Question for Character and Fitness

jwrigh73

I have a question for the Character and Fitness portion of the Law School application. I was basically caught Tresspassing in my bosses office, and initially lied about it to the Director of Community standards. on my record is failure to comply, dishonesty, and trespassing. In your guys' opinion, would the Dishonesty be the biggest deal breaker for my law school application? If it helps i can private message my addendum...

Jessica_Kuba

Hi @jwrigh73, if it is on your record it would be wise to disclose it and explain what went wrong. This is so important especially if you plan to sit for the bar exam. Also, @"david.busis" would have a greater insight on this.

David Busis

Unfortunately, you'll definitely have to disclose what you did and what went on your record. I'll be honest—it may raise a red flag. But all is not lost. If you can write a very genuine mea culpa, convince the adcom that you've learned your lesson, and demonstrate that the incident has moved you in a positive direction, you might be just fine.

There's a section on addenda in the Admissions Starter course: https://7sage.com/enroll-admissions/

Alex

This is something I would pay for the Admissions course/@david.Busis for. IT isn't a deal breaker, but like many C&F issues, wording and how you handle it is a BIG deal. The few hundred bucks now vs. 200k and no admission to the bar just doesn't even compare.

People have done much worse and been admitted. C&F things are honestly fairly common but you don't hear about them because people are embarrassed or don't know the weight of the issues. Debt for example is going to be a BIG C&F issue for me. I was in a car accident in 2010 and have like 60k in med debt I can't pay. I'm going to hire @david.busis to help me when the time comes because I know it's not a deal breaker, but just going rogue isn't worth the risk.

In short, don't fret. Just get the necessary professional help and resolve it. Through TLS I know kids with DWIs, felonies, arsons, you name it all admitted. Lying is what gets you in trouble most of the time anyways. Candor and an explanation of how you've changed goes a long way with the C&F peeps.