Past conduct violation + civil lawsuit

[stressedandtested]

Hello Student Doctor Network,

I am a rising junior, applying to medical school next cycle. I have competitive grades and have already taken the MCAT, on which I did well.

However, my freshman year in college, I was accused of sexual assault twice at fraternity events. Thankfully my legal representation was able to justly expose inconsistencies with witness accounts, and so both cases were dismissed by the administration, though one resulted in a civil lawsuit that my family's lawyers settled before reaching trial.

I am certain that I want to pursue medicine, and very much need to know what type of shot I have at getting in next cycle.

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[DokterMom]

Seeing that this very topic was proposed as the ultimate troll topic last week, I'm going to assume that's what it probably is. At least I hope so.

But if it's not, TWO accusations that moved forward means there's almost certainly something very wrong with how you're conducting yourself and/or (more likely and) how you're interpreting signs of consent or lack thereof. FIRST work on that, because it's really, really important. Live by the rule that if s/he doesn't say "Yes!" then it means "No!".

It sounds like you don't have any formal disciplinary actions from the university or criminal charges, so you'd have nothing you would need to disclose. But a background check might turn something up. And I would NOT rule out the possibility that a committee letter or faculty LOR might mention something.

Honestly - work on your interpersonal skills. If they're so shaky that you're getting accused of sexual assault, they're going to be problematic for you as a physician. If I knew about them, I'd see "too much smoke", even if no fire was ever proven.

 

[Goro]

Were you arrested?

Hello Student Doctor Network,

I am a rising junior, applying to medical school next cycle. I have competitive grades and have already taken the MCAT, on which I did well.

However, my freshman year in college, I was accused of sexual assault twice at fraternity events. Thankfully my legal representation was able to justly expose inconsistencies with witness accounts, and so both cases were dismissed by the administration, though one resulted in a civil lawsuit that my family's lawyers settled before reaching trial.

I am certain that I want to pursue medicine, and very much need to know what type of shot I have at getting in next cycle.

 

[efle]

Dismissed by your school and never taken to court...how would anyone even know about these?

 

[sovereign0]

I'll be honest. If a school discovers those charges and you did not disclose, your chance of admission at that school just dropped to zero.

Your best bet is to be sure that they are buried, both from your school's end and from a legal end. If you choose not to disclose on AMCAS, that's one thing because you were never convicted. But many schools will ask if you have ever been CHARGED with a crime on their secondaries, at which point you would be lying by not disclosing.

The background checks to get a medical license are likely much more strenuous, and I haven't a clue whether or not the charges will show up at that point.

 

[efle]

I'll be honest. If a school discovers those charges and you did not disclose, your chance of admission at that school just dropped to zero.

Your best bet is to be sure that they are buried, both from your school's end and from a legal end. If you choose not to disclose on AMCAS, that's one thing because you were never convicted. But many schools will ask if you have ever been CHARGED with a crime on their secondaries, at which point you would be lying by not disclosing.

The background checks to get a medical license are likely much more strenuous, and I haven't a clue whether or not the charges will show up at that point.

A school will autoreject someone for being accused of a crime? Are you ****ing kidding me?

 

[sovereign0]

A school will autoreject someone for being accused of a crime? Are you ****ing kidding me?

I never said that, though I can maybe see how you interpreted it that way. I apologize for poor phrasing. I was saying that he would be rejected if he does not disclose, but it still gets found out (particularly if he was asked if he was ever CHARGED, and says no). It's not just a crime, it's sexual assault. That's way more serious for an aspiring physician than something like getting caught with a bag of weed.

I'd be surprised if someone who lies about being charged with sexual assault (twice) gets into medical school.

The decision on whether or not to disclose would be tough.

 

[efle]

Ah gotcha, yeah don't lie to your med schools OP
Most places look at convictions rather than charges, so you're fine still

 

[Spector1]

geez people, whatever happened to due process? So many people on this thread rushing out with pitchforks and torches already.

Would you rather admit paul nussenger?

or emma sulkowicz (the lying mattress girl)

I'd rather admit the former.

 

[raindropx]

How do you know it was a lie?

 

[Spector1]

How do you know it was a lie?

Have you read the text messages in the legal documents filed by Nussenger? Sulkowicz has not even denied the validity of those text messages. Her response is to defend her right to "artistic expression". Not even the campus kangaroo court could possibly say that nussenger was guilty.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/24/the-text-of-the-mattress-girl-lawsuit-will-shock-you/

 

[raindropx]

I never said OP is guilty for sure, but the fact that he was accused twice is fishy to me. College campuses aren't exactly great on working on sexual assault investigations.

I'm sure there's someone out there with the same stats as OP who hasn't been accused of a crime that might have a slight edge over him, however.

I also didn't know about the text messages in this case either.

yup if I was an adcom then I'ld admit someone with similar stats/ecs but no accusations because why would anyone want to take the risk? next thing they know this will become publicized and their school's reputation will be questioned. Maybe I am leaping ahead but that's what happened with Columbia here.

 

[raindropx]

The problem here is that while we do not truly know the details of what OP did, your reasoning is inherently biased against him with no legal basis. Essentially people who were wrongfully accused I.e. not proven guilty are sorted into the same pile as people who were convicted for the same crime

I'm not saying anything about OP. If you read my message, I am speculating how an adcom would see this, and I am pretty sure no school would want to take the risk. Don't put words in my mouth.

 

[Meeehai]

The fact that you were accused twice is sort of disturbing to me and I find it hard to believe that it just happened to be bad luck that you got accused twice. That at a frat party.

The accusation of sexual assault is serious even if it was just an accusation. Maybe one could have been explained, but I don't see why any adcom would take the chance to make you a doctor regardless of how good your GPA and MCAT are.

If you did happen to just be accused an are innocent, OP, then I'm sorry that happened to you.

There are cases when you get some really dumb sorority girls that throw out false accusations of sexual assault after they go and get trashed and some guy they don't like tries to flirt with them. These greek life events typically involve a lot of drinking and things get blown out of proportion most of the time. Sadly, it's kinda common at some public universities. Something similar happened to a friend of mine a couple years ago. Or maybe OP is a creep and guilty - nobody here will ever know.

 

[raindropx]

You clearly did in the first sentence in your view as a hypothetical ADCOM so I don't know what you're reading...

Can you read english? I will repeat. I did not say anything about OP specifically. Anyone accused of sexual assault may be viewed this way, whether or not they are guilty. How about you calm down..you're getting strangely defensive.

 

[efle]

Charges will sometimes appear on background checks, schools ask about them to not be surprised/be sure it's the right person

At least that's the reasoning I've seen stated on SDN a few times. Perhaps @Goro or @gyngyn can comment on whether their schools ask about criminal charges, or whether finding out someone had been accused but not convicted would influence admissions decisions at all

 

[gyngyn]

Charges and "expunged" records often appear on background checks.
Depending on the nature of the offense and the manner in which it was settled, hospital badges may be difficult to acquire.

 

[Goro]

Sun has captured the conundrum of a Adcoms decision making process.

Two separate arrests for the same thing, even with expungement, imply either really bad luck, or more insidiously, "where there's smoke, there's fire."

Multiple arrests as per above also hint at poor judgement.

With a superfluity of qualified candidates, med schools aren't obligated to admit anyone or everyone.

The fact that you were accused twice is sort of disturbing to me and I find it hard to believe that it just happened to be bad luck that you got accused twice. That at a frat party.

The accusation of sexual assault is serious even if it was just an accusation. Maybe one could have been explained, but I don't see why any adcom would take the chance to make you a doctor regardless of how good your GPA and MCAT are.

If you did happen to just be accused an are innocent, OP, then I'm sorry that happened to you.

Because medical schools aren't courts of law.

What I never understood was why schools can/should ask if someone was ever charged with a crime when we live in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty. Charges mean nothing legally unless they result in a conviction. Im not quite sure where ADCOMs get this self-righteous attitude that they are the ultimate wisdom in the world and their opinion of a criminal charge without conviction is more significant than the principles underlying in the US Constitution

A school will autoreject someone for being accused of a crime? Are you ****ing kidding me?

Charges and "expunged" records often appear on background checks.
Depending on the nature of the offense and the manner in which it was settled, hospital badges may be difficult to acquire.

 

[deleted393595]

Live by the rule that if s/he doesn't say "Yes!" then it means "No!".

So you'd think. Nowadays, it's turned into "I feel so violated because I said yes back then but now I feel so meh". Aka, Columbia Mattress Girl.

Honestly - work on your interpersonal skills. If they're so shaky that you're getting accused of sexual assault, they're going to be problematic for you as a physician. If I knew about them, I'd see "too much smoke", even if no fire was ever proven.

+1. You need to learn how to separate the crazies from the not-crazies.

 

[ImmunoLove]

Hm. Well I think most of it is covered above. Charged twice doesn't look good, but to play devil's advocate, I have come across situations in which a romance goes poorly and (in the case I reference) the ex gf and her best friend both accuse the bf (who, in this case, was innocent). So those two charges were "linked", if you will (and both bogus).

It is more likely you're making some poor judgement calls ("nothing good happens after midnight" and the same can be said for some frat parties). Have fun, but be wise. And good luck.