<p>Hi everyone</p>
<pre><code> I was recently arrested for underage drinking. I'm pleading not guilty and seeing a judge to hopefully do service, which would result in the case being dismissed. Do I only have to tell Pitt if I'm charged, or should I call the admissions office anyway and explain what happened? Should I wait to go to court and get my sentence or do it now? I'm wondering how I should go about dealing with this.
-Aaron F.
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<p>If it is dismissed you dont have to report it. If u get convicted(community service would be because you were found guilty) you have to report it. Wait until after court date.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC App</p>
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<p>Like VAMom said, if your case gets dismissed, that means that there is no record of it happening, and Pitt does not need to know. If it does turn into some sort of permanent record, you have to call Pitt and inform them. I don’t know if they will rescind your acceptance, I have never heard of a case like this before.</p>
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<p>It’s possible the OP is going to “teen court” where the accused will be in a court setting, but after receiving a verdict (generally community service) from a jury of peers (fellow teens), the event will not be put on his/her record and the incident is considered cleared.</p>
<p>In this case, a lawyer isn’t needed.</p>
<p>are u sure u were actually “arrested” because this happened to a bunch of people i know recently who are 18 too. even if they took you in their car and drove you home that doesnt necessarily mean you were arrested. do you maybe mean that you got a CITATION for underage? because kids usually just get those for those kinds of things like parties and its not very common for them to arrest you that ive heard of in pittsburgh at HS or in most PA schools that i know…if ur in PA…</p>
<p>people i know got this big thing in the mail with a citation ticket and information about a court hearing where they basically have to get a lawyer and go to court and plead guilty (because they felt it was clear that they were) and then they pay a fine and go to basically AA for teens. they didnt have to report any of it to their colleges because i dont think citations really count for those kinds of things. i think drugs are the thing ppl have to worry more about because getting in trouble for that now affects student loans and hurts you more.</p>
<p>*just be careful and make sure you arent confusing a citation with an arrest because you dont want to basically get yourself in deeper trouble if you dont need to in telling pitt about it…i wouldnt do anything unless the court tells you to because for things like citations i really dont think they are going to make you tell your college.</p>
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<p>Good advice on the first part. Also, I would like to point out that a fair number of students already attending Pitt receive alcohol citations every week for underage drinking. But Pitt does not kick out/expel these students (at least none that I have heard of). When students get arrested though, it’s a different matter.</p>
<p>In Pa, there is the ARD system - accelerated rehabilitation disposition or something like that. It is designed to have a person do community service, etc. and then the incident is permanently eliminated from their record. It is for first-time offenders of minor crimes. If you participate in that system, make sure you do everything you are supposed to do, exactly to the letter, and on-time.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, though, that if universities kicked out every high school senior who had drank underage, all the universities would go bankrupt. </p>
<p>If someone gets into minor trouble with the law, don’t lie to the cop, don’t run from the cop, etc. The coverup is always worse than the original offense.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it, my roommate this past year was arrested twice over the summer for drinking, and they didn’t even take away his scholarship. Even when you go to Pitt, they don’t care if you get a citation as long as you live off campus. If you live on campus, the most they will do is kick you out of the dorm after 3 offenses. I’ve never heard of anyone being expelled or having their admission rescinded becasue of an alcohol violation.</p>