<p>I have applied and will apply to various Masters' programs in Political Science but recently I was caught shoplifting (about a week ago) at a Wal-Mart and was criminally charged with theft under $100 and still have yet to get a court date. I have gotten an alcohol citation in the past as a freshmen but other than that, I am an exceptional student. I am a Biology major with a minor in Poli Sci (overall GPA 3.1 and Poli Sci GPA: 3.4) and is involved in various campus organizations like SGA, Biology Honor Society, etc. and held executive positions in all but one of them. I am truly depressed and angry that I thought so irrationally at the time and thought I could get away with it. This is my first time ever doing something such a horrid act and something I wish would pass quickly. I have several questions:</p>
<p>1) Will this at all deter me from being accepted into the university (likelihood)?</p>
<p>2) Should I report this incident to the universities I previously applied to?</p>
<p>3) Should I report the incident at all since a court date has not been assigned yet?</p>
<p>Bad Decision. I’m sure you do not need to be told that shoplifting is… stupid.</p>
<p>Fortunately for you, any adequate lawyer will get that charge expunged from your record provided your record is as clean (Even if you were charged with a felony of some sort, it is not put on your record until you are CONVICTED of the crime). Your personal issues are YOUR personal issues and therefore you should NOT report the incident to the universities you apply to. </p>
<p>Will it deter your chances from acceptance? No.</p>
<p>Did they ask you about a criminal history when you applied? I remember there was a section on the common application for criminal history, but that’s for undergraduate. Is there a similar thing for graduate school?</p>
<p>Regardless of whether there is a routine section on the application, it always asks if you were CONVICTED of a crime. In this case, unless the lawyer you hire is incompetent, you will not be convicted and therefore do not have to report anything to the university you are applying to.</p>
<p>I know that the University of Idaho people want to know any of that stuff immediately and they will throw you the hell out if you don’t tell them that you got anything more than just a citation. Even getting picked up and having it dismissed, if they find out you didn’t tell them, will get you booked.</p>
<p>Like one time I was walking around the grocery with some stuff in my coat pockets and a Seattle PD told me he was about to arrest me when he saw me go to the checker and put it on the counter.</p>
<p>For the moment I am going to ignore the ludicrousness of the situation, and address your questions:</p>
<p>
That depends on what the degree of the charge is. If it is a felony, you live in a police state and will probably not be admitted if they find out. If it is a misdemeanor, you are probably okay but need to check. If it is a citation, you are fine.</p>
<p>
If they did not ask, you do not need to tell. If they DID ask, you must answer honestly, and it is likely that they will consider any change of status between admission and enrollment to be notification-worthy (and thereby rejection-worthy). But pay attention to the wording - if they only ask about felonies, you do not need to notify them about a misdemeanor.</p>
<p>
As CFB53B noted, it depends on the wording. If they ask only about convictions, you do not need to tell them.</p>
Only if they specifically ask about criminal records on the application, and only to the extent that they do so - if they try and punish you for something they never asked about, they are opening themselves up to litigation.</p>
<p>Also, background checks are expensive and generally require the explicit consent of the one being investigated - I have never heard of them being done on grad students outside of very specific fields like medicine and education. In the case you mentioned, it is quite likely that if a background check was performed it was done only after some other evidence surfaced, and even then it would be grounds for revocation of the degree only if award of the degree was predicated on the credential (which it reasonably would have been).</p>
<p>So this only matters if (a) they asked and (b) he lies.</p>
<p>EDIT: I think the post I was replying to just disappeared!</p>
<p>regarding your situation, if you think it is not listed on the record, why you need to tell it? but remember it is better to let them know because their are no secret will remain to be secret, you can’t hide it. If you want to know what are recorded on your own criminal record, you can check it by yourself. You can check it in many ways but the very easy ways is it check it on-line. Because of the technology we have today, you an check as fast as you can and complete as you want in just a click but you need also to choose the right and reliable site to do the checking. </p>
<p>It’s illegal in WA State to do such a background check without the person agreeing to allow you to do one. Unless the person is convicted of notorious crimes the police aren’t allowed to tell you either.</p>
<p>Like there are two guys on my campus right now who are on full-on blast because of what they did, but they wouldn’t warn us about a thief.</p>