Question: After graduating I made a HUGE error in judgment and was arrested and was charged on a misdemeanor DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol). Should I mention this in my personal statement that is part of PharmCas? I have already fully disclosed this information to several supplemental questions for certain schools that ask of this but I haven’t for schools that did not. I understand that having a record is highly looked down upon and have definitely learned a lot from my experience. So I was wondering what the best course of action would be.
Answer: You can't change what has happened obviously, so you need to impress upon the committee that you have learned and matured from your error in judgment. Whether you do that in your personal statement or in the supplemental application probably doesn't matter.
Keeping in mind that you will be required to list any criminal offenses, there really isn't any way to completely avoid discussing it. However, I wouldn't belabor the point. I do think it is important that you address it head on but I should also add that it has been my experience that committee members view issues like a DUI differently depending on the age at which it occurred. Whether right or wrong, I think you'd be given a little bit more latitude if this occurred at age 21 rather than at age 41. Either way, you should address what you learned from the experience. If you did community service, such as working with young adults to educate them about the dangers of drinking and driving, include that as well.
Good luck.
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2 comments:
Well, schools are pretty smart nowadays and even though they might consider records such as this in admitting their students, it doesn't mean that you wouldn't have a chance to be admitted.
Choosing schools like pharmacy schools right now are important but it depends on the person who are interested about this you need to choose a trusted and high repugtation school for this
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