<p>In the common app, you are asked to upload a document if you have faced disciplinary action that includes but isn't limited to expulsion, probation etc. Okay. So I have okay-ish stats, and I come from this boarding high school with less than 3 functional clubs. And in grade 10 or so, trying to alleviate dorm boredom, one of my mates and I started goofing off and pushing ourselves around like kids. In the course of that, he pushed me a bit too hard and I fell on a huge school window, for which I was fined to cover the damage (I bled a lot as well). Does this count?? Also, what can you and what can you NOT put in the additional information, cuz I was thinking of describing how creative writing has been important to me since grade 4 (I've been writing through out secondary school: I'm really in love with writing, and it kills the otherwise stone-cold dead dorm weekends). Describing it started to feel like an essay however.</p>
<p>My main essay wasn’t about writing though: it was about this exciting one-week finalist camp. 1000+ students participated in a national olympiad contest, and 27 finalists were invited for the camp before the final round. The camp was interesting cuz of the nature of the classes AND the rooms (rooms with taps that didn’t work, tiny meals, virtually no electricty, many cockroaches), and all the finalists kept complaining, even though I’m certain we were jumping merrily on the inside</p>
<p>Damaging school property and then having to pay for it is not the same thing as disciplinary action necessarily. Ask your guidance counselor how/if the school intends to report it. It may be that they don’t plan to mention it and since you weren’t suspended or expelled, you need not report it either.</p>
<p>The essays are the place to talk about who you are and what you care about and can contribute to a community. The additional information is generally for something that isn’t covered elsewhere but ought to be mentioned to provide context or clarify something confusing in the record (Often your GC would be the one handling this too).</p>
<p>I don’t know whether you’re a bad guy, but breaking a window due to horseplay doesn’t sound that serious to me. However, since you were fined, that counts as a disciplinary action, so you’re better off putting it on your application. Colleges are much more worried about things like acts of deliberate vandalism, cheating, and lying about disciplinary infractions. 
Better to come clean.</p>
<p>It depends on whether you were punished with a fine, or simply paid for damage to school property. If (for example) you had to pay for nail holes in the wall at the end of term, it wouldn’t be punishment. So it depends on how your school handled it.</p>
<p>Lots of things are technically considered ‘disciplinary action’ - detention after school, for example. But that doesn’t mean colleges and universities want to hear about it. Breaking a window - it was clearly an accident albeit a dumb one - probably falls into the ‘don’t want to know’ category. It’s what your school says it is.</p>
<p>The key is to talk to the GC, because he/she gets a similar question about disciplinary actions- if you check no and she checks yes, trouble. Otoh, why check yes if the hs does not intend to report it? A “fine” doesn’t mean there was a “disciplinary action.” See why you have to speak with the GC? And, even if you do need to report it, an incident of horseplay isn’t going to disqualify you for a college.</p>
<p>As for writing, lots of kids are interested in that- can you make it, somehow, into your main essay? Some interesting piece that shows you well?</p>
<p>Our school actually changes the guidance counselor each year, and since the GC is turkish, he’s primed to send students to turkey. Our school has never actually sent anyone to US premeditatedly. Last year’s valedictorian applied by himself and got into UVa (his hand-written acceptance letter praised his physics olympiad experience which spanned several years and his leadership qualities). The GC won’t help much with the application even though he has to fill a form, and he has no idea about the fine. The “dorm supervisors” decided how much the fine was, and to pay it, I had to consume my entire pocket money for that trimester. My parent’s live 8 hours away (by car) and I decided not to bother them for any money. Anyway, none of the school GCs (past or present) knew about the fine, and all they know me as is an active olympiad kid. Anyway, I’m re-applying to a university. The first time I applied, I mentioned the crime. Now, I’m wondering if I should re-mention it again. Is it advisable to contact the regional admission counselor and ask him about this? I honestly don’t know why I mentioned it the first time, but then again, when I was applying that time, I didn’t know that the university concerned was ultra, ultra-selective. With no previous background in US applications and an indifferent high school, I was na</p>
<p>Who called it a “fine?” Is there a piece of paper that characterizes what the payment was?</p>
<p>No. Essentially, I broke the window, cleaned out the blood, met the supervisors, they withdrew cash from my pocket money, handed it to someone, and he fixed the window. The only record was the one showing the complete withdrawal of my pocket money, but they didn’t use a fancy red stamp saying “fine for idiocy” or anything like that. It was still a punishment though. The hostel supervisors punish us independently of the mostly inactive GC</p>
<p>I don’t feel it warrants mentioning- while it sounds like a dumb thing to do, they clearly saw you weren’t intending to do this, and the fact that they didn’t suspend your shows no disciplinary action was taken</p>
<p>You still need to talk to your GC, and ask this question: “Is the form you fill out for me going to include any discipline from the school? I don’t think there is any, but I want to make sure my form is consistent with yours.”</p>
<p>I spoke to him. His reply: “What are you talking about? Which window?” That settles it. I’m not a bad guy :)</p>