Would a juvenile felony case 15 years ago prevent me from becoming a dentist?

[dtdentist]

In 1994 I was 15 years old and I got a robbery adjudication against me. Juveniles do not get convictions. They get adjudicated. It has been 15 years since and I have never been arrested for anything else. Do you think I might have a hard time getting a DEA #? I want to go to dental school and become a dentist. Would I have to disclose this to the dental schools?

I spoke to the lady in the enforcement division at the Dental board and explained to her my situation and she basically said that since this incident happened so long ago and I was just 15 years old and as long as it wasn't a murder or attempted murder or rape it wouldn't be a problem for me to get my state dental license. To be honest I didn't even want to take this kid's money. It was peer pressure. I was 15 and the victim was 13. All I took from him was $2.



So what can you tell me about my situation that might help me out?

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[doc3232]

You stole 2 dollars...shouldn't be a big deal as long as you didn't hurt anyone. I don't understand what the big deal is. How is this grand theft auto? isn't there an amount of money that must be stolen for it to be a "grand" theft? Are you leaving something out?

Try to get rid of it (as you are now)...it may obviously hurt you, if you can't then just tell it like it is.

 

[UCfan]

This is a sad story. Everyone makes a lot of mistakes. The key is what we learnt from our mistakes. You were 15(immature) when you commited that crime(last 15 years)).15 years past and you definitely deserve a chance (with your clean history). If I were you, I try to help community by volunteering ( it is an excellent chance for you to prove that you are a good person and care others). It will also help you to improve your application for DSs. Once you get DAT and take your prereq. for dental schools, it is much more logical to evaluate your chance. Contact with dental schools (u want to apply) and ask them your situation. It may be beneficial for you purchase ADEA book and check DS websites for contact info. Good luck to you for your application and more importantly your life .

 

[Ranelar]

Wikipedia...

Grand theft is a felony crime in the United States defined as the theft of objects exceeding a certain monetary value.

Grand theft is committed when the money, labor, real or personal property stolen is valued at more than $400. Grand Theft can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony and is punishable by up to one year in county jail or 16 months in state prison, depending on the value of the goods stolen. It is usually distinguished from petty theft where the value of the item taken is substantially lower in value.

Robbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear.[1] Precise definitions of the offence may vary between jurisdictions. Robbery differs from simple theft by necessarily involving force or a threat of force.

If you only stole $2, wouldn't you be trying to downgrade from robbery to petty theft? In any case, I believe the AADSAS application asks if you have ever been convicted of a crime/felony; if yes, please explain.

edit: I guess if you were adjudicated and not convicted, you may technically be able to get away with not reporting it (depending on the exact language) but you may want to ask your lawyer first, and definitely consider the ramifications of being "found out" later.

 

[Cleric7x9]

no way did you get a felony charge for stealing $2, i dont think you are being completely honest here. regardless, you need to disclose it, because dental schools do perform background checks.

 

[ibo man]

Since this happened when he was a juvenile, don't you think it will be expunged from his records? I wouldn't worry much about it if I were in his situation.

 

[dtdentist]

BTW, I wasn't kidding when I said that I took only two dollars from this kid. No one was seriously hurt. No a single shed of blood. That is the truth. I didn't even want to do it. It was peer pressure.

Anyway, I did speak to the lady at the enforcement office at the dental board at my state and I explained her my situation and she said that she would allow me to get my license. She said that since this happened 15 years ago and I was young and immature and since I did not do anything serious like mug an old lady or committed murder or attempted murder or rape.

And again I did take only two dollars. I have my file with me. And to make things even more messed up I wasn't qualified to seal my juvenile record until June of 2000. When I did applied to get it sealed the judge told me that 3 months prior(March 2000) the state of California passed Prop 21 which made it impossible to seal juvenile felony robbery cases. So now I hired a lawyer to try to re-enter a new plea and try to get this reduce to an offense that is less serious and one that is actually sealable. Not all juvenile offenses are sealable anymore in California.

Kids do stupid things. It's part of growing up.

 

[tinman831]

Most juvenile convictions do get expunged. The question is whether or not you had to petition the courts to have that record removed or if it's still there. You may want to contact a lawyer and be sure. Your future isn't something you want to play games with.

 

[Livineasi]

I think you should learn the lessons you learned to your advantage. I'd definitely be open and honest with the dental schools about it. Definitely include it on the application and any secondary apps. I would even bring it up in your personal statement to help explain what you did and how you've changed. I'm sure getting caught doing something that stupid at such a young age has seriously helped develop you as a person. Learning from one's mistakes can be turned into a positive!

 

[dentstd]

Ignore the above comments. They absolutely are guessing.

It all depends on the charges you were convicted of. If it's a felony, then it's a major barrier to your acceptance, as many health institutions have a policy against accepting anyone with a felonious background. It doesn't matter if you've learned from it. If it's on your record, game over. (I don't know if it affects the ability to get your DEA license, but if you can't get accepted, who cares?)

You may not have taken much, but the amount of money you took is only a part of the puzzle. What also matters is the manner in which the crime was conducted. You need to know the precise name of the crime involved, because it's the determining factor whether you can even be accepted.

You don't need a lawyer to have the record expunged. You can do that yourself for free, and you'll have to get a form from the records dept in your city. But know that some crimes cannot be expunged.

While you may not need a lawyer to have the record expunged, it's advisable to consult one to delve deeper into what can be done.

 

[dentstd]

BTW, I wasn't kidding when I said that I took only two dollars from this kid. No one was seriously hurt. No a single shed of blood. That is the truth. I didn't even want to do it. It was peer pressure.

Anyway, I did speak to the lady at the enforcement office at the dental board at my state and I explained her my situation and she said that she would allow me to get my license. She said that since this happened 15 years ago and I was young and immature and since I did not do anything serious like mug an old lady or committed murder or attempted murder or rape.

And again I did take only two dollars. I have my file with me. And to make things even more messed up I wasn't qualified to seal my juvenile record until June of 2000. When I did applied to get it sealed the judge told me that 3 months prior(March 2000) the state of California passed Prop 21 which made it impossible to seal juvenile felony robbery cases. So now I hired a lawyer to try to re-enter a new plea and try to get this reduce to an offense that is less serious and one that is actually sealable. Not all juvenile offenses are sealable anymore in California.

Kids do stupid things. It's part of growing up.

Ah well, if this is the case then you'll have to read every school's policies regarding criminal records to find out which you can actually apply to.

You can't have your record erased easily, so your option's to find a school that is okay with it. You can't lie on the app, because it'll show on your background check. It comes down to whether the schools'll be okay with the circumstances involved. If this was felony robbery, then my guess is that you had a weapon. If that's correct, than the hill you have to climb may be very, very steep.

 

[dtdentist]

Ah well, if this is the case then you'll have to read every school's policies regarding criminal records to find out which you can actually apply to.

You can't have your record erased easily, so your option's to find a school that is okay with it. You can't lie on the app, because it'll show on your background check. It comes down to whether the schools'll be okay with the circumstances involved. If this was felony robbery, then my guess is that you had a weapon. If that's correct, than the hill you have to climb may be very, very steep.

I did speak to the lady at the state license board and she said it was okay. I went to the Sheriff Station and asked for a letter of good conduct which is basically a letter that says that you have no criminal record. They told me that anything after 18 years old is part of your criminal record. They said that I didn't have a criminal record. They said that anything that happened when you were under 18 years old is not considered a conviction. Anything you do as juvenile is considered an adjudication not a conviction. So on a dental school school application technically I can say that I have no conviction.

I was told that most schools don't have access to your juvenile records. This happened 15 years ago and I have never been arrested ever since. I am going to ask someone who works at a dental school and see what they tell me. I mean if the lady at the state board said that it was going to be okay, I don't see why the dental schools might make things more difficult.

What else would you like to tell me? Thanks for the input btw. Just to let you know at first his mother didn't want to file charges but at the spur of the moment the cop I guess convinced her to do so. Later on the kid and his mother didn't even bother to show up to court...so basically that tells you that they really didn't think it was worth their time. But once you file charges the case is under the control of the DA, and their job is to win cases. So the DA subpoena them to court and told them that if they didn't show up it was punishable by law. Truth is this case never should have happen in the first place. No one was seriously hurt. In fact not a single drop of blood was shed. And here is another interesting part, it turns out that this kid was the cousin of one of a guy that I knew. I off course didn't know this at the time of the incident. Small world huh. Anyway he and I have both moved on with our lives. We both graduated from college. I think if I were to ask his cousin to ask him to put in a good word for me I think he would be cool about it.

Oh, another thing I spoke to a lawyer and he said that I can have the judge withdraw my plea and I can re-enter a new plea for something that is a lot less serious, or I can have the judge set aside the conviction so on my FBI background check it shows that I do not have a juvenile adjudication. But my goal is to reduce this to petty theft.

 

[notin]

at my school we were told that the background check is done mainly to make sure that you will be licensable and that it really wasn't used to scrutinize beyond that, so i think the licensing woman saying that you would be ok is a pretty good sign, but i imagine each school will be different and it will do nothing but cause you problems, so getting it expunged should be a priority.

 

[dentstd]

I did speak to the lady at the state license board and she said it was okay. I went to the Sheriff Station and asked for a letter of good conduct which is basically a letter that says that you have no criminal record. They told me that anything after 18 years old is part of your criminal record. They said that I didn't have a criminal record. They said that anything that happened when you were under 18 years old is not considered a conviction. Anything you do as juvenile is considered an adjudication not a conviction. So on a dental school school application technically I can say that I have no conviction.

I was told that most schools don't have access to your juvenile records. This happened 15 years ago and I have never been arrested ever since. I am going to ask someone who works at a dental school and see what they tell me. I mean if the lady at the state board said that it was going to be okay, I don't see why the dental schools might make things more difficult.

What else would you like to tell me? Thanks for the input btw. Just to let you know at first his mother didn't want to file charges but at the spur of the moment the cop I guess convinced her to do so. Later on the kid and his mother didn't even bother to show up to court...so basically that tells you that they really didn't think it was worth their time. But once you file charges the case is under the control of the DA, and their job is to win cases. So the DA subpoena them to court and told them that if they didn't show up it was punishable by law. Truth is this case never should have happen in the first place. No one was seriously hurt. In fact not a single drop of blood was shed. And here is another interesting part, it turns out that this kid was the cousin of one of a guy that I knew. I off course didn't know this at the time of the incident. Small world huh. Anyway he and I have both moved on with our lives. We both graduated from college. I think if I were to ask his cousin to ask him to put in a good word for me I think he would be cool about it.

Oh, another thing I spoke to a lawyer and he said that I can have the judge withdraw my plea and I can re-enter a new plea for something that is a lot less serious, or I can have the judge set aside the conviction so on my FBI background check it shows that I do not have a juvenile adjudication. But my goal is to reduce this to petty theft.

The only thing that matters is whether anything shows up on your background check that the school performs. That determines whether you can get away with lying on the application, and I'm inferring that you're planning on lying on your application. There is effectively no way to interpret the statement on AADSAS that allows you to exclude your situation. Drawing a weapon against someone during robbery is specifically the types of action the schools are screening for. If you tell the truth, you will not get in. Period. Unfortunately, for a situation like this, I can't advocate lying on the application. If someone drew a weapon against me, I wouldn't be okay with it just because my wallet happened to be nearly empty. I also couldn't care less that, for example, the blade was being held by a 15 year old and not an adult.

 

[notin]

dentstd, i don't know why you feel so sure of what you're saying, as if the licensing board says they are ok with licensing someone with an offense of his nature i can't imagine that their judgment is just so hugely different from that of the schools.

 

[dentstd]

dentstd, i don't know why you feel so sure of what you're saying, as if the licensing board says they are ok with licensing someone with an offense of his nature i can't imagine that their judgment is just so hugely different from that of the schools.

This is not a matter of licensing. This is not a matter of law. It is a matter of school policy. The licensing board may be fine with it, and the courts may be fine with it. But the school may not be. This topic has come up repeatedly in the past, so I've gone ahead and looked up several schools' policies on background checks. Not all schools make it publically available, but for the schools that did...they made it 100% clear that they will not matriculate a student with history of certain crimes. The list of crimes listed were arson, murder, rape, armed robbery...etc. That's why I say what I say. If you can find a school that is okay with it, then please tell the OP, because it'll be a sigh of relief to him.

BTW, this particular case is most likely armed robbery. My best guess given the purposeful missing details. The most common way a situation can turn into felony robbery.

A health institution is obligated to ensure the safety of their patients, students, employees, etc. If, for whatever reason, he decides to repeat this situation, the state or victim WILL look into EVERY source available to them for information against the defendant. If they are able to uncover this hidden truth, then all hell's broken loose.

 

[mdo01]

There is not a chance in hell a dental school, or any other school for that matter, will be able to access an applicants juvenile record. Unless you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you're good as long as you were not tried as an adult.

There are a number of fallacies floating around about what happens to a juvenile's record when that person turns 18. At least in California, an individual must petition the court to have their record sealed. And it must be done on a county by county basis.

I think this misconception is due to the fact that since virtually nobody can see your juvenile record, it has been "sealed".

 

[Omenino]

This is the future not the past and so NO...dental school does not care....They will judge you on how you are today. just like how they will judge on what your grades are today not what your grades and gpa from 15 years ago....

Unless you killed and raped somebody or carried out some terrorist attack...i don't know...

In 1994 I was 15 years old and I got a robbery adjudication against me. Juveniles do not get convictions. They get adjudicated. It has been 15 years since and I have never been arrested for anything else. Do you think I might have a hard time getting a DEA #? I want to go to dental school and become a dentist. Would I have to disclose this to the dental schools?

I spoke to the lady in the enforcement division at the Dental board and explained to her my situation and she basically said that since this incident happened so long ago and I was just 15 years old and as long as it wasn't a murder or attempted murder or rape it wouldn't be a problem for me to get my state dental license. To be honest I didn't even want to take this kid's money. It was peer pressure. I was 15 and the victim was 13. All I took from him was $2.



So what can you tell me about my situation that might help me out?

 

[dentstd]

This is the future not the past and so NO...dental school does not care....They will judge you on how you are today. just like how they will judge on what your grades are today not what your grades and gpa from 15 years ago....

Unless you killed and raped somebody or carried out some terrorist attack...i don't know...

Naive. Everything's in your future. Everything you've done is always in the past. Admissions aren't given an opportunity to decide on matters of school policy. Their say doesn't count. Admissions doesn't get to decide on your application.

So I'll say this again for the thirteenth time. It's a matter of school policy, so the question is which schools have this policy. The other question is what shows up on a background check they conduct upon matriculation.

 

[marcusbrody]

In 1994 I was 15 years old and I got a robbery adjudication against me. Juveniles do not get convictions. They get adjudicated. It has been 15 years since and I have never been arrested for anything else. Do you think I might have a hard time getting a DEA #? I want to go to dental school and become a dentist. Would I have to disclose this to the dental schools?

I spoke to the lady in the enforcement division at the Dental board and explained to her my situation and she basically said that since this incident happened so long ago and I was just 15 years old and as long as it wasn't a murder or attempted murder or rape it wouldn't be a problem for me to get my state dental license. To be honest I didn't even want to take this kid's money. It was peer pressure. I was 15 and the victim was 13. All I took from him was $2.



So what can you tell me about my situation that might help me out?

Just be honest with people, especially the admissions officers because this is something that will have to be addressed in the application process (multiple times). It might sound cliche, but honesty is the best policy and goes a long way. The admissions team will see honesty as a huge strength.

 

[dtdentist]

This is not a matter of licensing. This is not a matter of law. It is a matter of school policy. The licensing board may be fine with it, and the courts may be fine with it. But the school may not be. This topic has come up repeatedly in the past, so I've gone ahead and looked up several schools' policies on background checks. Not all schools make it publically available, but for the schools that did...they made it 100% clear that they will not matriculate a student with history of certain crimes. The list of crimes listed were arson, murder, rape, armed robbery...etc. That's why I say what I say. If you can find a school that is okay with it, then please tell the OP, because it'll be a sigh of relief to him.

BTW, this particular case is most likely armed robbery. My best guess given the purposeful missing details. The most common way a situation can turn into felony robbery.

A health institution is obligated to ensure the safety of their patients, students, employees, etc. If, for whatever reason, he decides to repeat this situation, the state or victim WILL look into EVERY source available to them for information against the defendant. If they are able to uncover this hidden truth, then all hell's broken loose.

Do you have a list of all the schools that do enforce this policy? BTW I did NOT use a knife or gun but I did punched him on the side of the head. Well, thanks anyway for everyone's input. I feel so embarassed talking about this. I've talked to my lawyer and he did say that I really didn't deserve such a harsh outcome. We are gonna get this case reduce to something more appropriate. I mean the kid didn't even bother to show up to trial...that's gotta tell you that they didn't think it was even worth their time. From my experience we all must respect the law and be extra careful and not reckless. The law can get pretty nasty and unfair especially to those who don't have the money to hire a good lawyer to defend them.

 

[tinman831]

While you may not need a lawyer to have the record expunged, it's advisable to consult one to delve deeper into what can be done.

I think this misconception is due to the fact that since virtually nobody can see your juvenile record, it has been "sealed".

Laws do vary state by state. Some states automatically destroy your record when you turn 18, others you must petition the court, which is why the advice to seek council still stands.

When a dental school does a background check, they use certain agencies that will pull up your records. This data includes all offenses related to you. Schools don't just pick and choose which offenses to pull up. Just because a school automatically screens out applicants who have more serious offenses, such as murder, rape, etc, does not mean they won't deny your application. It's like automatically denying someone who does not meet the cutoff for GPA vs denying someone who has a low GPA yet still meets the requirement.

And a felony for 2 dollars? That's usually petty theft. There's definitely missing information here. But that doesn't matter. Go seek legal council and stop asking questions on an internet forum.