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On the secondary apps to a lot of schools I know you have disclose if you have ever been convicted of anything more than a traffic violation and my question is when I was 16 years old I was convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), which is a juvenile misdemeanor (not to mention this was 5+ years ago), so I was wondering if I need to disclose this or not since I was under the age of 18 and it occurred so long ago? Thanks for the help
I have noticed a trend in threads of people being confused on whether or not they should disclose mistakes in the past. The right answer is "yes." Disclosing, acknowledging, and learning from your mistake(s) demonstrates growth. Hiding a mistake a background check uncovers could be devastating. It is never good to hear bad news from someplace other than the source.
i dont agree...talk to a lawyer and see how your charge ended up being filed [were you convicted or did you get some other type of deferred adjudication, etc] I am in the same situation myself and schools can only ask about convictions...I entered deferred adjudication as a juvenile and I am not sure whether I have to report it on my application or not. Also I have been arrested before as an adult but never convicted, so when they ask about that on an application i can state no. Its the law.
The law states that a person having completed DA retains the rights and status as was prior to the conviction, however, depending on the state law, certain institutions such as schools, hospitals, etc do have access to these records. Only when your record is truly expunged, do you not have to worry about it popping up. Even then, the government will always have a file on you under lock and key somewhere.