Disciplinary Question (College Applicant)

Do colleges and universities ask about suspensions in high school? it? How/in what capacity? Should you say what happened (do they ask, and if so, how specific)? Does it matter if it happened freshman year vs. senior year? Are there degrees of severity (where would I find this)? I would rather not say what “it” is, or discuss much more, or get derailed here - please and thank you to anyone who has experience in this.

Pertinent information: It is something that other students were involved in, and the administration kept adding names, no matter the severity or degree of involvement. It turns out, the degree to which teen was involved did not meet the parameters of the legal description for the offense, but we trusted the school (don’t ever do that), and went along with what they said. There is no appealing at this point, but the record still stands.

I know we can’t really say -"…but the school was wrong, and we foolishly trusted them" on the app, so I am wondering what to do when the time comes. Is it possible (which I suspect) that one of the other offenders had his offense reduced for providing more names? This is the impression I have, given that I now have much more information about who was involved, and under what circumstances (ie: the other teens hav been in other trouble and are no longer at the school; and teen has since found better friends). It is also possible that the person who started the incident felt bad/guilty/got caught, then turned it around so that the other people involved got into trouble. Either of these possibilities are viable, and I am wondering if anyone has been through such a thing.

Yes, the Common App and many individual colleges apps will ask. You should answer honestly, because if you don’t and you’re caught, you would get kicked out of the college, even if you matriculated, and with no refund of money paid. You should sit down and review how you’re going to answer the question with your guidance counselor. Generally a very brief explanation of what happened and a slightly longer statement of remorse and lessons learned is sufficient.

I would think freshman transgressions are overlooked more easily than ones happening in junior or senior year, but it depends on the incident. “Victimless” incidents such as juuling likely won’t be a problem so long as the rest of your record is, and stays, clean. Cheating will probably be overlooked once, but multiple incidents indicates character deficiencies (poor judgment, impulse control issues, inability to learn from your mistakes). Most schools have very strict rules on academic dishonesty, so a pattern of dishonesty (multiple incidents) is a big red flag. If you harmed someone, that is far more serious. A college could consider you a liability. Here it is really important to show definitive steps you’ve taken, both to make amends and to address your own character flaws.

Colleges understand that kids are young and make stupid mistakes. They’re likely to error on the side of forgiveness, provided sufficient remote is expressed and the record afterward stays clean. However, they don’t want your problems to become their problem down the line. They will be reviewing your application with that in mind.

Thank you for your candid answer! It is not anything mentioned, but it is a charge/offense that sounds much worse than what actually happened. I trusted the school (never again), but then after reviewing the definition, and realizing it was nothing at all what the charge was, I consulted a lawyer who agreed with me, but it was too late (the school takes weeks or months to put it on the record, and by then, it is too late to appeal). Anyone else been through such a thing? If so, how did you handle it and what was the outcome?

Go straight to the source - ask the guidance counselor what will be reported and how. If you are concerned about what will be reported, ask the GC to address it - if the students has learned from the mistake, and gained maturity since the incident, the GC can say so in their report. I wouldn’t worry too much about something that happened freshman year if there were no legal consequences. It’s far more likely the school saw the suspension as an opportunity for the student to understand the seriousness of the offense. It might even be expunged from the “permanent” record if there have been no further offenses.

The HS response was “no college has ever asked me for a student’s disciplinary information” - very coached and rehearsed response, in hindsight. Are they telling us to lie (then it will be on us)? That is the impression I am given.

“The HS response was “no college has ever asked me for a student’s disciplinary information” - very coached and rehearsed response, in hindsight. Are they telling us to lie (then it will be on us)? That is the impression I am given.”

I doubt they would lie if directly asked, but it sounds like they don’t volunteer the information either. That’s obviously good for you. You are still obligated to answer truthfully, and include a short and sweet paragraph if the app asks, but this offers the benefit of both covering your butt (you won’t be kicked out should news of this resurface) and downplaying the incident (noting that you weren’t a primary party to it).

We can provide a bit more tailored advice on how to frame this explanation if you give us a description of the incident…