expunged misdemeanor.

Applying to College
1

Hello y’all!
…
I recently had my misdemeanor expunged.
During my sophomore year, I had a feud with a girl in my school…
So I went on social media (twitter) and said some hurtful things (nonviolent-preventable)…which then I was arrested…
I was arrested but I did not plead guilty nor was I found guilty.

My lawyer had a bargain with the DA and I was offered to do community service as my way out.
Which I did, at a local non profit organization.

I’m a passive person…never had any trouble with any one…it was this one particular girl…sigh

Anyways, I have couple questions to ask
but before that let me give y’all some of my academic backgrounds:
Rising Senior
GPA: UW 4.0 (perfect), W 4.9 (Candidate for Valedictorian, of a rigorous school
SAT: 2290
SAT Subjects: 800 Chinese (lol literally the easiest test of alllllll time…), 780 Chemistry, 800 Math II, 760 Physics
APs: Took APHUG in sophomore year (5), AP CHEM, AP PHY, AP CAL, AP ENG, AP PSY, APUSH in my junior year (Pretty sure all 5 except chem)
EXTRAC’: great working experiences and captain of varsity lacrosse team for 2 years now. and multiple school clubs.

I’m in Durham NC, and ultimate goal is Duke.

My school, when they got the news, did not expel me, but rather gave me a disciplinary suspension of 3 days.
(They had a meeting, and one particular gentleman advocated against such decision, claimed that they had undermine this whole incident and called my action as “terrorist attempt”…)

My counselor, after the incident, comforted me to move on as I learned my lesson.
My lawyer along with my counselor both told me that once the record is expunged, I don’t have to list it on the common app.
However, on my official school transcript, a record of disciplinary suspension will be shown, but my school does not have the right to release any information without my consent.

With my situation,

  1. Should I disclose my case?
  2. Say, if I don’t disclose, will they ask me to explain the disciplinary suspension shown on my transcript?
  3. What are my chances now to all the ivies and duke?
  4. Worst case scenario, will I still be accepted to my safe college, UNC chapel hill?
  5. How will this incident haunts me in the future?
  6. Will I be treated differently in the college admission office if I do disclose?
  7. My ultimate goal is to become a surgeon, so how will MED schools view this incident?

Please advise me.

2

First, if your lawyer bargained with the DA for community service, you DID plead either guilty or no contest. That’s what plea bargaining is - you agreed to disciplinary action in exchange for avoiding a trial. If there is a record to expunge, that means some type of ruling concerning guilt was issued. That being said, since your record was expunged, you do not have to report the LEGAL parts of this mess.

As far as the school disciplinary measure, that is a whole different matter. If you shared hurtful comments about one student to other students, it is a school issue and the school had every right to take disciplinary action against you. I’m pretty sure you can find that in the student handbook.

If the school is going to report the suspension that is on your transcript it must be dealt with. technically, they are required to report it. But double check. First, make SURE by speaking with your guidance counselor, if it Will be reported. Ask if s/he can include in his/her report that this was a one time violation and that you have not repeatedly harassed other students. You can address it in the part of the application that allows you to provide additional information.

Do not make excuses for what you did. If you have had counseling for anger management (and your reference to a counselor makes me think you did), make sure that you provide that information.

Med schools do not care about high school transcripts, nor do they ever see them. Colleges, however, may be squeamish about admitting students who have harassed other students in the past. They care about campus safety for all students (and law suits for failing to protect them).

My Physician Assistant daughter, who did a lot of surgical shadowing and grad school rotations with surgeons, would say that your temperament is suited for surgery. Several of the surgeons she worked with said all surgeons have hot tempers. 8-|

3

I am not going to opine on your questions but the first thing that came to my mind was that if a duke or UNC admissions counselor was lurking the site, very easy for them to put two and two together when your application came across their desk. You put a lot of specifics in your inquiry.

4

^
same thought…although I doubt op is actually in nc? One with such impressive scores and background with social media probably have thought twice before posting.

If I were the admission officer, I would very much appreciate applicants to be honest.
I once read a report after the Virginia Tech massacre that applicants rarely report their records. The statistic was something around 2.5% whom actually report.
Don’t quote me on anything since I’m not a lawyer or authorized enough, but I think you should come clean