<p>As the college application deadline approaches, I am becoming increasingly anxious about my less than perfect high school track record. I attended a highly prestigious east coast boarding school for two and a half years. I was involved, pulled decent grades and was respected amongst the community. After my first suspension, which was due to an incident of entering a locked building, I continued along a carefree, ignorant path. Almost two months later, I was found guilty of consuming alcohol on campus. This resulted in my dismissal from the school. Instead of enrolling in a local public high school to finish my junior year, my supportive parents gave me the opprotunity to experience life in a truly foreign environment. I spent three and a half months living with homestay families in Nothern India, taking classes in religion, global sustainability and a self directed study in tea cultivation. Community service was a key factor to the college based program. I returned home and found that i had been accepted to another prestigious midwest boarding school. I enrolled as a repeat junior and immediately immersed myself in this new community. Wilderness leader, co-president of one club, Resident Advisor, seat on Conduct Review Board and hard work (3.59 unweighted gpa, one AP) helped me gain respect amongst peers and teachers. I am now currently a senior, with a 3.5 gpa, two AP classes and have two solid recommendations for the schools that i will be applying to. The dean of boys at my current school has also offered to write an additional recommendation. A letter from my previous school, written by my former adviser, is also in the mix. I am hoping to attend schools such as Colgate, Colby, Washington and Lee and Middlebury. Yet I fear that my expulsion is going to taint my application and hinder my chances. ACT scores are a little below average for these schools, yet my strong curriculum and grades will hopefully offset this. What are my chances? Am I aiming too high? What should I expect?</p>
<p>your best bet would be to write about it. you could write an amazing essay about what your expulsion taught you, and how it changed the person you are. it gave you the opportunity to go to india, and then you got a second chance and made the most of it, which is reflected in your junior/senior years. </p>
<p>it is what it is- its on your record and it can't be ingnored. dont try to explain what you did to get expelled in your essay (there will be a different part for that) but write about how you learned from it and grew into the kind of person a college would want. </p>
<p>good luck!</p>