Misdemeanor not listed on AMCAS because of me being unaware but on background check

[DevilsAdvocate696]

**DISCLAIMER**
*I am posting this for advice and am in a state of SHOCK/ANXIETY, so I would appreciate it if you could reply with HELPFUL non-trolling/rude comments*

In 2008, two days after my 18th birthday, I received a reckless driving citation. There was a misunderstanding with the police officers, and the citation was dropped down to a parking violation. After fulfilling my probationary duties (Paying a fine, Community Service, and attending a Coroner’s Program), I was told by my lawyers and the court that the citation was dropped to a parking violation. At the age of 18, and having a deceased father and a mother who’s first language is not English, I met with my lawyers and everyone alone, and had everything “taken care of.” I was also told that this would not affect my application to medical school. After 7 years of getting multiple criminal background checks for employment and having them come back "clear", allowing me to work with patients as a CNA, as a clinical researcher for a highly ranked institution, and even after having been cleared to work as a delivery driver, I have been under the impression that everything was in fact taken care of, and upon answering all questions regarding a clinical background on my AMCAS and my secondary applications I declined having been convicted of a misdemeanor.

AMCAS says to ignore minor traffic violations and so I answered “no” to all questions pertaining to my criminal background because I . After having been accepted to a medical school, I just received my criminal background check back from CBC, and I have found that my parking violation in 2008 was filed as a misdemeanor in 2009, in which I am guilty for. As you can probably guess, I am in a state of panic, because I have a misdemeanor that was not listed on my applications that occurred well over 7 years ago, and I was under the impression it didn't even exist. I have no idea what to do, and I am waiting on 11 schools I have interviewed at and already have one acceptance. Any ADVICE would be lovely, as I try to call all over the place on a federal holiday and see what actually went down.

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[HybridEarth]

If I were in your shoes, I'd contact your lawyer first for clarification as to why you were told it would be clear (in writing or email would be better). I'd then forward this information very sincerely to the school(s) you've been accepted to/will be interviewing at and hopefully they will understand, especially since it was that long ago. Just be honest about it.

Also, what state do you live in?

 

[DokterMom]

OK - So what you need to do now is reach out pro-actively to the school that accepted you and to the schools you interviewed at and let them know that apparently, you were mistaken when you answered "no" to the criminal question, believing your citation was a driving (parking?! that doesn't make any sense) offense, not a criminal one.

For today, outline the facts more coherently than you've done above and frame a "I take full responsibility and grew from the experience" statement.

For the school that accepted you, reach out tomorrow morning, and indicate you will be researching to determine why the verbal information you were given does not match the paper record, and why previous background checks came back clean while Certiphi's does not.

Then DO the research. Enlist the help of your lawyer and clean this mess up.

Then as soon as you've spoken to your lawyer, reach out to the other schools to pro-actively set the record straight.

 

[DevilsAdvocate696]

If I were in your shoes, I'd contact your lawyer first for clarification as to why you were told it would be clear (in writing or email would be better). I'd then forward this information very sincerely to the school(s) you've been accepted to/will be interviewing at and hopefully they will understand, especially since it was that long ago. Just be honest about it.

Also, what state do you live in?

Thank you! I am attempting to contact them now, but of course they are all closed for the holiday! :/

I live in Nevada, and although the AMCAS says Nevada residents don't have to answer to any conviction within 7 years, it occurred 6 years and 5 months before I hit submit on June 2nd! So close to be able to use that excuse, but so far away!

 

[whatever5]

I think this shouldn't pose a huge problem based on the fact that it happened a long time ago, the offense is not serious in nature, and you weren't intentionally being deceptive. If you can communicate to med schools, you should be okay. You can also contest the results of the certiphi screening.

 

[kbird]

I'm willing to bet that it is all going to be ok.

The combination of it being nearly 7 years old and the fact that it is such a minor citation, means that medical schools both don't think it implies you're a danger to patients and that it's easily understandable that you didn't realize it needed to be reported.

First, as the other poster suggested, call the attorney when you get a chance. They can write a letter for you that says that they informed you that it had been negotiated down to a parking violation.

Second, if you have access, gather a previously completed background check and show that it came back clear.

Then, write a letter to the school to which you were accepted. Explain that you were unaware that the ticket you got so long ago was a misdemeanor, and had no reason to know it was. Explain and include the information from your lawyer and any previous background check. This demonstrates that you did your due diligence to report anything necessary and will make it clear that you were not intentionally not reporting it.

Finally, I can virtually guarantee schools wont care. My WashU acceptance packet came with a long explanation of the criminal background check and very specifically went over the fact that they only do the background check for the purposes of identifying people who are not fit to be responsible for patients. They specifically mention that they do not use the background check to exclude students with traffic violations. This is only one school and none of my other acceptances mention it, but I suspect they all have the same attitude that a 7 year old traffic violation is not a problem.

Good luck and don't worry.

 

[DevilsAdvocate696]

Thank you all for your responses and help! It is helping me feel a LOT better! I am just worried because even though it was negotiated to a "Parking Violation," it is still counted as a misdemeanor. It was 7 years ago, and I don't remember anything besides being young, terrified, and not understanding of anything that was going on at the time. I hope that it is all OK, because it IS a traffic violation, BUT it is still a misdemeanor.

I am going to have to wait until tomorrow for my Lawyer to call me back, but I will be contacting the school where I hold my "conditional" acceptance.. haha... and let them know what's going on and find out what I need to do! Thank you all again!

If anyone has first-hand experience regarding this, I would still love more insight!

 

[Dr.Smexy]

You should update us after you contact the schools and let us know what they say. I have a friend who's in similar situation so would like to see how it works out for you. I'm sure everything will turns out just fine!