Has anyone gotten into their choice schools even with a disciplinary record?

Just wondering, because just today I got lunch detention for bringing in food to the library (because the librarian lets me) though the principal said I couldn’t. And in sophomore year last year I had one out of school and one in school suspension, both of which I was making out in the bathrooms with my girlfriend and hanging in the bushes with her respectively. Both aren’t that big which I don’t think will make me seem so bad, and I’ve learned and such.

However I’m looking to get into NYU, my target school at the moment, and I have a stellar activity and GPA I believe, which I won’t go into, but I think it’s enough to get me in. I’m worried about my record hindering my chances though, which is why I’d like some input from people who’ve gotten into their schools even with suspensions. Thanks.

If the librarian allows you to eat in the library, how can you be suspended for eating in the library? Did the librarian said you were permitted to eat in the library? You were caught twice with your girlfriend in PDA which is not allowed. You wonder if these three situations will be considered negatively by admissions. I have a question for you? Why have you violated 3 basic school rules? In the olden days, you would have added several black marks on your permanent record. The best insight I can provide you is establish an excellent record and immediately stop with minor infractions.

Detentions aren’t even on the radar of colleges. They assume that, like every other kid, you will have made some small errors on the way to adulthood.

Suspensions are a different matter. They show a deliberate attempt to ignore or get around school policies. I think you’re wrong when you state “Both aren’t that big.” Suspensions are a red flag that could come back to bite you.

Suspensions generally show up on the transcript, so those can raise red flags. At the same time, as yours were in freshman year, and were for “public displays of affection,” those will probably not be too much of an issue.

Keep your nose clean, as we parents say, and follow the darn rules at school. Continue to show good judgment and maturity, and when the time for applications gets closer, talk to your guidance counselor to see whether those freshman year disciplinary actions will show up on the transcript or be reported as part of the counselor form. If they are reported, talk with your guidance counselor about how you have learned from your freshman year mistakes, so that the counselor can put those in context. That approach requires earning, and deserving, your teachers’, counselor’s and yes, even the principal’s respect and trust.

Hang in there, and don’t sweat the lunch detention – just work on becoming a kid who follows the rules in school.

I am not a trouble maker, as I do try my best to follow the rules. Nor is it often that I get detention or suspensions, those are usually far apart in terms of occurences, so it’s not consecutive. It’s that sometimes I kind of make some stupid decisions and land myself in some trouble. I do keep a rationale though…

Oh, no one here sees you as a trouble maker.

But the problem is that your transcripts may not contain a description of the offense, only the punishment. No differentiation for “only” PDAs, only the notation of the suspensions.

Two of the e students that I know got detention and penalized with no school for 3 days in the first week of senior year. Two of them got accepted at UMich in EA.

I suspect most students do not have a record of suspensions when they graduate. You aren’t a trouble maker because? These suspensions have the theme that you are not expected to follow basic school rules. That is simply not true. There is no discretion clause saying you personally not expected to behave rules. If you know something is a rule, don’t break it.