The "Felony/Misdameanor" question.

[Faze2]

When you come to these questions, it is hard to know what to put and what to leave out. I have never been convicted of a felony, (nor have I ever commit one) but the question says "blah blah...felony or misdameanor other than parking tickets."

I have had a few speeding tickets, go caught drinking in my dorm freshman year, and got a "noise violation" at my shore house last summer. (Which was bullsh*t by the way) Is this stuff that I have to include in my answer? None of them are anything bad, but I keep hearing "if you leave something out they will find it when you apply to residency and you will have your license taken away...." I do not want to throw up any red flags by answering "yes" to something I don't need to admit to, but I don't want to hide anything that might come back to hurt me in the future. Anyone have a similar experience?

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[NewmansOwn]

When you come to these questions, it is hard to know what to put and what to leave out. I have never been convicted of a felony, (nor have I ever commit one) but the question says "blah blah...felony or misdameanor other than parking tickets."

I have had a few speeding tickets, go caught drinking in my dorm freshman year, and got a "noise violation" at my shore house last summer. (Which was bullsh*t by the way) Is this stuff that I have to include in my answer? None of them are anything bad, but I keep hearing "if you leave something out they will find it when you apply to residency and you will have your license taken away...." I do not want to throw up any red flags by answering "yes" to something I don't need to admit to, but I don't want to hide anything that might come back to hurt me in the future. Anyone have a similar experience?

Well, the questions asks for felonies or misdemeanors, correct? So...are any of those things misdemeanors? I doubt they're felonies. Speeding tickets are traffic violations, not misdemeanors, unless you are charged with reckless driving/endangerment. Unless you shattered the beach block's nice glass bay windows with your subwoofers, I doubt the "noise violation" is a misdemeanor, either. And you got a criminal citation for drinking in your room, rather than just a reprimand from the school? Where did you go? BYU? Liberty?

Anyway, you can pretty easily answer your own question. If any are misdemeanors, don't leave them off -- unless they occured prior to your 18th birthday and you are now over 18, meaning your minor record is likely expunged.

 

[tells]

So I've gotten into trouble on two occasions during college. Once I was arrested for a non-descriptive violation (can't even remember what they call it) which was originally a misdameanor but reduced to a summary violation in court. The other time was an underage drinking citation (misdameanor?) when I was 20 (lame). I'm not sure if these will show up on a background check and if it's worth even listing.

Suggestions? Should I pay for one of those services to send me what companies and universities get when they request a background report? I have a job now that has an HR dept that does background checks and follows up on recommendations after your hire. So I'm thinking I'm ok cuz I didn't list anything when I applied for the position.

 

[NewmansOwn]

So I've gotten into trouble on two occasions during college. Once I was arrested for a non-descriptive violation (can't even remember what they call it) which was originally a misdameanor but reduced to a summary violation in court. The other time was an underage drinking citation (misdameanor?) when I was 20 (lame). I'm not sure if these will show up on a background check and if it's worth even listing.

Suggestions? Should I pay for one of those services to send me what companies and universities get when they request a background report? I have a job now that has an HR dept that does background checks and follows up on recommendations after your hire. So I'm thinking I'm ok cuz I didn't list anything when I applied for the position.

I doubt any of those things would be misdemeanors. Are you friends with anyone in your HR department? If so, maybe you could call in a favor and they'll run a background check for you. If that's not a possibility, why not pay for the service, just to get peace of mind? I honestly don't know how expensive that is, so maybe it's not worth it, but if I were in your situation I'd be willing to pay to know for sure. You don't want to leave anything out, but you also certainly don't want to include anything they wouldn't have found out anyway -- not with admissions as competitive as they are these days.

 

[Gitana]

I guess it depends on the state, but in Florida all those charges are public records and accessible through the Internet. Even if they are not public records in your state, they are still accessible to you. If you are not too far from where it happened, you can go to the court, get copies of everything and keep them in your records. That way you know exactly what the charges were and if they are misdemeanors or not.

Remember that "misdemeanor" and "felony" are legal terms. You would be surprised what can be a misdemeanor. I have one for a stupid expired tag! Because it was a temporary and not a permanent tag, expired 7 days is a misdemeanor. About the speed tickets, it usually depends on how many miles over the limit.

But seriously, you should keep records of all those offenses because if they come up at some point, they will not accept your excuse that "I thought it wasn't a misdemeanor".

I wouldn't go by what the background check shows. You have no guarantee that they won't show up if they use a different service.

Good luck!

 

[unthockey20]

a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge I had like 4-5 years ago before I ever decided to try to go to medical school?

 

[NewmansOwn]

a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge I had like 4-5 years ago before I ever decided to try to go to medical school?

Depends on your age. If you were under 18, depending on your state, you may not have to report it. If you were over 18, you'll definitely have to report it. The timing of your decision to try for med school does not impact the reality of your criminal record to admissions committees, sadly.

 

[unthockey20]

Depends on your age. If you were under 18, depending on your state, you may not have to report it. If you were over 18, you'll definitely have to report it. The timing of your decision to try for med school does not impact the reality of your criminal record to admissions committees, sadly.

I was 22 or 23 at the time, but I was never convicted, I just did probation and community service. It is the one and only criminal offense I have ever committed. I tell the schools about it in my apps, no reason to hide it if they are going to find out eventually. Thanks for the reply.

 

[BrazilianfutrMD]

There was a guy from my school with amazing stats but was rejected from all the medical schools he applied to because he had 1 or 2 DUIs. If you could I would try to look up what counts as a felony or misdemeanor

 

[jtgmmcem]

So what exactly does the ERAS question say??

I am filling out my licence application, and want to make sure that I didn't screw up this question on ERAS and need to explain to my new PD.