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Hey guys, I have a really important question. Thank you for any responses.

My freshman year of college, I had an honor code violation for cheating on a Chemistry test. I ended up receiving an F in the class because of it. Now that I am applying to law school, I am worried that this will not only impact my chances of receiving acceptances, but that it will affect my chances of being admitted into the BAR. I will be completely upfront about the dishonesty in my applications. Please respond if you have any knowledge of past cases similar to this, or if you think it could seriously impact my chances of being admitted into the BAR.

Thanks

Also I should mention that I have a 3.75 GPA (including the F!) and a 170 lsat. I extremely regret the incident, feel like I have matured since, and really hope this does not screw up my life. My worst nightmare is being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after law school and not being accepted by the BAR.

Not a killer for the bar. Happens somewhat regularly, as long as you are upfront it, clearly contrite, and kept your nose clean since.

Not exactly peaches and cream for a law school app but as long as you're honest and remorseful, it won't kill you. Law schools don't insta-ding people for C&F unless it's bar-killing. And sometimes not even then. Obviously won't help and might be a reason you underperform your numbers, so heads up on that one.

Thank you so much for your reply! I'm hoping that since it was freshman year that it looks a little better, and I definitely have learned from it. It will NEVER happen again. I'm still hoping for top 25, i hope it's doable

It's gonna be a caution flag, but I don't think it will ultimately be as bad as you're worrying it will. I'd be surprised if you got locked out of the T14.