Misdemeanor Expungement Thoughts

[throwaway2917]

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I had a dumb alcohol charge when I was an undergrad expunged. I understand the AMCAS policy to not report those offenses. To cover my bases, I ran a background check on myself. The first check said that the case was dismissed with costs. I then ran another through my state's bureau of investigation and it came up with an unknown status. From what I understand, the file should have been sealed and those charges should not be present. I will definitely be reaching out to them about that.

From the result of the first check, does that mean that it isn't considered a conviction since everything was dismissed or if asked on secondaries will I need to report that?

 

[gyngyn]

I had a dumb alcohol charge when I was an undergrad expunged. I understand the AMCAS policy to not report those offenses. To cover my bases, I ran a background check on myself. The first check said that the case was dismissed with costs. I then ran another through my state's bureau of investigation and it came up with an unknown status. From what I understand, the file should have been sealed and those charges should not be present. I will definitely be reaching out to them about that.

From the result of the first check, does that mean that it isn't considered a conviction since everything was dismissed or if asked on secondaries will I need to report that?

Depending on the wording of the secondary question you may need to report it to avoid the appearance of obfuscation.
Expunged records are not "sealed" from background checks conducted by federal, state or county hospitals. Schools using these facilities will see your unreported expunged or juvenile record.
You do not need to report it on the primary.

 

[throwaway2917]

Depending on the wording of the secondary question you may need to report it to avoid the appearance of obfuscation.
Expunged records are not "sealed" from background checks conducted by federal, state or county hospitals. Schools using these facilities will see your unreported expunged or juvenile record.
You do not need to report it on the primary.

And there is usually space to explain the circumstances and that I have learned from it? Obviously it does not help an applicant, but how detrimental are these things when it comes down to it?

 

[Crookster]

@gyngyn is right on the money. I had a friend who applied last cycle and got in to an MD school with a underage alcohol charge that was set aside/dismissed. He didn't report it on primary and only discussed it if specifically asked about disclosing the expunged/dismissed charge on a secondary.

 

[throwaway2917]

@gyngyn is right on the money. I had a friend who applied last cycle and got in to an MD school with a underage alcohol charge that was set aside/dismissed. He didn't report it on primary and only discussed it if specifically asked about disclosing the expunged/dismissed charge on a secondary.

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Which if asked about an expunged or dismissed charge I would definitely report it. But with the disposition of "dismissed with cost" I am not sure how I would answer if asked about a conviction. Not sure what that actually equates to.

 

[gyngyn]

And there is usually space to explain the circumstances and that I have learned from it? Obviously it does not help an applicant, but how detrimental are these things when it comes down to it?

Yes, there is a space for an explanation in the secondaries I have seen.
Not disclosing is far more detrimental than any offense I have heard of. Youthful indiscretions are a common experience.

 

[allanMED15]

@gyngyn is right on the money. I had a friend who applied last cycle and got in to an MD school with a underage alcohol charge that was set aside/dismissed. He didn't report it on primary and only discussed it if specifically asked about disclosing the expunged/dismissed charge on a secondary.

I second all of this. A friend of mine had a similar thing happen to him. He claimed everything and eventually got into a Top 10 school. As long as something was learned, it doesn't seem to be a big issue.

 

[Goro]

Yes. Many of us Adcoms were young and stupid once.

Repeating an offence is a good way to end your medical career.

And there is usually space to explain the circumstances and that I have learned from it? Obviously it does not help an applicant, but how detrimental are these things when it comes down to it?

 

[Crookster]

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Which if asked about an expunged or dismissed charge I would definitely report it. But with the disposition of "dismissed with cost" I am not sure how I would answer if asked about a conviction. Not sure what that actually equates to.

He talked to a lawyer who stated that for all intended purposes if something is set aside/expunged/ or dismissed it means you are no longer required to admit to it unless directly asked about any convictions that were set aside/dismissed/expunged. They still show up on background checks I believe, but it will say expunged or dismissed etc. and that means you did all the required work to right your wrong and the judge granted your dismissal/expungement etc.

He said 95% of the schools didn't even bring it up and the ones who did either made a joke about it or related to it in some way. Like everyone said we were all young and did stupid things, some of us get caught...Receiving an misdemeanor alcohol charge when your 18/19 years old in my opinion would not be anything to worry about as long as you have learned from your mistakes (not a repeat offender) and did the work to fix your mistake.

 

[Oranges2]

Hey guys, I had a similar case - had an alcohol run in with police during college, but was never convicted because I was able to expunge my case by taking classes. However, had some questions for you all to alleviate my paranoia haha.

I came across Einstein's past secondary questions and they have a section:

- I have been subject to a disciplinary action and/or an administrative action, expunged or not, while in school
Expunged? No Yes

- How many warnings did you receive prior to an action being placed on your record?
Zero

- (Please explain how all of the above affected you.)
Here's where I would explain the situation

- I have been convicted of a crime
(Please explain in detail.) No

My questions are:

1 I am right to select YES i have been subject to disciplinary action, expunged or not, but NO i have not been convicted of a crime?
2. Will this seemingly contradict information I would provide in my primary application, where I would not need to disclose any of this information? Would this seem like I'm trying to hide information from medical schools? I guess I'm wondering if someone could confirm that medical schools understand that expunged cases need not be disclosed on primaries, but that secondaries, depending on school and questions asked, may paint a different story.

 

[allanMED15]

Hey guys, I had a similar case - had an alcohol run in with police during college, but was never convicted because I was able to expunge my case by taking classes. However, had some questions for you all to alleviate my paranoia haha.

I came across Einstein's past secondary questions and they have a section:

- I have been subject to a disciplinary action and/or an administrative action, expunged or not, while in school
Expunged? No Yes

- How many warnings did you receive prior to an action being placed on your record?
Zero

- (Please explain how all of the above affected you.)
Here's where I would explain the situation

- I have been convicted of a crime
(Please explain in detail.) No

My questions are:

1 I am right to select YES i have been subject to disciplinary action, expunged or not, but NO i have not been convicted of a crime?
2. Will this seemingly contradict information I would provide in my primary application, where I would not need to disclose any of this information? Would this seem like I'm trying to hide information from medical schools? I guess I'm wondering if someone could confirm that medical schools understand that expunged cases need not be disclosed on primaries, but that secondaries, depending on school and questions asked, may paint a different story.

I may be wrong in that the first question relates to actions that occurred at the school? Is that question under a specific section or are they lumped together?

 

[Oranges2]

I would agree. That question seems to indicate it was school's action not a court. So if the run in with police in college resulted in action by the school that was then expunged, you would have to answer yes

Oh interesting! Would an adcom be able to confirm? The language is a bit misleading

 

[allanMED15]

Oh interesting! Would an adcom be able to confirm? The language is a bit misleading

This would probably be something to confirm with the school when the time comes.

 

[crossfit4lyfe]

@gyngyn is right on the money. I had a friend who applied last cycle and got in to an MD school with a underage alcohol charge that was set aside/dismissed. He didn't report it on primary and only discussed it if specifically asked about disclosing the expunged/dismissed charge on a secondary.

Set asides are completely different than expungement. My adult convictions are set aside, but you absolutely have to report them.

 

[Oranges2]

Gotcha - thanks @mheard92 and @gonnif for your advice

 

[Radric Davis MD]

You don't have to report it on the primary, but you will probably have to report it on the secondary (depending on how the question is worded). In my experience, about half or slightly less than half of secondary applications ask about your criminal record, so many times you won't have to report it because they do not ask. Either way, I highly doubt an underage drinking charge will keep you out of med school, as long as you learned from your lesson and did not do anything else since the incident. I have a friend who had an expunged misdemeanor drug possession, he disclosed when asked on secondaries, and he STILL got many interviews and multiple MD acceptances. You will be fine as long as the rest of your application is where it needs to be, and you are able to convince the adcom that you have learned from your mistake and will not repeat the illicit behavior.

Regarding expungement, it is a state-by-state issue. For example, in my friend's state, expungement seals the public record of the conviction but does NOT reverse the conviction, therefore my friend was compelled to answer "yes" to the "have you ever been convicted of a misdemeanor" question on secondaries. However, in other states, expungement will seal the record and reverse the conviction, in which case you could probably say "no" to the above question (as @gyngyn mentioned though, certain entities will still be able to see the infraction no matter what). If I were you, I would err on the side of disclosure since your offense is pretty minor (and it sounds like it appears on background checks), and you are certainly not the only applicant with an underage drinking charge.