1st Offense DUI after applying to grad school

[SLPwannabe1]

Prior to the start of the 2nd semester, I made a reckless and foolish decision and was subsequently charged with 1st Offense DUI, a serious misdemeanor in my state. The charge happened AFTER I had submitted my grad school applications, so I obviously did not select "Yes" when asked if ever convicted of a misdemeanor. (My eventual conviction will not occur for another 4-6 months due to processing time.) I have been offered a couple interviews so far, but no acceptances yet. I purchased a background check on myself, and the charge is there with all other information pending, as it is a pending case. I know clinicals and ultimately obtaining a job will be more difficult as a result of the charge, but upon contacting licensing board not necessarily impossible. 

My question is four-part: 

1) Should I be upfront and contact the schools now, even though I still have not been convicted and technically could still not answer "yes" to the misdemeanor question? Would this ultimately close me out from any hope of acceptance, especially the charge being so recent? 

2) Should I hope for acceptance, to prove myself to the school, and then ultimately announce the incident upon actual conviction? Or will this be seen as shady? 

3) If I should contact someone about the incident, who would you recommend speaking to in the department? 

4) Should I just give up on SLP and try to find something outside the medical field? 

I have been depressed and distraught for the past couple weeks at both the prospect of losing my dream as an SLP, but most importantly the greater impact I could have caused to myself or other drivers that night. I am well aware that I could have caused an accident which would lead another driver or passenger to require the very services I hope to provide someday. If anything, my huge mistake has made me more motivated to go into this field and make a difference. I know I deserve no pity or help, but if anyone has any advice on the matter, I would certainly appreciate it. 

 0

[Paslp]

Wow thats a pretty crazy situation you're in. I have 2 suggestions:

 contacting grad admissions offices (not the program itself) to see if their policy requires you to inform them of any arrests/misdemeanor once they occur. If you call you can stay anonymous. 

Waiting to see if you are actually accepted.  Then afterward informing the program director/dept chair of the program so they know. 

Either way, you should DEFINITELY tell or ask someone affiliated with the school before starting the program. Even though it hasn't happened yet, the conviction is on its way, so hiding that fact for an extended period of time seems a little dubious. 

Also, thats school's reputation is at stake. And as you mentioned, once they receive your background check for in house clinic, or when they are choosing off site placements for you, it will come up. Handling the conversation then might be awkward.

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Paslp

[angela4]

I'm not sure about any of the legal stuff, but try not to be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. My friend lost her teaching license for marijuana possession. She had to stop teaching in public schools for (I think) 2 years but she found another job in education in the interim. Then she got her license back and has a great teaching job (again, this is just the way she described it to me, so I can't say for sure that it is exactly what happened). So, things might be more difficult for you now than before the DUI, but I'm sure there are others who have gone through it and come out ok professionally. 

[SLPwannabe1]

47 minutes ago, Paslp said:

Wow thats a pretty crazy situation you're in. I have 2 suggestions:

 contacting grad admissions offices (not the program itself) to see if their policy requires you to inform them of any arrests/misdemeanor once they occur. If you call you can stay anonymous. 

Waiting to see if you are actually accepted.  Then afterward informing the program director/dept chair of the program so they know. 

Either way, you should DEFINITELY tell or ask someone affiliated with the school before starting the program. Even though it hasn't happened yet, the conviction is on its way, so hiding that fact for an extended period of time seems a little dubious. 

Also, thats school's reputation is at stake. And as you mentioned, once they receive your background check for in house clinic, or when they are choosing off site placements for you, it will come up. Handling the conversation then might be awkward.

 

Thanks for your thoughts! I really appreciate it.

If I was accepted at a school, would you recommend trying to meet with the program director in person, rather than via phone or email?

Edited February 10, 2017 by SLPwannabe1

[WanaBSLP]

2 hours ago, SLPwannabe1 said:

Prior to the start of the 2nd semester, I made a reckless and foolish decision and was subsequently charged with 1st Offense DUI, a serious misdemeanor in my state. The charge happened AFTER I had submitted my grad school applications, so I obviously did not select "Yes" when asked if ever convicted of a misdemeanor. (My eventual conviction will not occur for another 4-6 months due to processing time.) I have been offered a couple interviews so far, but no acceptances yet. I purchased a background check on myself, and the charge is there with all other information pending, as it is a pending case. I know clinicals and ultimately obtaining a job will be more difficult as a result of the charge, but upon contacting licensing board not necessarily impossible. 

My question is four-part: 

1) Should I be upfront and contact the schools now, even though I still have not been convicted and technically could still not answer "yes" to the misdemeanor question? Would this ultimately close me out from any hope of acceptance, especially the charge being so recent? 

2) Should I hope for acceptance, to prove myself to the school, and then ultimately announce the incident upon actual conviction? Or will this be seen as shady? 

3) If I should contact someone about the incident, who would you recommend speaking to in the department? 

4) Should I just give up on SLP and try to find something outside the medical field? 

I have been depressed and distraught for the past couple weeks at both the prospect of losing my dream as an SLP, but most importantly the greater impact I could have caused to myself or other drivers that night. I am well aware that I could have caused an accident which would lead another driver or passenger to require the very services I hope to provide someday. If anything, my huge mistake has made me more motivated to go into this field and make a difference. I know I deserve no pity or help, but if anyone has any advice on the matter, I would certainly appreciate it. 

 0

Hello!! I'm so sorry for what you're going through and mistakes happen. Will you be getting a lawyer to fight this? I think I would wait until you actually get sentenced or charged. Some times things change and maybe it won't go on your record like a plea bargain. But I will say that to work in some school district everyone has to get a background check... I would definitely say something to director if it will be affecting you're placement. So maybe after you get acceptance letters, you should meet with them and pour your heart out. 

We had some SLP-Assistants that had stuff on their record and were able to get placements and jobs afterwards. 

Edited February 10, 2017 by WanaBSLP

[jmk]

Don't be too hard on yourself. 

As mentioned above, I would contact the graduate departments (not the CD department) and ask about the policy. After acceptance/s, I would then ask to meet with the program director in person. I would also wait until the charge is officially on your record before disclosing...so sometime before you would start Fall semester. 

Also, I would definitely search around and look into minimizing or expunging since it's your first offense. I just did a quick Google, and saw that one of the options is an Accelerated Rehab program where you take classes, undergo probation, then can have the offense expunged. Or plea bargaining. I type the above things with zero knowledge about the legal system, haha. Have you talked with an attorney?