Click to expand...
Or just use Tor.
 
I would get a really good criminal lawyer and that's it. Don't let curiosity and anxiety get you to shoot your self in the foot. I think the more time that passes the less chance of it being a problem for you. A very human mistake and I am guessing it will make you a better doctor in the end.


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Blanky said:
Am I the only one that finds the dishonesty being hidden by dishonesty no bueno?
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I think you are imposing your own moral compass upon others. While I think (me and only my opinion) that all questionable actions should be reported to schools, we should understand that each school has defined what run-ins with the law are reprehensible. Even then, reporting an incident to the school does not guarantee a rescinded acceptance. The admissions committee's job is to decide who will become a good physician; evaluating character is part of that job.
 
Lmao how did you get caught? Next time just run, let me know if you need any advice for future lifts, got away with a TV not long ago
 
Well ya probably should've paid for that cocacola opie.
 
GregoryHouseCirca1995 said:
So how is this not grounds for rescinding an acceptance? I'm a little surprised at the amount of people seemingly telling OP to obfuscate the fact that he committed a crime a few months before starting medical school, this is SDN after all right?
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Innocent until proven guilty still holds in America, doesn't it?

A little Google turned up this description from Pennsylvania: Summary offenses can include disorderly conduct, loitering, harassment, and low-level retail theft, among others. A conviction for a summary offense usually results in a fine.

AMCAS doesn't require summary offenses that occur before one submits an application to be enumerated on the application. It does not require summary offenses that occur after the application is submitted to be reported within 10 days of a conviction as is the case for more serious crimes.

If you don't need to report X, how is it obfuscation not to report X?
 
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