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"Have you ever been convicted of any offense, excluding minor traffic or parking violations?"

Does an infraction due to an open container count? Just not sure since it was only and infraction and I only had to pay a little over $100.

Thanks for any tips

An open container while driving, or just walking around?

while driving. key point for me is the "infraction" on my court record vs. misdemeanor or something worse

open container while driving isnt a minor traffic ticket because the offense itself would get you charged regardless of if you were driving.


Schools really need to get together and set some guidelines for these questions. They vary from not even asking you to disclose stuff to requiring your driver history report... cmon.

General rule: disclose it anyway, whether it's specifically required or not. Better safe than sorry.

cinephile wrote:General rule: disclose it anyway, whether it's specifically required or not. Better safe than sorry.

+1

It's also mostly not for them. It's for the Character & Fitness part of passing the bar. They just want you to be forthcoming to begin with.

so i guess i tick the box and then add an addendum explaining the situation (I was the DD to a concert when I was 18 and a friend of a friend refused to wear her seat-belt and not drink, it was super weird I kept asking her to not do what she was doing but as soon as I'd stop looking back in my van she'd just start back up again). i feel like giving all the detail sounds like complaining and I should maybe just put my court report and talk about how i learned from the experience and haven't been in trouble since. i'd also like to put the court report because i'd like to emphasize the small size of the fine and the fact that it was just an infraction.

thanks again for all the advice

FlanAl wrote:so i guess i tick the box and then add an addendum explaining the situation (I was the DD to a concert when I was 18 and a friend of a friend refused to wear her seat-belt and not drink, it was super weird I kept asking her to not do what she was doing but as soon as I'd stop looking back in my van she'd just start back up again). i feel like giving all the detail sounds like complaining and I should maybe just put my court report and talk about how i learned from the experience and haven't been in trouble since. i'd also like to put the court report because i'd like to emphasize the small size of the fine and the fact that it was just an infraction.

thanks again for all the advice

lol. Just say you were driving a car in which someone was drinking and you got a ticket and learned to be more responsible for others. The end. You dont need a court report unless the school asks for it specifically.

How does this sound?

On DATE OF INCIDENT I was the designated driver to a concert for some older friends who were home from college. One passenger was not wearing her seatbelt and there was alcohol being consumed in my car. I was charged with an infraction and paid a $150 fine. This incident taught me to be much more aware of my responsibility in regards to both my own and the actions of others.

Too much details. Just the infraction, and how it made you become more responsible for not only your own actions but others around you.

Sandro777 wrote:Too much details. Just the infraction, and how it made you become more responsible for not only your own actions but others around you.

I dunno, there's a substantive enough difference if it's a van vs. a Mini Cooper, a DD as part of a group vs. "hired", and one's own booze vs. someone else's.

delusional wrote:

Sandro777 wrote:Too much details. Just the infraction, and how it made you become more responsible for not only your own actions but others around you.

I dunno, there's a substantive enough difference if it's a van vs. a Mini Cooper, a DD as part of a group vs. "hired", and one's own booze vs. someone else's.

No there isnt. This isnt Judge Judy. If I was speeding and got a ticket I wouldnt go into some speech about how my GF had to use the bathroom or I left the stove on - the whole point of this process is taking responsibility for what youve done. I got caught "drinking" freshman year in the dorms, even though I had not touched a drop of alcohol and there was two beers in a room of 6 people. These types of infractions are usually trivial in the admissions process and if you come off like a whiner its not good.

The law says you cant drive a car with people drinking. Its your responsibility. Own it.

FlanAl wrote:How does this sound?

On DATE OF INCIDENT I was the designated driver to a concert for some older friends who were home from college. One passenger was not wearing her seatbelt and there was alcohol being consumed in my car. I was charged with an infraction and paid a $150 fine. This incident taught me to be much more aware of my responsibility in regards to both my own and the actions of others.

Get rid of the passive voice here. It makes it sound like you are obfuscating the issue of whether or not you were drinking.

On DATE OF INCIDENT I was pulled over with an open container of alcohol in my mini-van. I was charged with an infraction and paid a $150 fine. This incident taught me to be much more aware of my responsibility in regards to both my own actions and the actions of others.

Is this better? I just want to make it clear that I was DUI-ing it.

To give closer to the whole story: Basically my mini-van was at full capacity and some girl my friend was trying to hook up with refused to put on her seat-belt and put away her bottle of crown. I asked her twice, sternly, to put on her seat-belt and to not drink in my car. After the second time I stopped paying attention, she was sitting in the back of my van, 5 minutes later I got pulled over and had to do a sobriety test, twice because the cop didn't believe I hadn't been drinking. That girls actions have pissed me off to this day and I probably should have kicked her out of my car.

baaaah done venting I hope the above looks better

Specify the infraction charge & make it very clear that you were not & had not been drinking.

so like VC?????? the issue is that in california this is both an open container and possession of marijuana I don't want to sound whiny but I also don't want their imaginations to wander to far from what actually happened.

What about for:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor(other than a minor traffic violation)?"

should I just put no since I was only charged with an infraction?

thanks a bunch!

Just disclose it. It's no big deal if you disclose it, but it is a big deal if you fail to disclose it and they expected you to.

cool thanks a bunch

Disclose everything. You are highly screwed if you fail to disclose any materially responsive information in response to C & F questions. (Be sure to be current on all your financial obligations.) Traffic violations and misdemeanors, particularly old ones, are nothing to sweat. I had a rather, ah, colorful past when I applied for bar admission, disclosed everything, and was admitted.