Misdemeanor for "Open House Party" when I was 19...

[Booster]

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Long story short, I was 19 and my room mate had some friends over to party, and it ended up turning into a pretty large party. I was out to dinner at the time, and shortly after coming back from dinner (surprised that there were a lot of people at my house), the cops showed up and issued us a warning to have everyone leave. I had everyone leave my house, but they all ended up staying in the street in front of my house. 10 minutes later, the police showed up again and ended up arresting my room mate and I, and we received a misdemeanor for having an "Open House Party" which is described by distributing alcohol to minors. I ended up taking a first time offender's misdemeanor class, and no community service or probation or anything to that sort.

I plan on having this misdemeanor expunged, but the process takes several months. I am applying to medical school this year, and would like to know:

1.) Since I would be in the process of expunging my misdemeanor in June, should I list on my application whether or not I have had a misdemeanor charged against me? If I do say "yes" on the application, what is the point in having it expunged at that point as I would have to explain this to medical schools in later applications or interviews.

2.) Is an "Open House Party" misdemeanor that significant to medical schools when it happened at the age of 19 (5 years ago).

 

[AdmiralChz]

You're going to need to check with your lawyer on this one. If this is something that would come up on a background check (and anything beyond a traffic stop will), then you will HAVE to declare it. Make sure this is expunged (i.e. like it NEVER happened) before you say "no" to the question. There have been many threads here with people saying they were going to "forget" to list violations - this is not a good idea. Many people get alcohol violations (including myself), and a 1-time offense will not hurt you at all. Schools know that many areas in the country are cracking down on underage alcohol use - don't worry about it.

 

[ngkats]

Was the party fun?

 

[135892]

Was the party fun?

...unfortunately for the OP, it seems like he wasn't even there

 

[LizzyM]

We see this stuff all the time and I've never seen it hurt anyone's chances at getting an interview or getting an offer of admission. Just explain it on the AMCAS and on any supplementals.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

Lizzy wins the thread. It doesn't sound like a big deal. If it is expunged, it never happened and there is nothing to report.

 

[kristell]

So if I turned in a book 7 days late at the library at school and I had to pay a $.70 fine. Will that hurt my chances to get into med school?

 

[genswim24]

So if I turned in a book 7 days late at the library at school and I had to pay a $.70 fine. Will that hurt my chances to get into med school?

As long as you report in on the AMCAS it won't be a problem. However, if you don't report it in your primary application's and schools find out they will think you are a liar and they will take away your acceptance 🙂

 

[kristell]

As long as you report in on the AMCAS it won't be a problem. However, if you don't report it in your primary application's and schools find out they will think you are a liar and they will take away your acceptance 🙂

And so if I don't report it on the AMCAS, since I will be dishonest by not telling the truth, will I also be accused of academic dishonesty?

 

[Booster]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I am happy to hear that it most likely won't affect a decision at any medical school wishing to grant me admission. I guess I will hold off on expunging the misdemeanor, since at this point in my life it won't do much good as I will have to disclose it on my AMCAS application before it would be officially expunged.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

You have the chance to expunged something stupid you did when you were 19 years old and you are not going to take advantage of it?

It is worth it to get it expunged.

 

[Booster]

You have the chance to expunged something stupid you did when you were 19 years old and you are not going to take advantage of it?

I don't know the process in other states, but where I am from, you are able to apply to have it expunged after filling out a lot of paperwork, getting fingerprinted, paying lots of fees, and explaining why you would like to have it expunged. I have been told it takes several months to do and would costs a few hundred dollars. From what I have heard, a small violation such as an "Open House Party" misdemeanor (with a clean criminal record such as mine) would definitely be expunged. I plan to get it expunged eventually, but with taking the MCAT in the next month, filling out applications, and finishing up school, I will go ahead and put it on the back burner. The only other time I could see this posing a problem in the future is 1.) applying for a residency program and 2.) a future patient who may do a criminal background check on me before electing me to be their physician

I will get it expunged eventually, but I am not going to make it such a great priority at this moment.

 

[WellWornLad]

We see this stuff all the time and I've never seen it hurt anyone's chances at getting an interview or getting an offer of admission. Just explain it on the AMCAS and on any supplementals.

Hell, the adcom is probably just happy to see someone who appears to actually have a life...

 

[3pin3phrine]

So if I turned in a book 7 days late at the library at school and I had to pay a $.70 fine. Will that hurt my chances to get into med school?

Don't bother. You are screwed for life. You might as well go for a job at McDonald's

 

[koercive]

Expungement does not completely clear your record (well at least here in California). It will still show up when you go for state licensing, but it's not a big deal for misdemeanors such as the one you have (you might have to write a short explanation). I doubt the majority of people would judge you based on your non-violent misdemeanor that you received a long time ago.

On a side note, they actually gave you a misdemeanor for that? Usually, they ticket you (infraction)/give you a warning


For those mocking the OP, this is more of a legit question than some of the others I have seen such as "I got a traffic ticket, can I still go to med school?"

 

[Booster]

My room mate (the one who had everyone over) was a real push over an let people take advantage of him. Thus the reason why a "few" people turned into about 75 people, since those so called "friends" of his decided to invite everyone and their neighbor. My room mate though was pre-law and had a major attitude that made him think he was already a lawyer and above the law. He decided to really anger the police officers, and I remember them looking up the misdemeanor in a book because they either never issued one before or because they hadn't issued one in a really long time. Either way, the misdemeanor is valid and it's description included in it (from what I remember) that it was an uncontrolled party which included the consumption and distribution of alcohol to minors. The cops really seemed to not like my room mate so much and charge us. They were going to take us down to the jailhouse or department, but after they realized my side of the situation they let me go on arrest with the misdemeanor without actual taking me down for processing or whatever. So I didn't have to spend any time in a jail cell.

Also, this was on my own property, not at a university or school dorms.