MIP alcohol, how will this affect grad school admission?

[Mike91kim91]

Hi,

I am a 2nd year undergraduate student at UCI, who unfortunately, and with the most worst luck, got a misdemeanor of MIP. I really am wondering how will this affect my grad school apps especially in the area of physics? I feel , least in my opinion, that i am a good kid, i just made the wrong decision and had the worst terrible luck. Is there any advice i should do if this misdemeanor means alot? Hire an attourny, etc? I also know that my school has filed me in breaking one of their conduct rules so now the record of my misdemeanor probably goes under their records as well. I feel like my future is curmbling or at the very least i made a very huge dent into what otherwise would have been a successful college-post college career. I really want to know what i am facing here and if theres anything i can do to fix myself. I appreciate cold and honest answers and if possible, good advice. IT is sort of obvious that i am kind of freaking out, but i really want to go to grad school and i feel this really did me in.

Any sort of response regarding to this will be MUCH appreciated

Michael.

[badphysicist]

Hi,

I am a 2nd year undergraduate student at UCI, who unfortunately, and with the most worst luck, got a misdemeanor of MIP. I really am wondering how will this affect my grad school apps especially in the area of physics? I feel , least in my opinion, that i am a good kid, i just made the wrong decision and had the worst terrible luck. Is there any advice i should do if this misdemeanor means alot? Hire an attourny, etc? I also know that my school has filed me in breaking one of their conduct rules so now the record of my misdemeanor probably goes under their records as well. I feel like my future is curmbling or at the very least i made a very huge dent into what otherwise would have been a successful college-post college career. I really want to know what i am facing here and if theres anything i can do to fix myself. I appreciate cold and honest answers and if possible, good advice. IT is sort of obvious that i am kind of freaking out, but i really want to go to grad school and i feel this really did me in.

Any sort of response regarding to this will be MUCH appreciated

Michael.

So you got caught with some beers at a college party? I really wouldn't worry about it, though take it as a warning to stay away from that stuff and don't get into any more trouble. If you're really worried about it you could always include a short sentence or two saying this thing happened, I learned it was bad, and I never did it again.

[midwestphysics]

Yeah I wouldn't worry too much, but if you're that worried about it talk to your advisor and if need be a lawyer. Did you already go to court or is this old? Coming from a family of cops, unless you were a total dick, if you explain the situation about 70% of the time the cop is cool enough to knock it down to something less or even outright agree to talk to the judge for you and dismiss it. Most of them are cooler than you think, and understand kids will be kids, even if they popped you to begin with. That is of course as I said you weren't a dick to them. My suggestion, schedule court time, that's extra pay for them, and they do appreciate it. Just talk to him before you get into court and explain the situation, be honest. Let him know that you know it was stupid, and that you're not looking to get a free ride, but that something they don't intend to do major damage might. Which honestly I’m not sold that it will. Still, I've known many cops and you'd be surprised how often approaching them works. If you can do that, and get your record clear in court, you can challenge the school. I highly doubt that you will lose that appeal because if your legal record is clean it would be defamation for your academic record to cite a legal violation that doesn't exist. They might still mark down some sort of misconduct for something lesser, but I'm betting you can kick up enough dust to make them think twice.

[admissionprof]

Most grad school applications won't ask about misdemeanors, and your transcript also won't (unless you are suspended for a semester), so there will be no need to mention it. In the unlikely case that they do ask, just add a couple of sentences to your SOP. Don't make a big deal about it.

Besides, I suspect that 90% of all admissions committee members were, at one point, a minor in possession of alcohol (unless you are applying to BYU).

[Dreaded Anomaly]

Besides, I suspect that 90% of all admissions committee members were, at one point, a minor in possession of alcohol (unless you are applying to BYU).

Or they were lucky enough to be in college during the period of time when the drinking age was sensible, i.e. 18.

[HappyQuark]

Most grad school applications won't ask about misdemeanors, and your transcript also won't (unless you are suspended for a semester), so there will be no need to mention it. In the unlikely case that they do ask, just add a couple of sentences to your SOP. Don't make a big deal about it.

Besides, I suspect that 90% of all admissions committee members were, at one point, a minor in possession of alcohol (unless you are applying to BYU).

I seem to recall that the majority of my applications asked about misdemeanors although I don't recall exactly how many of them did.

[grae313]

You're sure it wasn't felonies?

[CarlBrannen]

Back in the day it was fairly uncommon to go to jail. Now they shove huge numbers of people in there for things that were ignored 30 years ago. The number of laws has increased, and the way those laws are enforced has become more severe. Here's the results, our steady march to the condition of a police state:



So older admission folks might be the ones that are more surprised by convictions than the younger.

P.S. Heck, I can recall when you could carry a pack of cigarettes and a lighter on board an jet liner. And use them.

[t2kburl]

Wow! That is a disturbing graph!

Is our society proportionally safer? I'd say NO!

[HappyQuark]

You're sure it wasn't felonies?

I thought I recall them asking about misdemeanors but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I'm mistaken. I don't have either on my record so I didn't pay much attention to the question.

[astrok]

You're sure it wasn't felonies?

I thought I recall them asking about misdemeanors but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I'm mistaken. I don't have either on my record so I didn't pay much attention to the question.

I have some of my applications saved, so I checked, and none of them asked me about misdemeanors, only felonies.

[HappyQuark]

You're sure it wasn't felonies?

I thought I recall them asking about misdemeanors but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I'm mistaken. I don't have either on my record so I didn't pay much attention to the question.

I have some of my applications saved, so I checked, and none of them asked me about misdemeanors, only felonies.

In that case I would assume I remember it incorrectly. Thanks for checking.

[ticklecricket]

If they do ask about it (which I doubt they will), you could easily explain it in your personal statement, and I doubt any committee would care.