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runningman423

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I have an infraction which is about a year and a half old which is classified as a civil ordinance violation (not a felony or misdemeanor). I will be applying to med schools next year. The AMCAS only asked about misdemeanors and felonies and most of the secondaries that I have started looking at have also only asked about misdemeanors and felonies, too.

If I am never asked about this and answer all questions on the applications truthfully, could an acceptance be rescinded if this shows up on a background check? I'm not sure if it will and I'm going to order my own Certiphi just to see but if it is never asked for I don't know if I should mention it because I don't want any red flags on my application.
**If a secondary asks for any convictions/crimes or anything that sounds remotely like my violation, I will of course disclose it and any details necessary... not trying to be sneaky here, just don't want to put myself at a disadvantage if I don't have to.**

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@gyngyn what about if a secondary doesn't ever ask about it either? Should I continue to not disclose?
 
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Be sure to understand the precise classification of your violation, and be sure to read exactly what they are asking about on each secondary.
 
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@Glandzburg both good points, I have an attorney friend that I will probably have sitting right next to me reading the questions with me to make sure I don't screw this up!
 
If you are not specifically asked, you do not have to disclose.

Hello, sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a question for you, gyngyn. I have the same infraction as the OP in this thread- a civil violation, which according to NYS law is not a crime. A secondary asked me if I had ever been convicted of a crime, and I answered no, since according to the law only a misdemeanor or felony is a crime. Is this being dishonest? Furthermore, the civil violation did not show up on Certiphi background check.
 
Legally, Civil and Criminal are two distinct and mutually exclusive spheres

Civil infractions will not show up in background checks or arrest records in NYS. Since AMCAS and the schools ask solely about Criminal matters, there is no requirement to report at any time
Thank you for responding! This is what I thought as well, but was uneasy as I do not want to get my acceptance rescinded.
 
Hello, sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a question for you, gyngyn. I have the same infraction as the OP in this thread- a civil violation, which according to NYS law is not a crime. A secondary asked me if I had ever been convicted of a crime, and I answered no, since according to the law only a misdemeanor or felony is a crime. Is this being dishonest? Furthermore, the civil violation did not show up on Certiphi background check.
If they only asked for convictions, you answered correctly.
 
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I received a civil infraction when I was 19 years old. I am applying for medical school now and they ask for any conviction which I don't have. should I still disclose civil infraction I received? do they care about this? I don't want to hurt my application process by disclosing civil infraction when they don't even ask. Help!
 
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