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Can I get into law school with a misdemeanor?
Ironic question, but I had a little implication with the police over a year ago and felt I should check before beginning to study for the LSAT. It was a misdemeanor for smoking pot in a state park in Ohio. License was suspended for six months and I paid a fine. Should I be worried about this information being accessible by law schools?
Public Comments
- Check with the Clerk of Court's office for your State. You may be able to have your record sealed or expunged. Talk to the law school where you want to apply. Talk to an advisor and see what they have to say. One mistake should not bar you from your future if this is what you really what to do.
- you should be concerned, but not paranoid! who knows how the law work? it might stay on your record for 7 years, but will that disqualify you from law school? no!! it shouldn't!! good luck!!
- you can go to law school with a class A Felony. The real question is, can you become a lawyer, right? If that's true, you must first know the meaning and value of words, I'm not trying to be a jerk but you really do need to say what it is you mean..............oh, by the way, I don't know.
- I would be less concerned with getting into law school than with applying to sit for the bar in your state. Im sure you can get into law school, but bar committees in different states ask for your criminal history (all of it, traffic violations, etc) for the last 10 years or since you were 18, so be sure to check with the state bar association in your state.
- Most applications ask for any offense which you have been arrested for, so getting it expunged will not matter. As far as getting into law school, yes you can, just make sure you include an addendem that owns up to the mistake. The bar will do a Character and Fitness review when you graduate, and if that is all you have and you do not mess up in law school, it will have been 4-5 years old. You will have to explain to them you screwed up, but they will probably let you in. Only about .001 percent of cases they say no to. THey are mostly looking for felonies and a pattern of behavior. Good Luck on the LSAT.
