Under-age Drinking Charge and Med School Admissions

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Trying to find out how an underage drinking charge (age 19) might impact med school admissions down the road. My sister is beside herself! Her DS celebrated the end of finals a bit to aggressively and was cited at a party a couple of weeks ago by the local police (as opposed to campus safety). He has med school plans and she is nervous this mistake might haunt him when applying in a few years. He is guilty as charged, but suppose a lawyer might be able to fight it. She's mad at him and wants to make him suffer, but doesn't want it to destroy his dreams of becoming a physician. She is aware of the extensive background check that takes place as a part of the admissions process.</p>

<p>One of his friends aspires to be a teacher and, apparently, in his state such a conviction is deal-breaker as teaching certificates require a clean record....</p>

<p>Any experience/thoughts?</p>

<p>I just wish they'd change the legal drinking age, but that's another discussion altogether!</p>

2

<p>I am interested in this too. Do any of you premeds (or pre-meds you know of) never drink before the age of 21 while in college?</p>

3

<p>He will have to report the MIP on his med school application. </p>

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<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/how_to_apply/124590/beginning_the_application.html[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/how_to_apply/124590/beginning_the_application.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And not reporting it isn’t an option. All accepted applicants are required to undergo a throrough criminal background check before matriculation. If an student is found to have concealed a misdemeanor or felony, their admission is revoked and they are permanently blackballed.</p>

4

<p>Looking around at various other MBs, it appears the consensus is that a single MIP is blemish on his record, but not necessarily a fatal flaw provided he has no other alcohol-related offenses on his record and can write a convincing “I was a stupid kid, but I’ve grown up” explanation in his PS.</p>

5

<p>If it’s a misdemeanor on the record, have to report it. No idea what will happen.</p>

<p>If this is his ONLY trouble and he wasn’t actually doing much other than being drunk under age, a good lawyer should probably be able to get this down to something that doesn’t appear on the record either at all or after some sort of probation. I think a friend of mine was able to get being caught with a fake ID (legally a much more serious offense than underage drinking) left off his record by doing community service and going a few years without getting in trouble again so it can be done, and if so, then can be left off the app (assuming the timing works out), which I would recommend doing.</p>

<p>I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.</p>

6

<p>Be aware that diversion/alternate adjudication programs don’t always erase the entire record immediately–or at all. Even if the probationary period and the community service are completed, sometime the original charge will still show up on criminal background checks since records are often stored in several different places. Some get erased, but maybe not all of them. (This has happened to people I know who were getting federal security clearances–old charges they <em>thought</em> had been erased still show up during the checks.)</p>

7

<p>If it is expunged, should it be mentioned on the app.?</p>

8

<p>The rules for expunged records will vary by state:</p>

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<p>p. 35 2013 AMCAS Application Manual</p>

<p>Except as noted above, you must report expunged records.</p>

<p>P.S. Mass. med schools do still collect info on criminal convictions and expunged records. They just do it on their secondaries which are not governed by state statutes.</p>

9

<p>If you have a DUI charge dropped to a reckless operation how should that be listed in the AMCAS app? obviously I would like to just say it was because of the stop sign I didnt completely stop at.</p>

10

<p>^ It would look very suspicious since I can not imagine being convicted of reckless operating for failing to come to a full stop at a stop sign. They would look into it more closely and when they found you were originally charged with a DUI that was pleaded down to reckless operation it would be a deal breaker at any medical school.</p>

11

<p>Out of curiousity…</p>

<p>are only various convictions reported?</p>

<p>If you’re accused of something, but never convicted…then what?</p>

<p>What if someone files a police report against you (frivolous), but never goes forward with it? (after all, you may not even be aware that someone did this to you, so how could you report it?)</p>

12

<p>Only convictions have to be reported. </p>

<p>An arrest, if the charges are dismissed/dropped, is not reported.</p>

<p>However, students In fact, every one) should be aware that a judge can issue a bench warrant (arrest order) for all sorts of stuff–like excessive unpaid parking fines (the local courts do it here once a year) or failure to show up for traffic court hearing. If a bench warrant is issued, police may not execute it immediately (pick you up) but it will still show up on a background check as outstanding warrant and a potential misdemeanor/felony charge.</p>

<p>For example, if you get a traffic ticket (for ex. speeding) in another state and blow it off (not pay the fine or not show for your hearing date)–the county DA can ask the local judge to issue an arrest warrant, but you will never know about it since the police in the other state will not come to your state looking for you. But it WILL show up on a background check. Also failure to pay the fine can also escalate a ticket to a misdemeanor or a misdemeanor to a felony.</p>

<p>MORAL: make sure you pay all parking and traffic tickets promptly.</p>

13

<p>To OP: It’s well worth the money to see an attorney. Every state is different; in some MIP is a misdemeanor, in others it’s a petty offense the same as a traffic ticket. And every state has different diversion programs; in some no plea is entered and if probation is completed successfully, the charge is dismissed. In others, a guilty plea is required, then after a period of probation, the case is dismissed. Can’t guess what your state’s rules are, but if he really wants to go to medical school, it’s worth the $ to get advice from someone who actually knows the law in your state.</p>

14

<p>IANAL, but after reading med school forums for a while, it becomes clear that this is the most common legal problem med school applicants have. It is not the kiss of death for an application, but it is a big red flag that needs to be overcome by taking responsibility and showing that you’ve learned from your mistake. The more time that has passed between the conviction and med school applications, the better.</p>

<p>Also, the reason expunged records generally need to be disclosed is that medical boards will see them when applying for a license, no matter how well “expunged” they are, and must be reported then. A single MIP at 19 is likely to be a non-issue at that point, but something to consider.</p>