singerdancer Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Hi, I will be applying to the 2020-21 cycle this upcoming April. As i was scrolling through the CASPA site, I noticed the section about conduct violations at ones university. My freshman year I received a charge from my school (not a misdemeanor, and nothing with the police) for leaving a bottle of alcohol under my bed before thanksgiving break. My RA found it and I received an alcohol charge with the campus. The punishment for this was a $50 fine and I had to take a two hour alcohol course about underage drinking. Basically, Im super stressed about this. Even though this was four years ago and I have plenty of other things going for me on my application, I am concerned that this will prevent me from getting any interviews/acceptances. I feel like I will be placed in a pool with everyone else who checks "yes" to this box, and will make it harder for me to be accepted. Any advice on this matter or past experiences would be gratefully appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Hi, I will be applying to the 2020-21 cycle this upcoming April. As i was scrolling through the CASPA site, I noticed the section about conduct violations at ones university. My freshman year I received a charge from my school (not a misdemeanor, and nothing with the police) for leaving a bottle of alcohol under my bed before thanksgiving break. My RA found it and I received an alcohol charge with the campus. The punishment for this was a $50 fine and I had to take a two hour alcohol course about underage drinking. Basically, Im super stressed about this. Even though this was four years ago and I have plenty of other things going for me on my application, I am concerned that this will prevent me from getting any interviews/acceptances. I feel like I will be placed in a pool with everyone else who checks "yes" to this box, and will make it harder for me to be accepted. Any advice on this matter or past experiences would be gratefully appreciated [emoji846] Take a breath.I don’t see this as a major issue. It was minor and quite a while ago. Consider Addressing it very briefly in your essay.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearDown Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 1 hour ago, singerdancer said: Hi, I will be applying to the 2020-21 cycle this upcoming April. As i was scrolling through the CASPA site, I noticed the section about conduct violations at ones university. My freshman year I received a charge from my school (not a misdemeanor, and nothing with the police) for leaving a bottle of alcohol under my bed before thanksgiving break. My RA found it and I received an alcohol charge with the campus. The punishment for this was a $50 fine and I had to take a two hour alcohol course about underage drinking. Basically, Im super stressed about this. Even though this was four years ago and I have plenty of other things going for me on my application, I am concerned that this will prevent me from getting any interviews/acceptances. I feel like I will be placed in a pool with everyone else who checks "yes" to this box, and will make it harder for me to be accepted. Any advice on this matter or past experiences would be gratefully appreciated two underage drinking ticket dismissals for myself. Did not mention them in any portion of the application because it specifically states convictions. It was never mentioned to me even after all the background checking up through matriculation. On pace to graduate in Aug. Wouldn't sweat over it nor would I mention it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustleforthePAC Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 You could pay to do a background check on yourself to see if it pops up. Caspa asks for you to disclose misdemeanor/felony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singerdancer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 16 minutes ago, hustleforthePAC said: You could pay to do a background check on yourself to see if it pops up. Caspa asks for you to disclose misdemeanor/felony. Thank you!! There was also a section below the misdemeanor question that said "Please identify if you committed any academic violations or your university's conduct violations." So that is where I am stuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singerdancer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 13 hours ago, BearDown said: two underage drinking ticket dismissals for myself. Did not mention them in any portion of the application because it specifically states convictions. It was never mentioned to me even after all the background checking up through matriculation. On pace to graduate in Aug. Wouldn't sweat over it nor would I mention it. Thank you! There was a portion where it asked about school code of conduct violations which is where Im stuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearDown Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 1 hour ago, singerdancer said: Thank you! There was a portion where it asked about school code of conduct violations which is where Im stuck does it show up on your transcript? If the answer is no, then I would not disclose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgriffiths Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Yeah, the key is whether this shows up on background checks and/or transcripts. If it's not on any official documentation personally I would not disclose. CASPA and individual schools will rely on your submitted paperwork, they're not going to individually call your school to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singerdancer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 22 minutes ago, BearDown said: does it show up on your transcript? If the answer is no, then I would not disclose it. I actually paid for a copy of my official transcript to make sure it wasn't on there and it wasn't! Thanks for all of your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singerdancer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 19 minutes ago, mgriffiths said: Yeah, the key is whether this shows up on background checks and/or transcripts. If it's not on any official documentation personally I would not disclose. CASPA and individual schools will rely on your submitted paperwork, they're not going to individually call your school to ask. Thank you so much! I am applying to my undergrad schools PA program. I guess if they wanted to go digging for this incident they would. Does this change anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgriffiths Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 6 minutes ago, singerdancer said: Thank you so much! I am applying to my undergrad schools PA program. I guess if they wanted to go digging for this incident they would. Does this change anything? Assuming they use CASPA (which I think all do now), I highly doubt they will dig beyond CASPA. If it isn't considered worthy to be documented on your transcript or documented on a background check, then why would the PA school care? Just FYI, I was placed on probation twice during undergrad for stupid stuff. Technically both would have been classified as trespassing while nothing permanent involved some vandalism (maybe not the right term due to no permanent damage). Neither period of probation was on my transcript and nothing on my background checks. I had zero issues with getting my license as a teacher immediately following college, zero problems with applying to PA schools, zero issues with obtaining PA license, and zero issues with getting credentialed with employer hospitals as needed. I definitely understand your concern, but I think you're being overly cautious in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singerdancer Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 1 minute ago, mgriffiths said: Assuming they use CASPA (which I think all do now), I highly doubt they will dig beyond CASPA. If it isn't considered worthy to be documented on your transcript or documented on a background check, then why would the PA school care? Just FYI, I was placed on probation twice during undergrad for stupid stuff. Technically both would have been classified as trespassing while nothing permanent involved some vandalism (maybe not the right term due to no permanent damage). Neither period of probation was on my transcript and nothing on my background checks. I had zero issues with getting my license as a teacher immediately following college, zero problems with applying to PA schools, zero issues with obtaining PA license, and zero issues with getting credentialed with employer hospitals as needed. I definitely understand your concern, but I think you're being overly cautious in this case. Thank you so much! def eased my concerns!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 2 hours ago, singerdancer said: Thank you so much! I am applying to my undergrad schools PA program. I guess if they wanted to go digging for this incident they would. Does this change anything? If you are applying to the school where you actually HAD the violation, I suggest you think long and hard about not hiding it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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