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Will 4+ traffic violations hurt my applications a lot?

I had around 20 traffic violations. Mostly speeding.

It doesn't make a difference at all.

You will probably be fine as long as you honestly disclose. Law schools are just making sure you would pass character and fitness. Usually, that's only a problem for people who don't properly disclose or people whose conduct shows willful disregard for the law- generally, 4-5 speeding tickets is nowhere close to that point.

I had around 20 traffic violations. Mostly speeding.

Yikes. What do you drive?

kalvano wrote:I had around 20 traffic violations. Mostly speeding.

It doesn't make a difference at all.

Did you report them all? And thank you so much for responding. I was having a small panic attack.

LOL Flame. No one worries about this. And if you get a speeding ticket without it bring bumped down, you are a loser.

If not, most applications let you omit minor traffic violations.

lharsha wrote:

kalvano wrote:I had around 20 traffic violations. Mostly speeding.

It doesn't make a difference at all.

Did you report them all? And thank you so much for responding. I was having a small panic attack.

ughh. how does someone get so lost in this process mentally that they think the disclosure of 4-5 traffic tickets is going to affect in any way their chances of admission to law school? ofuckingblivious.

/rant

nealric wrote:You will probably be fine as long as you honestly disclose. Law schools are just making sure you would pass character and fitness. Usually, that's only a problem for people who don't properly disclose or people whose conduct shows willful disregard for the law- generally, 4-5 speeding tickets is nowhere close to that point.

I had around 20 traffic violations. Mostly speeding.

Yikes. What do you drive?

Seriously, wouldn't you lose your license for this?

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

lharsha wrote:

kalvano wrote:I had around 20 traffic violations. Mostly speeding.

It doesn't make a difference at all.

Did you report them all? And thank you so much for responding. I was having a small panic attack.

ughh. how does someone get so lost in this process mentally that they think the disclosure of 4-5 traffic tickets is going to affect in any way their chances of admission to law school? ofuckingblivious.

/rant

Well I was reading Ann Levine's book about applying and it said that 4 may seem a little fishy to law schools. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. I thought that was what this forum is for. Not to be embarrassed and degraded by peers. My mistake.

5 tickets in 5 years, with the most recent being this past May, does show a pattern of disregard for the law. That being said, most apps allow you to omit traffic violations. For the ones that don't, write a good addendum explaining that you have learned your lesson or something. You should be fine, even on the apps that make you disclose it.

let/them/eat/cake wrote:ughh. how does someone get so lost in this process mentally that they think the disclosure of 4-5 traffic tickets is going to affect in any way their chances of admission to law school? ofuckingblivious.

/rant

Um...yeah. OP: you might want to seek out a less stressful vocation. If something that trivial gave you a panic attack, you're going to be in a padded room in ~5 years.

MrKappus wrote:

let/them/eat/cake wrote:ughh. how does someone get so lost in this process mentally that they think the disclosure of 4-5 traffic tickets is going to affect in any way their chances of admission to law school? ofuckingblivious.

/rant

Um...yeah. OP: you might want to seek out a less stressful vocation. If something that trivial gave you a panic attack, you're going to be in a padded room in ~5 years.

I was just really worried that something that I've been working so hard to achieve might be unobtainable because of stupid mistakes. I'll decide what's best for me. Thanks for your input though.

A lot of schools ask for stuff that doesn't appear on your record. Most (all but two) of my tickets were dismissed or deferred.

And I did not include all of them, mainly because I don't remember all of them. I addressed that in my addendum, that any omission is not intentional, it's just a matter of not remembering.

The main thing is to read the applications closely to verify what level of traffic violations they want you to disclose. Some may just ask for the more extreme violations like reckless op, DUI, etc. Other want every little thing disclosed. You will want to get all the info on the traffic violations from the city or county where you received the tickets. It shouldn;t be too hard since most are now online. I had three tickets and was cited in an accident 12+ years ago and I was able to get everything in less than a day.

Also.....make a real effort to not get any other tickets!

KBicknell wrote:The main thing is to read the applications closely to verify what level of traffic violations they want you to disclose. Some may just ask for the more extreme violations like reckless op, DUI, etc. Other want every little thing disclosed. You will want to get all the info on the traffic violations from the city or county where you received the tickets. It shouldn;t be too hard since most are now online. I had three tickets and was cited in an accident 12+ years ago and I was able to get everything in less than a day.

Also.....make a real effort to not get any other tickets!

Thanks very much. I feel a lot better. And I am trying very hard not to get anymore

5 tickets in 5 years, with the most recent being this past May, does show a pattern of disregard for the law.

I disagree for people who drive a lot. It only take a moment's inattention to break the speed limit. I used to drive 20k miles a year, and got a speeding ticket two years in a row (only two I have ever gotten). Both times were due to a moment's inattention (missing a changed speed sign while talking to a passenger).

In most cases you don't have to reports traffick violations

nealric wrote:

5 tickets in 5 years, with the most recent being this past May, does show a pattern of disregard for the law.

I disagree for people who drive a lot. It only take a moment's inattention to break the speed limit. I used to drive 20k miles a year, and got a speeding ticket two years in a row (only two I have ever gotten). Both times were due to a moment's inattention (missing a changed speed sign while talking to a passenger).

You may disagree, but Adcoms may not. If you read the rest of my post, I go on to say it should not hurt the OP. Given two candidates with similar stats, I think the Adcoms may pick the one without the 5 tickets. So, it can matter.

Given two candidates with similar stats, I think the Adcoms may pick the one without the 5 tickets. So, it can matter.

Highly doubtful.

In fact, many applications specifically ask you to exclude minor traffic infractions in listing any criminal history.

nealric wrote:

Given two candidates with similar stats, I think the Adcoms may pick the one without the 5 tickets. So, it can matter.

Highly doubtful.

In fact, many applications specifically ask you to exclude minor traffic infractions in listing any criminal history.

Did you read my original post at all?

CG614 wrote:5 tickets in 5 years, with the most recent being this past May, does show a pattern of disregard for the law. That being said, most apps allow you to omit traffic violations. For the ones that don't, write a good addendum explaining that you have learned your lesson or something. You should be fine, even on the apps that make you disclose it.

The only school I remember who wanted traffic that I applied to was IUB.

Desert Fox wrote:The only school I remember who wanted traffic that I applied to was IUB.

NYU, GW, Minn, and GMU make you disclose.

Did you read my original post at all?

Nope, sorry.

You are right most do tell you to omit minor traffic violations but some ask for you to explian such as Wake Forest and a few other schools regardles you should definatly error on the side of full disclosure.

nealric wrote:

Given two candidates with similar stats, I think the Adcoms may pick the one without the 5 tickets. So, it can matter.

Highly doubtful.

In fact, many applications specifically ask you to exclude minor traffic infractions in listing any criminal history.

Having a ton of tickets didn't seem to hold me back any.

kalvano wrote:

nealric wrote:

Given two candidates with similar stats, I think the Adcoms may pick the one without the 5 tickets. So, it can matter.

Highly doubtful.

In fact, many applications specifically ask you to exclude minor traffic infractions in listing any criminal history.

Having a ton of tickets didn't seem to hold me back any.

What did you say about all your tickets? Did you list them individually, or did you just mention you had gotten tickets.

Also: Does NYU really make you disclose speeding tickets? I read the application, and it doesn't say "excluding minor violations" or anything, but I still didn't think you needed to disclose that hardcore..