Application Question- Academic Integrity

[shipbound]

Hi,

So during my undergraduate career I was wrongly charged with a violation of the University's Academic Integrity policy. Basically, I was in a group of four for a term length research project. One group member was extremely ambitious. We were having trouble getting a location to allow us to collect data, and we showed up to class one day and she told us and the professor that she had rushed to the place at the end of a day and was able to collect data. This was right before Thanksgiving. When we got back from Thanksgiving she had completed the data section of our paper, but she was always ahead and this wasn't exactly a surprise. Long story short, after we presented the next week we were selected to be part of a showcase. She then confessed to us she had made up all the data and wanted us to help her cover it up so we wouldn't go to the showcase. I, along with my three other group mates, reported her to the professor. After a disorganized process, he ultimately came to the conclusion that he didn't know what happened so he was going to charge us all with Cheating/Fabrication, which would result in a mark on our records and we could appeal his decision through the University Conduct Board. The three other groupmates and I appealed, were granted a hearing, and were found not responsible.

Now that I am seriously considering Law as I enter my junior year, is this going to impact me in any way? I'm not sure of if I would need to disclose this or not since I was found not responsible. I know that the University keeps files on this sort of thing for 8 years, regardless of the outcome.


TLDR: I was accused by a teacher of data fabrication after I reported one of my groupmates for fabrication, I appealed, got a hearing, and was found by a board to be not responsible. Will this hurt me in applying for law school?

[deadpoetnsp]

TL;DR: A cover-up may hurt you more than disclosure

Disclose it to the Admissions Office, and you will be fine. A neutral tone (like in your TL;DR summary) will work best. Some schools may have a box/field in the main application; others may want you to include an addendum. You will also likely have to disclose it when you take the Bar after graduating, and it will not look good if the information is missing from your admissions file (yes, they do cross-check your admissions file when you take the Bar).