Quoted: misdemeanor and med school application

Doodledog

Escape artist
Moderator Emeritus
15+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
949
Reaction score
85
Summary: I just found out that I might have a possible misdemeanor on my criminal record. I submitted some primaries and secondaries for med school. How long should I wait to update schools about this information?

--
In a routine criminal background check, I was told that there was an "unknown misdemeanor" on my criminal record from years ago. I was very surprised because I had half a dozen background checks all come up clear up to now.

I did some investigating and this is what I found. I got a fix-it ticket for a broken taillight in 2004, an infarction. I corrected the problem and got the ticket signed off at a police station mistakingly thinking that the matter was solved. I failed to read the fine print and make a court appearance to get the charge dismissed. I got a failure to appear in court violation that I never knew about.

At this point, I already submitted my primary apps for med schools and some secondaries saying that I was never charged/convicted of a misdemeanor. I contacted a lawyer, and he said that it might not even be a misdemeanor, but he agreed to look into my case and will get back to me on that.

Should I send an update letter to medical schools now or should I wait and see for now? I've put off submitting the rest of my secondaries that ask about charges/crimes for now.

Well, opinions on this type of situation vary - it's come up before on CC and elsewhere. My opinion is always to be upfront and tell schools the story. Assuming the story is how you described it, they won't care at all and will appreciate the honesty. Others have different views on this.

BTW, why did you get so many background checks? Is there something else that might come up or are these checks done for your moonlighting job with the CIA?😀
 
Top