serious problem need help!

[mcatsucksss]

hi guys i am so worried right now,
i was accepted into a medical school and i submitted myself to go through the criminal background check. i said no to being convicted of any felonies or misdemeanors (which is true). but the background check company just called me about a minor theft infraction that happened to me in high school. the charge is lower than a misdemeanor so i didn't lie to anyone. But now i am SOOO unbelievably worried about what the school will think/do about this.

i still have to submit to another fingerprint background check, and they ask specifically for any "other offenses" that i've been convicted for besides felonies and misdemeanors. i guess i have to mention this petty theft incident as well. but how should i go about explaining to the school what happened?

is this going to destroy my application and would the school take my acceptance? I just don't want to believe that something stupid i did back in high school wasted all my hard years of work in college.

thanks for any advice guys

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[nick_carraway]

Call the med school and ask whether this will be a problem. Try to be anonymous, but give them the details.

Either way, you want this off your record. Go to your local sheriff's office and ask how to seal your juvenile record since it wasn't done automatically.

 

[Forthegood]

I don't think they will care. Really, they just want to make sure you haven't done anything that could prevent you from obtaining your license. So don't lie. If you fess up and show some integrity, you can expect good things in return. Stop worrying. You got in. The rest of your summer may be the last time in your life without worrying.

 

[Mattabet]

I don't think they will care.

Agree. You can call the admissions office and ask about it, but you haven't done anything wrong (since high school, anyway ) as it's not a misdemeanor or a felony.

If you found out your pediatrician stole a lipstick in high-school, would it really matter? People aren't perfect; that imperfection is relatively minor.

 

[redlight]

i agree with forthegood
but im wondering how you got results before the school that ordered the check..

 

[flip26]

Were you a minor? Why wasn't this a sealed judgment? Did you have a lawyer? Ask him for help...are you absolutely sure that this wasn't a misdemeanor or even a felony? Felony theft is not a very high hurdle based on the value of the stolen item - someone else with a legal background could verify this.

The background check company commonly gets in touch with the applicant if something turned up. Plus, you can always run your own background check on yourself if you think you may have a skeleton in the closet.

The only schools you may have a problem with would be those that asked more specific questions than "felonies" on the secondary, or something more than was asked for on the AMCAS...overall, my guess is you will be OK, but you need to come clean with the background check company, and you need to get in touch with the med school at some point, too...

 

[redlight]

staggered dbl post

 

[mcatsucksss]

thank you all for the helpful responses
i will try to contact the school right away about this and ask them if it will affect their decision (trying to be anonymous). I always thought that offenses committed as a minor were sealed automatically so i never thought i had to personally request it.
i just called the police department about this and they said the process of expunging this case would take months so whatever shows up now is whatever i have to stand by.
thanks so much, and i hope none of you have to go through the same thing

 

[nick_carraway]

thank you all for the helpful responses
i will try to contact the school right away about this and ask them if it will affect their decision (trying to be anonymous). I always thought that offenses committed as a minor were sealed automatically so i never thought i had to personally request it.
i just called the police department about this and they said the process of expunging this case would take months so whatever shows up now is whatever i have to stand by.
thanks so much, and i hope none of you have to go through the same thing

Just out of curiosity, which state are you in?

If you had a probation officer at the time, you can dig up his/her name and get specific advice on how to clear it for the future.

 

[Forthegood]

Honestly brotha, I wouldn't worry about the anonymity part. The bigger of a deal you make this out to be, the bigger they will think it means to you. It was hs, and petty at that. Don't shy away; they will find out it is you sooner or later...

 

[skibird89]

were you under 18, and was this a certiphi background check?

I remember reading that certiphi does not look for things happened as a minor?

 

[mcatsucksss]

i was 16 at the time and didnt have a lawyer. i thought it would have been sealed because i was a minor but apparently it wasn't and it showed up. i just contacted my moms lawyer about this to see what i should do and am heading over to the courthouse tomorrow to start getting this expunged.

i just have to wait and see now and the more i think about it the less life threatening of a problem this seems to be, I'll just have to be honest and tell them my circumstances.
once again thanks for all the help

 

[starfishprime]

the charge is lower than a misdemeanor so i didn't lie to anyone.

I'm no Robert Bork, but I've never heard of a charge "lower than a misdemeanor."

Maybe you can be a little more specific, but I think you just might be a convicted misdemeanant.

 

[buffywannabe]

To the OP,

I wrote emails to each of the schools that I was planning on applying to telling them that I had an underage drinking ticket when I was 18. None of them cared at all! I think they understand you are not who you were when you were in high school. Unless you killed someone....

 

[himdoc]

I'm in a kinda similar spot, maybe worse, and I am super worried. Anyone lived throught this?

When I was 20 I got a really stupid MIP charge- for alcohol, I was almost 21, with people who were 21 and I wasnt even drinking but a park ranger- not a cop- gave me a ticket anyway. Lots of us were under 21 but she chose me as the lucky one. Anyway thats beside the point but I was NEVER informed that I was being charged with a MISDEMEANOR! My parents thought it was just a fine, so did I so we paid it and didn't argue.

Everyone I asked durign the application process said this didn't need to be on my AAMC application, apparently it did! I got a call from Certiphi to verify and I told them that yea this had happened but I had no idea it was a misdemeanor.

Here is the worst part, I got into my top choice school, canceled every other interview, I am about to buy a home there for goodness sake and now I could get kicked out before I even start

So far I have called the admissions office, they told me to email a letter to the director of admissions which I did last night, explaining in detail the circumstances and begging for forgiveness.

Does anyone know what could happen? This was such a minor thing, if I had been only a few months older it wouldn't have even mattered, I've work wayyyy to hard for this to keep me from school. Please Help

 

[DonDraper]

I am in the exact same position as the poster above. I was actually 21 at the time and was fined for an open container of alcohol on a friend's front porch. I paid the fine and was told that it would not come up again-therefore I didnt put it on my AMCAS. However, the background check came up with
"Count 1: Miscellaneous municipal ordinance - bylaw violation" and notes that I paid a fine of $100. I am trying to decide if I should contact the Dean at the school I was accepted or not. The report even notes that the charge was "dismissed." What does everyone think? I am pretty worried since I have turned down 4 interviews since this acceptance.

 

[slowbutsteady]

I'm no Robert Bork, but I've never heard of a charge "lower than a misdemeanor."

Maybe you can be a little more specific, but I think you just might be a convicted misdemeanant.

hahahahaha!! Why would you use Robert Bork!?? The one Supreme Court nominee in modern times who was rejected by the Senate. In the 80s!!!!!

Are you, like, really old?