<p>I was expelled my sophmore year of high school because i was caught drinking at school. I know, it was a terrible idea. In the end i ended up with no criminal charges which is nice but what i did still wasn't a good decision.
I'm graduating a year early this year and decided to start my first college application (to Coastal Carolina University btw) since i just got my SAT scores back (600 reading, 610 math, 610 writing) and while in the middle of the application it asked me if i had ever been expelled before and to explain what happened in the section below. This is really scaring me, im trying to put my past behind me and start over but somehow it always seems to catch back up to me. </p>
<p>what should i say?
will this seriously hinder my chances at getting into my colleges of choice?</p>
<p>Honestly: yes. Probably. It’s not necessarily like a “you’re not going to get accepted anywhere” thing, but it’s definitely going to be extremely detrimental to your chances.</p>
<p>As for “what should you say” there’s not much. You got caught drinking. IN school. You are obliged to tell them that, and there’s no excuse. It portrays you extremely poorly (even if you have improved significantly and it was just a stupid mistake, it’s still going to stand out.)</p>
<p>Sorry if this is “mean” but I figured it would be better to be honest then sugarcoat things.</p>
<p>TL;DR: Submit the application in complete honesty, it will probably hurt you but you never know.</p>
<p>I think more information is needed.
Where are you graduating from? Do they have a record of your expulsion? </p>
<p>If for example you went to a new school after being expelled the college you apply to may not even see that you had been expelled. So you may lie about it. </p>
<p>However, if you know they will obtain knowledge of your expulsion your only hope is to write an essay about how you learned from your mistake and how you improved and turned things around. ALSO you really need to have good grades to go along with this to show that you are a serious student. </p>
<p>Sadly I think if they see that you were expelled that will hurt your chances. The worst thing is that you’ll have to go to community college for 1 or 2 years and than transfer, which in the end if you get a 4.0 at CC you could greatly increase your options of 4 year schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think this expulsion is going to keep you out of most schools. You weren’t stealing, you didn’t hit a teacher, you weren’t caught dealing drugs, and you weren’t cheating…those are 4 big no no’s. </p>
<p>Of course, under-age drinking is bad, but colleges are full of kids who drink underage…so they’d be hypocritical to keep you out over this.</p>
<p>Write what you did, express sincerely that you were wrong and what you learned from the experience.</p>
<p>Where else are you applying? </p>
<p>Do you need help coming up with schools?</p>
<p>If so, tell us more about YOU…</p>
<p>Your GPA</p>
<p>What kind of school you want…big, small, rah rah big spirit, quiet campus, honors programs, etc.</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year? That will likely have a bigger influence than your expulsion.</p>
<p>BTW…did the school expel you or did they let you withdraw?</p>
<p>My advice is to go to community college and apply as a transfer. It will save money and if you do well you will be able to go to a better school</p>
<p>I agree that a CC is a good idea if money is an issue, but if money isn’t an issue then there’s no reason to go to a CC. He can still go to a 4 year and transfer elsewhere (if that’s his goal).</p>
<p>You were 15, doing what most 15 year olds do at parties, but in the wrong place.</p>
<p>I agree that most colleges will not reject you if you are strong in other areas… if your GPA and SATs are in the top half of the applicant pool. The schools that could reject you (because they have the luxury of way too few spots per applicant) are those that are highly selective – let’s just say the top 75 or so on USNWR.</p>
<p>I would never advocate lying on your college application. It is one thing to try to learn from a mistake made in the past and quite another to make another one, compounding the first one.</p>
<p>It is important to determine exactly how your school describes this event. Did you go to a private school that expelled you or were you allowed to withdraw? Or did you go to a public school that required you to attend an alternative school (part of the public school system) for a while?</p>
<p>Because you mentioned it, I also would like to ask whether you and your parents are certain that attending college a year early is the right decision. There are several disadvantages to doing so: you will have less time to demonstrate that you are a model citizen (in fact, if you are a junior now, the drinking event must have just been last year), less time to raise your SAT scores should you wish to do so and less time to research and apply to colleges.</p>
<p>I’m not totally against entering college early (I did so), but it is a big decision and can result in reducing the opportunities you would otherwise have because you have one less year to be a high school student and prepare for college.</p>
<p>Assuming it is true, do your best to explain that it was an isolated incident, and that you have not been disciplined for any serious problems since that time. and that you have learned from your mistake. </p>
<p>If the colleges rejected everyone who ever drank underage, they would all be bankrupt.</p>
<p>I had to describe how I earned myself an Honor Code that I got back in Sophomore year for my applications. Although it was difficult to reflect back on it and talk about it, I just had to and You must too! Colleges want to see that ur not holding anything from them and they want to know how and what u have learned from this. They aren’t that black and white and they are people, they know people mess up. Just be as clear as you need to be and do not BS this description.</p>