UF asking about disciplinary record???

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gliese876d
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UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by gliese876d » Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:44 pm

So I just discovered that the UF application asks, "Are you or have you ever been charged with or subject to disciplinary action for scholastic or any other type of misconduct at any educational institution?"

I never thought I'd have to talk about this, but... my very first semester of college I got busted for underage drinking, and had to meet with the Dean of the school and take alcohol classes and pay a fine.... :oops: But I mean, I'm 31 now, and that was 13 years ago! In fact I almost forgot about it completely... Do I really have to discuss this on my app? I can't imagine that would look good :cry:

nonick
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by nonick » Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:56 pm

I am in the same boat as you. I am planning to meet the dean of disciplinary affairs on Monday to discuss this. I really hope that this will not be a problem, cause in my school a good 10-20% get busted for stuff like underage drinking or weed.
I was thinking to check if this is still on my disciplinary record and if not I would just answer no. I know that this is a sort of lying, but the way I see it is that if it is erased from my record, then it's not important enough to matter. If it is still there, then I will either pick other schools to apply to (for me, it's Yale and UF that ask this question) or try to come up with a story of how this experience showed me that alcohol is not the way to go and made me more mature or this sort of bullshit.
Last edited by nonick on Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.

PoincareSection
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by PoincareSection » Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:58 pm

Does that sort of thing go on your transcripts?

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gliese876d
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by gliese876d » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:06 pm

I have a copy of my transcripts from that school, but I see nothing about it on there. Also I'm wondering how long they would even keep such a thing on record. Would they really have something from more than a decade ago on record somewhere (like nonick says, imagine how many records they'd have to keep over that many years with kids busted each year)? Do you think UF contacts your schools to make sure you're telling the truth?

nonick
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by nonick » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:16 pm

btw my school says that they keep your disciplinary records for 7 years after you graduate. So maybe you will be lucky.

The only problem in the whole situation is that even if it is not on the record, it will still be lying to answer no...

Frankly, I don't think anybody on the admission committee will care about that. I mean it is not like we are alcohol addicts. 90% of the students drink before they become 21 and they know that. I am sure most of the people on the admission committee have had enough alcohol experiences while in college themselves...

And also it should matter even less in your case, cause you are already in your 30-s having kids, etc. That's enough to indicate you are mature enough and will have a good disciplinary record while in grad school.

PoincareSection
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by PoincareSection » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:23 pm

I think if your academic record was good after the incident, it shouldn't matter at all. (Plus, if they frown that much on drinking, do you really want to go there in the first place? :D )

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gliese876d
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by gliese876d » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:31 pm

Good point PoincareSection--and considering that UF has a certain reputation for students' consumption of more illegal substances, I can't imagine they could look that badly upon my teenage alcohol consumption years ago...

stardust
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by stardust » Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:03 pm

Sorry, but when I first read this I laughed my a$$ off. I know its not funny, but its
such a typical college thing to do. I don't drink myself, but know someone in a similar
situation. If you fill this in on an application by your own admission, I think you are
propagating more records on it. I don't believe anything like this could end up on your
transcript (you can order your own copy and see for yourself), so you should just leave
it buried and yes, lie and say no. If caught you can always say you completely forgot
about it. If you were running for Pres. of the US, then you might have to confess it in order to be elected. But, you clearly made a mistake and learned from it. Why should you keep having to be re-evaluated on it so that the next set of people decide if your personal mistakes are ok or not. Schools want to know who they should spend their money on.
If they think there is a potential for problems, they may not take the risk. One person
I knew confessed to trying pot and the job interviewer appreciated the honesty, but
someone else may not like it. I also think the university you attended is not without
some of the responsibility. If they cleaned up the environment prior to your arrival,
there wouldn't have had to be busts. I guess think about what you would do if you
were on a committee and saw that.

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secander2!
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by secander2! » Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:58 am

I applied to UF last year and had the same dilemma. I ended up just saying "yes". I don't think it affected admissions at all because I got an email offering me a "Preliminary Admissions Offer" which detailed the financial package and it said that the only reason the offer wasn't official was because of this "flag" I had marked. To get the flag off, I had to fill out this form and send it in. I can't imagine that any of these minor incidents would matter to them and make them rescind your admissions, so if you don't mind the hassle of faxing in the form, it's probably fine to answer yes to the question.

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a13ean
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by a13ean » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:52 am

gliese876d wrote:So I just discovered that the UF application asks, "Are you or have you ever been charged with or subject to disciplinary action for scholastic or any other type of misconduct at any educational institution?"

I never thought I'd have to talk about this, but... my very first semester of college I got busted for underage drinking, and had to meet with the Dean of the school and take alcohol classes and pay a fine.... :oops: But I mean, I'm 31 now, and that was 13 years ago! In fact I almost forgot about it completely... Do I really have to discuss this on my app? I can't imagine that would look good :cry:
I'm pretty certain that my university has a policy that the first strike for something like this is officially a moot point and doesn't go on any permanent record. Check with yours and see if it's the same.

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by coreycwgriffin » Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:16 pm

secander2! wrote:I applied to UF last year and had the same dilemma. I ended up just saying "yes". I don't think it affected admissions at all because I got an email offering me a "Preliminary Admissions Offer" which detailed the financial package and it said that the only reason the offer wasn't official was because of this "flag" I had marked. To get the flag off, I had to fill out this form and send it in. I can't imagine that any of these minor incidents would matter to them and make them rescind your admissions, so if you don't mind the hassle of faxing in the form, it's probably fine to answer yes to the question.
That PDF from UF wrote:You may be required to finish the university with copies of all official documentation explaining the final disposition of the proceedings.
Sorry, I thought that was kinda funny.

stardust
Posts: 109
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:15 pm

Re: UF asking about disciplinary record???

Post by stardust » Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:20 pm

That's terrible to have to fill out a form like that. I believe its first being added
to your records at your new school. If they have no way of knowing about it,
I wouldn't bother. If you ever ran for office ... It may even be a violation of your civil rights to have to answer to that. They may be counting on you answering it voluntarily. The form even says on it "if your records have been expunged do to applicable laws" then you don't have to answer yes. If there is no permanent record on your transcript, then guess what...it's been expunged.

I'm just pissed people are so afraid of the system. I would never in a quadrillion years put anything like that in writing. Fight for your rights, people!

P.S. I worked in a place where in order to get badged because of national security, they
wanted the employees to sign away rights to any privacy in all records. 28 employees stood up and said no way and it went through the courts. The 28 won. In other words, jobs
may ask for free reign on your records. A form like that will only propagate.



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