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Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

August 2, 2019

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Can You Get Accepted After Doing Something Stupid?

Downlad the Free Guide Here to Learn How to Write a Great Application Essay!

The point of this article is not to tell you that you shouldn’t engage in disorderly conduct, petty theft, or other minor (or major) infractions (though you really shouldn’t…); what we want to discuss here is how you should overcome the obstacle of a criminal record when approached with the application question: “Have you ever been convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain.”

If you did something stupid, something deserving of a conviction or suspension, how do you prove to an admissions committee that you are worthy of their acceptance?

Don’t Try to Hide a Conviction

Admissions committees (and the firms they hire) conduct background checks on applicants, and an unexplained discrepancy gives them an easy reason to reject your application or withdraw an offer of admission. So, when asked, own up to your behavior on your application.

Don’t Make Excuses

The biggest struggle you may face is overloading your writing with justifications of your behavior. Even very subtle self-serving statements can be read by an admissions committee as failure to take responsibility for your actions. Leave out the excuses and directly address what you did.

Don’t Go Overboard Addressing the Infraction

Avoid turning your applications into overblown mea culpas. Usually a well-written response to an application’s “failure” essay question is enough; don’t discuss your mistakes in every element of the application – that’s too much!

Show That You Learned Your Lesson and That Your Past Behavior Won’t Happen Again

This step tends to be less of a struggle, because usually you can express remorse, detail the actions you took to atone for your behavior, and show how you matured from your experiences. For example, consider illustrating how you became heavily involved with your community, counseled others who tended toward that same behavior, and turned your failure into a success benefiting others.

Perfect execution of these suggestions will increase your chances of admission, but they may not be enough to gain you acceptance to a top school. So avoid having to deal with this situation altogether: think twice and three times before you do something that you could regret for a very long time.

Are you applying to grad school with a criminal record? Work one-on-one with an Accepted advisor to evaluate your profile, figure out where you should apply, and devise an admissions strategy that will help you present your story in the best light to improve your chances of acceptance. View our Graduate School Admissions Consulting Services for more information. 

Download Free: 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Personal Statement!

AcceptedFor 25 years, Accepted has helped applicants gain acceptance to top undergraduate and graduate programs. Our expert team of admissions consultants features former admissions directors, PhDs, and professional writers who have advised clients to acceptance at top programs worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, MIT, Caltech, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern. Want an admissions expert to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• From Example to Exemplary, a free guide to writing outstanding application essays
• Your Past Doesn’t Define You, a podcast episode
• The Importance of Obstacles in Your Application Essays

Article by Accepted / Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions / weakness

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