<p>hey everyone, I'm new to this forum. I just have a question regarding the USC transfer application that is really worrying me.</p>
<p>So one of the questions asks if I have any misdemeanors or felonies. I have a misdemeanor, posession of marijuana, that has not been expunged yet, but it occurred a little over 2 years ago. Should I be worried? Should I answer no and hope to God that they don't run a background check on me?</p>
<p>If it matters at all, I have upward progressed since that and I have maintained a 3.8 GPA at community college.</p>
<p>What should I do?? Do they background check/audit everyone?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your time. Any help would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>You should probably mention it, and they probably won't care. It's really only a big deal if you killed someone or robbed a bank.</p>
<p>It'd be better to mention it now then later if they ever do, and they find out you ommitted it and they expell you for lying (rather than what you actually did). I doubt that even in that situation, it's really small and nothing to sweat.</p>
<p>I'm not sure on that, but that's what I think.</p>
<p>I have other smaller infractions. Should I mention all of them? This might make me seem like a bad person, but really, I was just struggling to find an identity. To my understanding, USC doesn't want people who struggled. They want people who believe they are the best of the best. For that reason, I cannot write in my essay about my struggles, but rather what I can contribute to the university. </p>
<p>I need more specific help. Someone with experience.</p>
<p>You can write about your struggles in such a way that it will tell USC what you would bring to it's campus. They know they are not getting kids who have been prefect all of their lives.</p>
<p>I really, really implore you not to lie. Among other things, if you go to USC, graduate, and it somehow gets out, they will revoke your diploma. Say you become successful and a newspaper writing about you digs up your background.....</p>
<p>All that said, it will very likely hurt your chances. The better you handle it the less it will hurt. I suggest you not use the 'how I turned my life around' story as your key essay, use it as a supplemental essay.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Say you become successful and a newspaper writing about you digs up your background.....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>LOL heaven forbid someone finds out you smoked weed in college. Do you seriously think even in the slight case the OP becomes famous and this terrible information was made public the people over at USC will go "Lets dig up this guy's application from 10+ years ago and see if he mentioned this!!!". I am all for being honest but lets not make this out to be like the OP is hiding/lying about grades.</p>
<p>Diploma's have been revoked this way many times, it really isn't a joke. If you lie on your application, about anything, and the school finds out, you or your diploma are gone. Colleges want to make examples of some to discourage lying. Remember, they make you sign that everything you are submitting is true. </p>
<p>It sounds far fetched until you read the stories about how a jealous rejected applicant calls admissions to find out why they were rejected while a kid with a drug conviction was accepted or any one of a number of ways schools uncover lies.</p>
<p>Do you know that colleges do or don't run checks on kids? They have a responsibility to keep their campus safe.</p>