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Mar 23, 2009
Mar 23, 2009 
5 Comments 
5 Comments
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If you did not receive ANY credits from that school then you should be fine to just not include that transcript.
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Depends on the school, they may not even want transcripts from every school – just the one you graduated from (this was the case for me).
You’ll have to check your transcripts, sometimes they state the other schools you have been to (if they even knew).
However, odds are your secret is safe. It’s not like a criminal history they can search. If they find out they it is possible they could kick you out, depending on the policy of the school. That and have to live with yourself for being unethical.
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They probably wouldn’t find out, but I have heard of times when schools did find out.
I was at a grad school admissions open house just last week, and someone asked if they really needed to include all their transcripts. The answer was yes. So another person asked what would happen if someone did not. Would they get caught? What would happen if they did get caught?
The penalties could be severe. You could be thrown out. And, post-law school if this is discovered, could that cause you problems with the bar?
Does your current school’s transcript show anything about that “F” school? If you chose to take the risk, be sure to get an official copy of your transcript from your current school and check it out.
Also check how all that works with the LSATs. I think I remember that the LSAT body sends some sort of ranking of you to the schools where you are applying – it’s a combo of your LSAT score and your undergraduate GPA. It’s been a while for me, so I’m not really remembering how all that works. Be sure that the GPAs they are using is what you report to them, and not what they discover on their own.
Also check with the grad schools. Although most want all transcripts, some only want those from schools you graduated from.
Lastly, think about what career path you may take in your future. If you become a lawyer, or go into government, it’s highly likely that future employers will do a complete background check. They could discover the “F” school in one of those checks. I’m not sure what the repercussions, if any, of that discovery would be.
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If you apply to law school, you MUST provide those transcripts. No matter where you apply, you should provide those transcripts. Otherwise, you’re misrepresenting your record by omission.
Will the schools find out? Perhaps not, but there is a strong chance that they may find out. There is a database to which most, if not all, schools submit student enrollment information. Your presence at that university is documented, and the schools you are going to apply to most likely have access to that database. If they find out about your omission, you can almost guarantee your rejection. If you’re in school when they find out, you can almost guarantee your expulsion.
When you graduate from law school, you’ll have to undergo a Character & Fitness evaluation, and this question will come up again. Lie on there (or even tell the truth, which results in a discrepency between your law school application and the C&F application), and you’re risking your chance to sit for the bar. Don’t pass that review? Sorry; you can’t practice law.
Sure, it ***** to have those grades aired out, but you have no choice. Explain the grades away and deal with it. Taking the other route is unethical and will most likely turn out bad for you in the end.
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You must include them. The repercussions of the schools finding out later are much worse than just dealing with them now. It is academic dishonesty and fraud if you do not disclose the grades. If you are found out later, you can be kicked out or have your degree taken away in certain cases.
