<p>So I was arrested for petit theft, and now am going to be appearing in front of a judge in a few weeks. I've already submitted my common app to most of the schools in applying to prior to this event occurring. This is my first offense and it will likely end up being sealed or expunged from the record. What or how do I need to disclose to colleges about the situation. if my record is cleared do I have to disclose anything? Pls halp! How will this affect me?</p>
<p>I’m applying to Stanford Yale Duke, etc, I have a 34 ACT, a 4.0 with a 4.7 weighted gpa am president of NHS and three time varsity track athlete with over 700 hours of community service </p>
<p>Ask your GC’s (and, also, perhaps a good criminal lawyer’s) advice:
- Is a sealed record cleared (I believe it is not)?
- Does expungement obviate the arrest and/or the conviction (not in all circumstances, I am sure)?
- When must convictions be reported, how about arrests, and arrests without a conviction?</p>
<p>The LAST thing you want to do is to appear to be dishonest with (or to withhold information from) these universities; potentially, that would only strengthen the perception of your dishonesty/criminality.</p>
<p>IF your record is sealed you likely won’t need to report it. If it is not sealed you will have to disclose it, and you will have to report it to your ED/EA schools, or RD if you’ve already submitted as well. If it is cleared you should be fine and while you still may not get into your schools you record will not count against you. If it is not expunged I would say your chances are pretty much done.</p>
<p>Are you expected to report anything when you have not yet been found guilty of anything?</p>
<p>…why the heck did you do this???</p>
<p>From what I’ve understood I don’t need to report anything until a decision has been reached. I honestly have been asking myself why I did this all day. It’s completely out of character for me, I don’t have a clue what possessed me to do this but I’m just trying to deal with the fallout as responsibly as I can. All I can say is that maybe I succumbed to the pressure of this whole process and acted out in order to sabatage myself.</p>
<p>I want to augment #2 with a potentially key point. There are MANY instances (employment, security clearances, firearms licenses, bar memberships, professional licenses, positions of public trust, fiduciary financial certifications, etc.) where an arrest – even if found not guilty, even if not prosecuted, even if expunged, even if the record is sealed, even if cleared, and so forth – MUST be reported on applicable application(s). I absolutely do not know if this would pertain to college admissions. However, I urge you to get expert advice and to ascertain the facts unambiguously. </p>
<p>Obviously, an application note that indicates arrested for x, on date y, in locality z, but cleared, and/or not prosecuted, and/or found not guilty would almost certainly make this moot. </p>