Do I have a problem on my hands? Forum

[Tuttle10]

So some may say I have quite an extensive criminal record. I am 21 years old now, and have been wanting to pursue law for as long as I can remember. When I was 18 I was charged with a public drunkenness which is a misdemeanor. The officer respected me somewhat because I cooperated and did not give me an underage drinking which would have suspended my license. When I was 20 I received a DUI in the state of New Jersey. In New Jersey a DUI is only a traffic offense not criminal, I'm not entirely sure that makes a difference though. Being that a DUI is a DUI, the jurisdiction in which I was convicted in does not change the fault. Six months after my DUI I received an Minor in possession of Alcohol (MIP) and now have that on my record. So overall on my record I have two misdemeanors, a public drunkenness and a MIP. The DUI is not on my criminal record, but it is on my traffic script. So what I am getting at is, will this hold me back from being admitted to law school. My GPA is a 3.3 and has a great chance to be higher since I am only a Junior. I will obviously disclose everything on my applications and hopefully I do very well on the LSAT. Should I be stressing out as much as I am, because quiet frankly this has been the only thing on my mind. All feedback is appreciated.

[phillywc]

You can still go to law school. Disclose, disclose, disclose and you'll get to be a lawyer. It will hurt your cycle but fuck of course it will.

I'd recommend you stop drinking and driving though. Or any alcohol related crimes. Hard to craft a narrative ab out you growing when you keep doing shit. Maybe take a few years off after undergrad.

[hdunlop]

Time off is TCR I think. Work experience and a few years without a record should mitigate it a ton plus it'll prove to yourself as well as others that you actually can quit doing stupid shit (or at least quit getting caught). Better to know for sure before the debt than after.

[oshberg28]

The bigger issue might be not addressing your drinking problem. Disclosing is a good first step, but I think the admissions folks will want to know what you have done to fix it - ie, getting help. You might say that you don't have a problem and have it under control; that won't fly with many adcoms, IMO.

[Ti Malice]

You will definitely be admitted somewhere; that's not really the concern, as many law schools require little more than ~$85 and the ability to fog a mirror. The real concern is that you might not get into a school worth attending at the price you'll have to pay, because you can definitely expect to underperform your numbers. As others have said, you should work for a few years and get a handle on your apparent drinking problem. If you can stop adding to your record, you'll have a much better cycle in a few years than you will if you try to go K-JD.