<p>I posted this on the Columbia forum also but am hoping to get some good feedback from parents by posting here also.</p>
<p>During my junior year, I was suspended for two days for being under the influence of alcohol at a school dance. It was a one-time dumb thing I did and I have accepted total responsibility for a very bad decision I made. I am otherwise a very good candidate for Columbia but I have no way to know how badly this will hurt me with the admissions committee. Does anyone know of someone who was admitted to Columbia after a suspension like mine? Or to any other schools the caliber of Columbia? Have I completely wiped out my chances for the Ivys and other top tier colleges? I'm losing alot of sleep over this and I don't know what strategy to use in my application process (should I aim a bit lower with my applications because of the suspension?)</p>
<p>I don't know about this - but you ask "should I aim a bit lower with my applications..." No, but you should have plenty of match and SAFETY schools in there. Read cautionary tales from Andi on Admissions forum. A true safety must be an automatic accept which is financially doable.</p>
<p>I agree with anxiousmom. Your suspension may hurt you with colleges, so making sure that you have definite accept schools -- that you'd be happy to attend and know that you can afford -- will be very important.</p>
<p>I have looked into this quite a bit, since S will be explaining a suspension/expulsion on his applications and is also looking at some very selective schools. It is impossible to know exactly what the effect will be, but the key is to attach a solid explanation of what happened, what you learned from the incident and then move on. It will also help if your teacher and counselor recs are strong and confirm that it was a one-time lapse in judgement. Your particular offense is so common that I doubt it will hurt you, but you might run into an occasional admissions rep who will be put off by it. The big things they look for are drugs, violence and academic dishonesty. I would be glad to help you if you want to send me a PM.</p>
<p>I have a young neighbor who has a juvenile record for drinking under age. He has now graduated from UChicago. His is an actual juvenile record...not just a school suspension. Another kid I know has a juvenile record because he and some friends found a way into an old boarded up house. They found guns inside and his friends fired them off. Unfortunately, a passing cop in a police cruiser heard the shots. Because everyone agreed that he hadn't touched the guns, he was not charged with illegal weapons possession. He was charged with trespassing and breaking and entering. He too has a juvenile record and has graduated from Bates. </p>
<p>Seriously, you do have to apply to a wider range of colleges because some may have a problem with what you did. Most won't...I don't mean they will think that what you did is a good thing, just that they do understand that high school juniors make stupid mistakes.</p>
<p>It would also help if you had a match and/or safety which was rolling admission or EA. Where you have been so worried about how the suspension will affect the admission process it would be really nice to have an early admit.</p>
<p>To be realistic, it will hurt at some colleges and not at others, a larger school such as Northwestern, U of Chicago it probably won't factor in as much, for some schools it will. If it happened fr, soph year it is easier but point out what you have learned that it was an unusual behavior for you and get amazing recommendations to back it up. Best of luck.</p>
<p>IMO, I don't think this will hurt you at all. You will probably have to report it on your application, where it asks whether you've ever been suspended or expelled from school. Then you will have to append a brief explanation, and a mea culpa and "what I've learned from this experience" statement. But it's not a Scarlet Letter. There are far worse issues including conviction of a crime or violent act and academic dishonesty. So don't make it a central piece of your application. Just deal with it honestly and briefly.</p>
<p>There could be another issue to consider. My son was suspended (sent home) for a day for getting into an argument with a teacher. It turned out that the school did not put this on his record and when he was preparing college applications his GC told him that there was no de jure suspension. So neither he nor the GC (in the school report or counselor's report) referred to this incident on any of his applications.</p>
<p>There is also another related situation that could occur: suspension "expunged" from the record. That is, it could have actually happened but for administrative or other reasons the record was removed by the school. Perhaps the suspension was appealed and found to be based on false information or it was an administrative mistake. In that case, some people argued on this board that the suspension should still be reported -- even if there was no record of it (that's what "expunge from the record" means). I argued that in such case the event need not be reported by the student; it would not be reported by the school either (but check with your GC).</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your responses. I plan to meet with my counselor this week to make sure she understands exactly what the circumstances were for my suspension. I attend a large school and each counselor handles quite a few kids so it would be a good idea to make sure she understands exactly what happened in my case. I think that my teacher recommendations will be strong. Do you think I should ask each of my two teacher recommenders if they plan to mention the suspension in their recommendations? Or would I only need to talk to my counselor (who completes the secondary school form)? Should I ask the principal to write a separate letter for me in addition to what my counselor sends?</p>
<p>Do the teachers even know about a suspension that you had as a junior? If it's unlikely that they know about it, I wouldn't suggest that you bring it up to them.</p>
<p>These are both junior year teachers. They should know because I was not in class for two days and my understanding is that they are notified by the administration. But they never said anything to me about it. I just handed my homework in for the two days I was out (which is standard procedure for when you return from an absence.) I guess I should assume they know.</p>
<p>Your teachers won't report it unless asked and most private schools will ask on the application. There is a question that asks point blank for guidance counselors to fill out, state schools do not usually ask, they just ask about convictions. Teachers will not refer to it but the GC form does. I would still apply to every school you want and talk to your GC to put it in the right light.</p>
<p>If it's going to be mentioned, it's best if you discuss it with your GC & ask for guidance on how best to approach this on your aps. You may wish to read "Gatekeepers" about the girl who ate the brownie that had pot in it & how she & her GC handled it for some ideas.
That would be an additional reason to have some state schools you LOVE on your list.</p>