<p>My son had completed one year at a prestigious college when he decided to take a year off to work and travel to Asia. He also wanted to take time to examine his future and alternative schools in primarily urban areas. Last Friday he was booked on a DUI. He was handcuffed, put into a holding cell for 6 hours, and finger printed. He has not yet had his court date and his future is unknown however I was wondering if anyone had any experience with how this might affect his ability to transfer. The experience was so monumental he thought he might write about it in his application to other colleges. Guidance please.</p>
<p>I'm really sorry that you have to go through this as a parent, wesill. It must be so difficult. I don't have experience with this personally, but my feeling is that it would not make a good topic for essays, not even as a redemption story. I would advise him to focus on his year off, what he learned while in Asia, etc... He might need to explain the DUI, (is it considered a felony or misdemeanor?) somewhere in the application, but I wouldn't have it become his focus, even if it is the most meaningful experience of his life so far.</p>
<p>Thank you for your response. I do not know if it is a felony. He is now not sure if he can travel since he may need to attend a state mandated DUI program and all his savings for travel will probably go towards a lawyer. I do agree with you about the focus should not be on his DUI. I think we are hoping that he will not be turned down from colleges because of this incident.</p>
<p>I am sorry this is happening to you, hopefully the good side is that your son does not have an alcohol problem, but had a judgement problem-so common with our kids. He may truly chnae his life from this.</p>
<p>In our county, apparently there is a great deal of DUI fund-raising- even if you are not over the legal limit you can (and will be) charged with DUI if the office decides you are impaired. $$ are huge for attorneys fees, mandated alcohol ed fees, fines, insurance, etc.</p>
<p>Also, he should check as to what the travel restrictions are- I know people with a US DUI cannot cross into Canada :eek: Depending on the circumstances there may be some sort of first timers program where he does classes and community service and gets a misdemeanor instead of a felony- not sure, but worth checking into.</p>
<p>Your son should check the applications for potential schools, many may not ask. I also would not recommend my kid write about that- too likley to be cliche. What is new and horrible and life altering for your son is happening far too frequently to so many kids, it may be nothing new to the adcoms- like the kids at boarding schools being told not to write about the trauma of going to boarding school, it comes across as cliche.</p>
<p>The 4th page of the Common App specifically asks, "Have you ever been convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or other crime? check yes or no
If you answered yes....please attach a separate sheet of paper that gives the approximate date of each incident and explains the circumstances."</p>
<p>It is likely that he will be writing about this, but hopefully not in a primary essay. </p>
<p>My brother went through something similar many years ago. First, get good legal advice to see if there is any way to plea charges to something less than DUI. Second, promptly and enthusiastically do whatever is required in terms of punishment, compensation, etc. Third, never do it again, learn from this mistake and when the time comes, express regret and remorse, if and when these feelings become real.</p>
<p>At this point, I would focus all the attention on hiring an excellent attorney and doing anything that can be done to minimize the damage this might cause. A DUI, especially if a felony, will not only cause him problems when applying for college -- but when applying for graduate programs, internships, and future employment. It can be a very, very costly mistake that will stay with him forever. Like everything else in life, it seems like the consequences for DUIs are different for the rich and the poor -- if you can afford a good attorney and the "programs" that the courts will accept, you can sometimes get away with a slap on wrist.</p>
<p>From what I've heard, DUI is a misdemeanor offense unless he injured someone. In CA, this stays on the driving record for 10 years and will cost $5000-$12000 including lawyer's expense, insurance rate hike for 10 years, fines etc. The silver lining to this ( we need to look at the positive side too) is that he was caught at a young age and hopefully for the rest of his life, will be cognizant that drinking and driving do not go together. So, as a parent, you can find consolation that he doesn't need constant reminders from now on.
I don't think colleges will ask this type of information, but his future employers may.</p>
<p>As a father of similarly aged kids, I can symphathize with your situation. I do believe in this day and age, people are fairly tolerant---as long as there is no repeat.
I've hired people who had similar problems in high schools or in colleges. Obviouysly kids need to realize it's a very serious problem (the arrest should do it) and they need to change behaviors and move on.</p>
<p>One more sneaky thought, maybe he should apply to transfer NOW while he can honestly answer that he has not been convicted? Unless it asks if he has been charged.</p>
<p>You really have two issues-</p>
<p>Saving his future- if he has learned his lesson, making sure he is hindered the least by his screw up</p>
<p>Making certain the lesson was learned- the future will be ruined anyway if he spirals into a Lohan/Spears lifestyle of poor decision making. No matter what the circumstances- first time ever drinking, first time ever driving, peer pressure, not really drunk, the cops were mean, every one else was doing it, too, I was the only one caught, I was the least drunk, yadayadayada justifications- none of that matters, what matters is he did something wrong, he was caught and he needs "be a man" and live & learn and change something.</p>
<p>I am not saying this from a position of judgmental harsh attitude, but as a parent with a kid who made a serious of mistakes and had to withdraw senior year and finish later. I did everything I possible could along the way to assist my kid in keeping the education/life train on the tracks, not knowing for sure whether she was learning/growing/taking it all seriously enough or not. It was a very long year before I felt better, and the 2nd year really cemented my comfort that she did, in fact, learn a harsh lesson (not DUI, so I don't have specific advice on that) I still keep my eyes open just in case, but I don't feel that panic inside, I feel like she has truly internalized and moved on from her errors.</p>
<p>do all you can such that if the lesson was learned, the rest of his life is the least impacted, and yet make sure you hold him personally responsible for his choices and be firm and strong to make sure he really does learn, so you don't ever face this again. Just my opinion, YMMV</p>
<p>It is a common reaction when a young adult is arrested for a DUI for the parent to want to immediately "do something" i.e. hire an "excellent attorney." Your son is indigent and qualifies for an excellent free attorney, the local public defender. That public defender handles 100's of DUIs in one week and knows exactly what the consequences are, and whether a case is defensible. Have your son talk to the public defender first, and only if there seems to be a loophole or plausible defense or a pubic defender that you don't have confidence in, should you consider hiring an "excellent attorney." Most DUI attorneys are "excellent" at parting you from your money, and achieving the exact same result as a public defender. Of course you won't know that, because you are unfamiliar with the criminal justice system, and a private attorney may tell you many things in order to be hired. So get a reality check from the public defender before wasting your child's hard-earned money, particularly the money he intended to use for travel, on an "excellent attorney." The only area where the above would not be true is where a court system is corrupt and a private attorney would know where to grease someone. And you don't want to know about that.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone. We are working on applications now.</p>
<p>Why does he want to transfer? It sounds like this issue will probably compromise his transfer options. Maybe he should look for the urban experience in summer programs and after graduation and just go back to the prestigious college where he's already been accepted and completed a year.</p>
<p>Definitely steer away from dwelling on "this experience taught me something and now I am a better person." Even though that may be true, chances are the reader will have been touched in some way during their past, even if it just involves an acquaintance, by DUI. If they've been, or have known, a victim of a DUI, you definitely don't want to paint being the perp as some kind of "growth experience". Too ego-centric.</p>
<p>DUI is a big deal, but if handled properly, should not hurt his admission chances.
ONLY write about it in the section where asked about the misdemeanor convictions. (first, do everything possible to keep it off his record, but this is a real long shot) He should write a tight summary of what happened, his consequences and how he is proceeding to manage himself in the future.</p>
<p>If this were my child I would not recommend writing about it. I would have my child get the apps in as soon as possible. I would have my child take the alcohol program as soon as possible. My son would go to court in dress slacks,tie, and sports jacket. When the judge asks who is paying the fine and court costs it will be the boy or at the least he will repay the parent paying fine and have a job to do so. Good Luck to your son.</p>
<p>wesill-get a GOOD DUI lawyer. Do not mess with this. A relative of mine is an attorney and makes a good living getting DUI's tossed out--they are nickel and dime crimes and the cops are incredibly sloppy about the rules of evidence, etc. I do not condone drunk driving, but it is not something that anybody should, god forbid, WRITE ABOUT. It is a learning experience and a wakeup call but for God's sake don't go all Jerry Springer and share it with the world.</p>
<p>Is it possible to take a DUI course before the court date, and would that look good on your son's part, as his having already realized his folly and started to remedy things?</p>
<p>Of course, he should answer any question posed by a college or employer truthfully, mindful of the difference between "conviction" and "charged with" or "arrested for." He is still not guilty of anything at this point. It is a rare state or circumstance where a first-time, no accident or injury DUI is a felony. Obviously, it is serious and merits parental involvement to explore whether alcohol abuse is a problem with him. He may also be charged with other crimes associated with this situation; presumably, he is a minor and violated the law by drinking any alcohol whatsoever and could be charged with this as well as other traffic and driving offenses. </p>
<p>None of this is intended as legal advice and I agree that a good lawyer is important; I would not rely on a public defender unless I met with him or her and personally explored their viewpoint and case plan and had my son do so as well. A few thousand dollars on energetic and skilled counsel can save untold costs and grief; he should of course pay for everything even if he has to repay you initially.</p>
<p>This thread was started in October 2007, not sure why it was brought up again but I wonder how it ended.</p>
<p>kathiep, the reason this was bumped up is that @#$@$%^ spammers found it and plastered their spam all over. I'm reporting them to the mods. Grrrr. Sorry I bumped this up.</p>