- Joined
- Sep 9, 2010
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
I'm going to spare you the gruesome details, and get straight to the facts - I have a juvenile record, comprised of two counts of second degree home invasion. While that charge is typically considered to be a felony, it was adjudicated in juvenile court, and as such, is not technically counted as being a conviction.
However, due to the number of offenses (two), I am not eligible to have my record expunged next year, which will be four years after having been released from the constraints of probation. I have to wait until I'm 30, at which time the court system shall destroy all paper records of my crimes, while my fingerprints will still be retained in what I'm assuming is the FBI database.
I did most of the things that I did when I was fourteen, but wasn't arrested and charged until I was slightly over fifteen, making me a sophomore in high school. Now that a substantial period of time has gone by (I'm a senior, and, given my age, the almost-three years between now and "then" is quite a long time, in perspective), I've come a long ways in terms of intellectual and emotional maturation. While I'm not trying to make any excuses for my behaviors, they were mostly brought about by my need to assert some form of power over others, after having been severely bullied all throughout late elementary and middle school.
I'm a pretty regular person now. I get along with most of my peers, although as a high school senior with somewhat above-average intelligence (or so everybody tells me), most of my friends are in college. I have a well-developed sense of empathy. I care about people, I care about my friends, my family... I couldn't comprehend repeating my mistakes.
But I don't know if those screw-ups from so long ago will completely void any medical school applications I try to make before I'm 30. I know that they do very extensive background checks, and I'm sure that that would show up. Even though that by the time I'm applying for medical schools those events will have taken place a third of a lifetime ago, I don't know if they'll still be the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
I can't fix the past, but I'm at least trying to make myself look more attractive to colleges. I was depressed for the entirety of last year, and my GPA fell from a 3.0-something to a 2.5 or 2.6. I failed several classes, and only got a 28 on the ACT (I didn't study, and slept through the math and writing portions).
I mean, it's hard to turn this kind of situation around. But I'm going to retake the ACT, and so far, I have a perfect 4.0 GPA for this year (admittedly, we're not very far in. But I was always the kid that everybody said could have gone to Harvard, if he'd tried a bit harder and done his work). I've been volunteering at an Emergency Department since the beginning of my Junior year in high school, and I'm trying to get more positions at another hospital in radiology, the ER, and a psych ward. I'm an ice dancer and a fencer. I might be taking on a leadership role at a student organization at a state university (it's a good school, considered to be a public Ivy. I'll probably be able to go there or the University of Michigan, although I'm hoping I'll have even a tiny shot at UChicago). I'm taking AP classes through Apex at home, and I should have AP Psychology finished by the end of the month, at which point I'll either be starting AP Physics or AP Bio. My school doesn't offer many choices in terms of AP classes, but I passed the exams for AP English 11 and AP Government, which I took last year.
Ugh. I dunno. I screwed up. I'm not sure if I'll even be eligible for financial aid any more. I don't know if I'll be able to go to medical school, or fulfill my dream of becoming a psychiatrist.
Does anybody know whether or not I can even get into medical school? I've tried asking on Yahoo! Answers and doing Google searches, but I haven't been able to find anything. I don't have any *criminal* convictions on my record (they're counted as civil infractions or something), but my record won't be cleared at 18, as are most.
I just want to get everything back in order, but I want to focus on medical school if it's not a realistic aspiration until much later in life.
However, due to the number of offenses (two), I am not eligible to have my record expunged next year, which will be four years after having been released from the constraints of probation. I have to wait until I'm 30, at which time the court system shall destroy all paper records of my crimes, while my fingerprints will still be retained in what I'm assuming is the FBI database.
I did most of the things that I did when I was fourteen, but wasn't arrested and charged until I was slightly over fifteen, making me a sophomore in high school. Now that a substantial period of time has gone by (I'm a senior, and, given my age, the almost-three years between now and "then" is quite a long time, in perspective), I've come a long ways in terms of intellectual and emotional maturation. While I'm not trying to make any excuses for my behaviors, they were mostly brought about by my need to assert some form of power over others, after having been severely bullied all throughout late elementary and middle school.
I'm a pretty regular person now. I get along with most of my peers, although as a high school senior with somewhat above-average intelligence (or so everybody tells me), most of my friends are in college. I have a well-developed sense of empathy. I care about people, I care about my friends, my family... I couldn't comprehend repeating my mistakes.
But I don't know if those screw-ups from so long ago will completely void any medical school applications I try to make before I'm 30. I know that they do very extensive background checks, and I'm sure that that would show up. Even though that by the time I'm applying for medical schools those events will have taken place a third of a lifetime ago, I don't know if they'll still be the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
I can't fix the past, but I'm at least trying to make myself look more attractive to colleges. I was depressed for the entirety of last year, and my GPA fell from a 3.0-something to a 2.5 or 2.6. I failed several classes, and only got a 28 on the ACT (I didn't study, and slept through the math and writing portions).
I mean, it's hard to turn this kind of situation around. But I'm going to retake the ACT, and so far, I have a perfect 4.0 GPA for this year (admittedly, we're not very far in. But I was always the kid that everybody said could have gone to Harvard, if he'd tried a bit harder and done his work). I've been volunteering at an Emergency Department since the beginning of my Junior year in high school, and I'm trying to get more positions at another hospital in radiology, the ER, and a psych ward. I'm an ice dancer and a fencer. I might be taking on a leadership role at a student organization at a state university (it's a good school, considered to be a public Ivy. I'll probably be able to go there or the University of Michigan, although I'm hoping I'll have even a tiny shot at UChicago). I'm taking AP classes through Apex at home, and I should have AP Psychology finished by the end of the month, at which point I'll either be starting AP Physics or AP Bio. My school doesn't offer many choices in terms of AP classes, but I passed the exams for AP English 11 and AP Government, which I took last year.
Ugh. I dunno. I screwed up. I'm not sure if I'll even be eligible for financial aid any more. I don't know if I'll be able to go to medical school, or fulfill my dream of becoming a psychiatrist.
Does anybody know whether or not I can even get into medical school? I've tried asking on Yahoo! Answers and doing Google searches, but I haven't been able to find anything. I don't have any *criminal* convictions on my record (they're counted as civil infractions or something), but my record won't be cleared at 18, as are most.
I just want to get everything back in order, but I want to focus on medical school if it's not a realistic aspiration until much later in life.
