Many college applications say this:
“Have you entered a plea of no contest or no lo contendere, or an Alford plea, to a misdemeanor, felony, or other criminal charge; or received a deferred prosecution or prayer for judgment continued for such a charge; or otherwise accepted responsibility for such a crime?”
I committed a very low profile misdemeanor but was never convicted because I completed 30 Hours of community service in the time frame they gave me. Do i put yes or no?
You put yes. You were given 30 hours of community service as punishment for your crime.
Put yes and in the additional information section write about how you learned your lesson.
I would agree that you have to answer the question as phrased in the affirmative. Read each application carefully and make sure that you respond to the question being asked.
Some juvenile diversion programs divert juveniles early on in the process and the youth never get to the point of having to enter a plea of no contest or not guilty. Community service is assigned before youth get to the adjudication stage. So the answer might not involve saying yes.
Afaik, this applies to a particular state’s wording. How do you plan to answer the other question, “Have you ever been adjudicated guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or other crime?”
In this case, what did you plea?
Bottom line is, if it’s truly a low profile misdemeanor, they likely won’t hold it against you, if you admit to it. But you might want to describe more here.
I agree with @CheddarcheeseMN. I imagine that no plea was required, so the answer is going to depend on exactly how the question is worded.
No plea is pretty much what no contest or Nolo are. There’s a footnote if records are expunged.
Not necessarily, @lookingforward. Often, after some type of “diversion” program (like community service), the charges are just dropped with no need for a plea.
I’m not disagreeing. But we don’t know enough. NC is funny about when no plea is still reportable.
I’m with @MurphyBrown, you should ask a lawyer, perhaps the one who represented you.
Don’t forget… to look at whether the degree you are applying for requires fieldwork/clinical rotations to graduate. Just because a college (that is driven by a desire to collect your tuition money from you) accepts you with your “record” doesn’t mean a fieldwork or clinical site will let you work there if they look you up and see the charge. Make sure you choose your major carefully if you can find a college that will accept you.