<p>He would have to provide a believable explanation that indicates remorse and that he has learned from this experience not to do anything like it again.</p>
<p>It would be a mistake for him to act like it was no big deal or like his school was wrong to take his behavior seriously and to report it to colleges.</p>
<p>There have been many helpful posts on this thread. I am concerned that the OP is also reading some advice, such as from bigtrees, that is misleading and not how it works.</p>
<p>Most colleges do request a school report from the GC. This report clearly asks the counselor if the student has ever been suspended or expelled and why. The GC must respond. Further, most college apps ask the student this exact same question. If the student doesn’t answer that truthfully, it is fraud on the app and will come back to bite him. And it certainly WILL be mentioned on the GC’s report when he/she answers that question. </p>
<p>Does this derail the student’s chances of admission? Not necessarily, though it will have to be overcome. The positive for this student is that it happened in tenth grade. This student needs to work VERY hard at redeeming himself, showing remorse for what he did and understanding why it was wrong, and learning something from the experience and being able to demonstrate that. This student will need to add a short statement (NOT use the regular essay for this), that explains what he did and why he understands now how wrong that action and judgement was at the time and how it affected his school, classmates, community and his parents. He can explain how he may have thought it was a joke at the time, that such a joke has serious consequences that he has subsequently realized, and how he has had to win back the trust of everyone and what he has actively done to turn things around (he has two years to do that). He should ask his GC and teacher recs to also speak to what he has done to turn things around to make amends and what he has learned. He should not focus on minimizing what he did (“it was only a joke” or “it was just seven minutes of my life”). He should take it seriously and show what he has learned from it and what he has done differently ever since. </p>
<p>Can this young man show that? I don’t know because so far on this thread, he has minimized it and not recognized the seriousness of what he did and has not discussed what he is going to do to turn things around and what he has learned from this major mistake he made. And that is essential to show in his written statement but also to be able to have his GC and recs also show that he has turned it around. This is what is going to be crucial. Young people can make serious mistakes but it is what they do afterward that will now matter. </p>
<p>Lying on this question on the application will definitely have a greater chance of impacting admissions than owning up to the behavior and showing what he has learned since then and done since then to right this wrong. </p>
<p>I am an independent college counselor. Last year, I had a student who went to boarding school and had a suspension in tenth grade that had to be explained on her app, as well as by her GC. Then, in senior year AFTER apps were filed but decisions not yet made by colleges, she was expelled. She had to notify all of her colleges that she was expelled and changed to a public school. She HAD to do this. It could not be hidden. She is now at college. </p>
<p>This year, I have a student at a boarding school as well. It is his third high school. His first HS was a private day school. Like someone else posted, private schools ask you to withdraw rather than expel (that happened to girl I mentioned above). This boy was suspended for an incident where he was accused of breaking the honor code basically. While he was not expelled, he chose to withdraw and attend his public HS. This was in ninth grade. For junior and senior years, he is at boarding school. This change did not have to do with any disciplinary actions. However, while his current GC doesn’t have any suspensions to report, this boy had to say “yes” on his own application where it asks if you have ever been suspended. He did not want to answer “yes” because he felt colleges would never know as it happened at his first HS. However, he would then be lying on his application which can come back to bite the student. I had him answer “yes” and assisted him in crafting a short explanation which in his case, had to do with his saying he did not do what he was accused of doing, but he learned that even arising suspicion in others can impugn his integrity and what he learned from this incident. He has many acceptances to college.</p>
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<p>Please provide a source that says that if a college requests information about a student from a high school, the high school is required to respond. I do not believe that colleges can provide this information without the students express permission (and nor should they.)</p>
<p>I have never once on this thread or anywhere else advocated lying on the application. The original question posed was how he could hide his high school record. My opinion is that high school can’t release information about students without their permission, under the federal privacy laws. This includes to colleges.</p>
<p>Should students honestly respond on applications? yes, but only if asked. Many colleges don’t ask and I provided a link citing the source.</p>
<p>High schools provide info to colleges because the students request them to. This is part of the college application process. Students ask high school counselors to fill out the info required for their applications.</p>
<p>I suppose the students could request that the high schools not include info about disciplinary infractions, but then more than likely the high schools would simply refuse to fill out the students’ college applications at all, and the student would have no chance of being admitted.</p>
<p>bigtrees, I should have worded that the GC needs to respond truthfully. I think most GCs would do so. It would come back to bite them with colleges if they omitted information that was asked of this nature and it was later found out. Colleges ask for these things on the application and GC report. It is expected these will be answered and truthfully. The GC would be lying if he/she answered “no” on suspension and expulsions. If the GC leaves it blank, it will raise questions and the colleges may call to inquire. The student needs to answer yes or no on his own application. Leaving that blank will raise suspicion.</p>
<p>The GC’s own integrity with the colleges is at stake if not answering the question and doing so truthfully.</p>
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So what did he learn from this incident (considering he still thought it was okay to lie about it)?</p>
<p>I’m sure OP’s parents will make sure that he is packaged quite nicely for colleges, considering that they had the bucks to lawyer up and now pay for private school.</p>
<p>The point that I’m trying to make is that the discipline records are a private matter between the student and the school and nobody outside the school ever needs to find out about them unless the student chooses to release them. Schools aren’t running around providing copies of the students discipline files to colleges without the students permission.</p>
<p>In fact, here is a quote from the US Department of Education website:</p>
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<p>From the NACAC’s policies…</p>
<p>This is what counselors who are members are supposed to do:</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf</a></p>
<p>CTTC- If your child was facing legal charges for a terrorist threat (joke or not), I suspect you would lawyer up, too.</p>
<p>So the alternative is to provide NO information? Don’t you think that would raise huge red flags and, likely cause rejection?</p>
<p>Back when I was applying for colleges last year, non of the schools I applied to asked for disciplinary records. That probably has something to do with being on the west coast. Most schools that use the common app will require disciplinary records through a school official so that will be hard to maneuver away from. </p>
<p>Your logic that making a terrorist threat is OK because you didn’t intend to go through with it is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Refusing to take responsibility for things like that will lead you to a very miserable life.</p>
<p>The Common Application, used by many colleges, includes the question:
“Has the applicant ever been found responsible for a disciplinary violation by your school from 9th grade (or the international equivalent) forward, whether related to academic misconduct or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in the applicant’s probation, suspension, removal, dismissal or expulsion from your institution?”</p>
<p>I believe that by asking the guidance counselor to fill out the form, the student is providing permission for the counselor to answer the questions on it. Probably schools should make this explicit, by requiring the student’s signature on a consent form. Some do, I think.</p>
<p>Also, unless the Common App requires the SSR School Form from every secondary school the student has attended (they might, I don’t know), it seems to me that they are leaving a mile-wide gap for a student who was suspended, removed, dismissed, expelled, etc. from one school to go to another where that didn’t happen (because of the specification “your institution”). I think this is wrong.</p>
<p>bigtrees, the student does NOT have to give the school permission to respond truthfully to the question on the GC report as to whether the student has been suspended or expelled. The GC is supposed to report that to colleges and answer the question in a truthful manner. The GC doesn’t need the student’s permission to do that. </p>
<p>CTTC…I don’t know how much that student who was suspended due to an accusation on the honor code really understood why it was wrong, since he said he did not do what he was accused of, but I explained that the appearance of dishonesty is still a problem. I required him to explain it in writing on the app. And yes, it rubbed me the wrong way to try to hide it. He felt nobody would know since it happened at his first school. But the question was on his app, and he had to answer it and I demand answering truthfully. I insist on HONESTY on the application. I also look over resumes and if I feel they are embellished, these are revised.</p>
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<p>Yes, there is nothing wrong with the student asking the GC to fill out the form. Some schools have a policy against this and others don’t (apparantly that part of the form is relatively new). </p>
<p>Asking someone to complete a form is a lot different than the college calling the school up asking the school to forward a copy of the discipline record of a particualr student.</p>
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<p>The student permission is required to fill out GC report. They can’t (and won’t) do that on their own</p>
<p>My point, MOWC, is that the OP’s Mummy and Daddy had enough money for a lawyer, now private schools for the rest of high school, and so would also have money for someone to concoct a very nicely packaged college application. </p>
<p>Soozie, what percentage of guidance counselors are members of these counselor associations, do you think?</p>
<p>bigtrees, you are correct - just because a college asks doesn’t mean that a high school must respond. </p>
<p>However, just because a high school says, “Nope. Privacy issues.” doesn’t mean that a college must consider the applicant’s application to be complete.</p>
<p>bigtrees, if the student wants to apply to a college that requires the school report form that GCs fill out (and a majority of colleges do have this form, particularly the kinds of colleges the OP mentioned), then the student has to give the form to the GC, thus giving the GC permission to fill it out. The GC, in turn, needs to answer the questions on it, and do so truthfully. They do not “forward a copy of the discipline record”. They have to answer “yes” or “no” to whether the student was suspended or expelled and why. It is right on the form. By giving the form to the GC, the student is giving permission to apply to that college and have the GC take care of ALL requirements that the GC must file. If the GC leaves the question blank, it raises suspicion and the college may call. They may choose to ignore this applicant. They may question all applicants from that school if the GC is not forthcoming on the questions on the form.</p>
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Most colleges consider that form to be a part of the completed application without which the application will not be considered for admission.</p>
<p>CTTC …I don’t have a number for you of how many counselors are members of NACAC. But the practices the NACAC outlines are ones that most counselors would follow as being appropriate practice. Their own integrity is on the line.</p>
<p>We are all now in agreement with all of you (in the last few posts).</p>
<p>The point is – post #1 asked about his school record. His school record won’t be seen by anyone outside the school. What he needs to worry about is how he can get a good rec from the high school guidance counseler, which should be easy since he is now going to a new private school.</p>
<p>The old school record that indicates the suspension/explusion and reason for explusion won’t be seen.</p>
<p>Of course, he should answer every question truthfully on the application. If the application asks why he was expelled, he should answer that honestly as well.</p>
<p>With all that said, I’d much rather he go back to Saudi Arabia, and I’d never write a letter of rec for him.</p>