Dropped out of law school years ago after 1 year, list this or no?

[GuydeLusignan]

I have been working in the Silicon Valley for over ten years, when I was 21-22 yrs old I attended a year of law school (T1), hated it, lost my full scholarship after year 1, and dropped out to take an engineering job at Apple. I am currently in the application process for a particular STEM PhD program that is wholly unrelated to law school.

 

Question: do grad schools have any way of knowing I attended law school for a year if I don't tell them? Should I tell them? It's one blemish on an otherwise fairly strong application I think. My undergrad GPA is a 3.97 but my law school GPA was around a 2.5. It would undermine my strong work experience, references, and GPA/GRE.

 

Thank you for any advice.

edit: ethically I understand I should (and I will) list my law school mistake, but if I didn't -- would they ever know? How does the verification process work?

 

Edited November 7, 2017 by GuydeLusignan

[Warelin]

If you received any grants, loans or scholarships for that year, they will find out. If you hide it from them and they find out after you've been admitted, they can rescind your offer.

[Sigaba]

3 hours ago, GuydeLusignan said:

I have been working in the Silicon Valley for over ten years, when I was 21-22 yrs old I attended a year of law school (T1), hated it, lost my full scholarship after year 1, and dropped out to take an engineering job at Apple. I am currently in the application process for a particular STEM PhD program that is wholly unrelated to law school.

 

Question: do grad schools have any way of knowing I attended law school for a year if I don't tell them? Should I tell them? It's one blemish on an otherwise fairly strong application I think. My undergrad GPA is a 3.97 but my law school GPA was around a 2.5. It would undermine my strong work experience, references, and GPA/GRE.

 

Thank you for any advice.

edit: ethically I understand I should (and I will) list my law school mistake, but if I didn't -- would they ever know? How does the verification process work?

 

If you authorize a background check, a third party will likely perform the check. The check will discover errors and omissions. The accompanying report may indicate how significant the error or omission is and make a recommendation.

Follow the instructions on the application forms exactly. Don't risk turning a misstep from your youth into a detour away from the life you want to live. 

 

[snickus]

On 11/6/2017 at 6:40 PM, GuydeLusignan said:

Question: do grad schools have any way of knowing I attended law school for a year if I don't tell them? Should I tell them? It's one blemish on an otherwise fairly strong application I think. My undergrad GPA is a 3.97 but my law school GPA was around a 2.5. It would undermine my strong work experience, references, and GPA/GRE.

I agree with the others that schools could find out, so it's best to be honest about it.

I wanted to address your concern that it undermines the rest of your application. I don't think that's the case at all. Through that experience, you learned more about your true interests and where you want to be professionally/academically. If anything, your success in Silicon Valley afterward confirms that STEM is where you belong. They're professionals and know how important fit is. They'll understand that your law school gpa reflects a poor fit not a lack of general ability or indication that you'll perform poorly in their program. Of course, I don't know for sure if they'll take this perspective, but I'd be really surprised if highly intelligent professionals didn't understand this.

I also attended a top law school years back. I completed just one semester, left in the middle of the second. I didn't do poorly, but my grades in the substantive classes weren't spectacular. I understand that it's annoying to have a GPA that doesn't really reflect your potential. In my case, I didn't study for finals, not at all, which I know you understand is pretty much unheard of! So it's frustrating to know they're seeing a GPA that doesn't even accurately represent my aptitude for law, just my attitude towards it (total misery lol). I'm not stressing it though because I plan to discuss how that experience taught me that it's the cognitive elements of study in the humanities that engage me and are essential for me. Our situations are a bit different, but similar enough that I get your concern. Really though, unless they're looking for doctoral students to double as law students  I don't think that will undermine your strong record elsewhere. It'll just confirm that you didn't belong there, and you've been in the field that's right for you since then.

Edited November 8, 2017 by snickus

[lemma]

I was in a sort of similar scenario. I did some college courses in high school and was enrolled at two universities at once by necessity (long story). I didn't feel that either fell neatly into the application form, so I created an additional document that described these, and added a note saying to contact me for more information or transcripts as needed. They haven't contacted me, so I hope all is OK. 

[GuydeLusignan]

Thank you all for the helpful and wholehearted replies. My mind is at ease now.