Should I disclose an arrest to law school adcoms if the arrest itself was expunged?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I will soon be applying to law schools and have noticed that nearly every application has some sort of question asking about legal run-ins. When I was 18 years old (during freshman year of college) I was arrested for underage drinking. The county had a first-time offender diversion program that I entered and completed without any problems. The deal was, if I completed the diversion program, not only would there be no court hearings, the arrest itself would be expunged. Technically, I have no arrest record or criminal record. However, it feels dishonest of me to answer "None" when asked about my legal history. It was a big event in my life (that I'm certainly not proud of) that helped me to turn my life around. After the incident I got involved in a number of campus activities and improved by gpa to a 3.4 at a Tier 1 university. I have worked so hard the past few years to stay on the straight and narrow, it would be crushing to see it all undone by a stupid mistake made by an immature boy. </p>

<p>Should I disclose this at all? If you think I should, how should I disclose this information in such a way as to not minimize my law school chances? How much do you think adcomms would hold this against me if I disclose this information?</p>

<p>Thank you for any help. I really don't know who else I can talk to about this.</p>

2

<p>Yes. Read the question. If it asks about arrests, answer yes. You can add that it was expunged. </p>

<p>You don’t want a problem with the character & fitness committee 5 years from now. When it doubt, disclose.</p>

3

<p>Because a thorough background check is done of you when you apply for the bar. In his case not disclosing is going to be worse than the offense it self.</p>

<p>If OP does not disclose and it comes out in the C & F, he could find himself not being admitted to the bar and having wasted 3 years and a couple of hundred thousand dollars.</p>

4

<p>Because there ARE ways this information can be found out. If the OP doesn’t disclose and the info comes up later, he will be up a creek without a paddle. </p>

<p>It is, IMO, FAR likelier that he would flunk the character & fitness committee’s examination for failing to disclose an arrest than it is that he will have a problem getting into law school because of the arrest.</p>

5

<p>Thank you all for the info. Let’s hope the adcomms are an understanding bunch.</p>

6

<p>If I remember correctly, I believe that if an arrest is expunged, legally the arrest never took place. Therefore, I don’t believe you have to answer yes, because records would show it didn’t take place. However, I’m not a lawyer, so I would take my advice w/ a grain of salt.</p>

7

<p>[Expungement</a> of Records: Definition from Answers.com](<a href=“Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions”>Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions)</p>

<p>I always thought if it was expunged it was completely erased, however, after somebody very close to me got her first felony, it was dropped to a misdemeanor and then allegedly expunged (her attorney told her it would be) it still showed up that she was previously charged. I don’t know if the file said it was removed from her record or what, if you’re really worried about it see if you can get somebody trusted to run a background check for you, or don’t take your chances.</p>

8

<p>check out this thread</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/965741-help-legal-question-application.html?highlight=expungement[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/965741-help-legal-question-application.html?highlight=expungement&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;