Misunderstood a secondary question about pretrial diversion - accepted - not sure what to do

[emilia112]

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Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some advice from people who’ve been through professional school apps. On one school’s secondary, there was a question asking if I had ever done pretrial diversion. I answered no because my case was dismissed and sealed, and I honestly thought that meant it didn’t need to be disclosed.

I later realized the question was specifically about pretrial diversion itself, not whether the case was dismissed. This wasn’t intentional, I genuinely misunderstood what they were asking.

Some context: It was a local alcohol-related ordinance misdemeanor. Completed pretrial diversion and the case was dismissed, expunged, and sealed

This question wasn’t on AMCAS, only this school’s secondary

I’ve since been offered an acceptance, and now I’m unsure of the right next step. I don’t want to overreact, but I also don’t want to handle this the wrong way.

Should I: Reach out to admissions to clarify/correct it if i choose to accept? Reject the acceptance only for this reason? Wait unless they bring it up?

 

[Moko]

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some advice from people who’ve been through professional school apps. On one school’s secondary, there was a question asking if I had ever done pretrial diversion. I answered no because my case was dismissed and sealed, and I honestly thought that meant it didn’t need to be disclosed.

I later realized the question was specifically about pretrial diversion itself, not whether the case was dismissed. This wasn’t intentional, I genuinely misunderstood what they were asking.

Some context: It was a local alcohol-related ordinance misdemeanor. Completed pretrial diversion and the case was dismissed, expunged, and sealed

This question wasn’t on AMCAS, only this school’s secondary

I’ve since been offered an acceptance, and now I’m unsure of the right next step. I don’t want to overreact, but I also don’t want to handle this the wrong way.

Should I: Reach out to admissions to clarify/correct it if i choose to accept? Reject the acceptance only for this reason? Wait unless they bring it up?

If a school specifically asked about pretrial diversions and you mistakenly answered 'no' when you should have selected 'yes' (be positive about this before proceeding), then I would recommend letting them know on your terms so it's out in the open. You do not want to be in a position where the school finds out in the future and reaches out to you about the discrepancy (either before or during medical school).

Let them know the nature of the violation, your punishment, what you learned, and whether you've had any issues since (hopefully not!). End it with an apology and take responsibility for your oversight. This entire disclosure should be succinct and professional: just a few to several sentences max.

Just my thoughts and best of luck.

 

[emilia112]

If a school specifically asked about pretrial diversions and you mistakenly answered 'no' when you should have selected 'yes' (be positive about this before proceeding), then I would recommend letting them know on your terms so it's out in the open. You do not want to be in a position where the school finds out in the future and reaches out to you about the discrepancy (either before or during medical school).

Let them know the nature of the violation, your punishment, what you learned, and whether you've had any issues since (hopefully not!). End it with an apology and take responsibility for your oversight. This entire disclosure should be succinct and professional: just a few to several sentences max.

Just my thoughts and best of luck.

do u think i should reject my acceptance over this? because i feel like they’re gonna rescind my offer. it won’t pop up on background checks fs. just scared during licensing as i will have to disclose

 

[Med Ed]

Expungement means erasure. Sealing means… sealing. Sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably, it’s confusing.

In most instances one does not have to disclose expunged or sealed incidents. That’s the purpose of expungement and sealing. The law giveth the charges, and the law can take them away as if by magic.

In you your case I wouldn’t sweat about an honest mistake regarding a minor offense that did not result in a conviction. Just email the school to clarify whether or not you should have disclosed a minor incident that was later sealed. Stuff like this happens every year, and I doubt anyone will be concerned.

There are 50 states plus DC, so there are 51 different licensing bodies. They vary a lot in terms of what they ask, and not one of them would care about your incident.

 

[Moko]

do u think i should reject my acceptance over this? because i feel like they’re gonna rescind my offer. it won’t pop up on background checks fs. just scared during licensing as i will have to disclose

Actually, I doubt that they would rescind your offer; most likely they will thank you for your time and keep your acceptance offer in place. But at least now there is a paper trail that you did what was asked of you. In the worst case (but unlikely) scenario where your acceptance is rescinded, you'll be in the exact same situation as if you withdrew from this school, so I don't understand how immediately withdrawing is of any benefit.

But again, before you proceed, read the instructions carefully to see whether you actually need to disclose this information. For example, AMCAS specifically states that charges that were expunged, sealed, and/or dismissed (after completing probation) do not need to be reported. Your school may have similar instructions.