<p>I got suspended for two weeks after getting caught stealing (well, ATTEMPTED theft) from my dorm mate. However, I didn't take anything and I was caught at the moment when I was about to put the wallet down. </p>
<p>I pretty much have safe stats (SATII chem-780, bio-780, french-800, history-760; ACT 36, GPA 4.0 on 4.0, valedictorian, president of three clubs, lead flute in band, etc) and my teachers have agreed to write me recommendation letters despite the fact that I've been suspended. </p>
<p>My university adviser adores me, and I don't know what he's going to do with my disciplinary issue. I'd have to ask the principal about the disciplinary policy at my school. (One of our graduates got into Rice after getting caught drinking, and the other got into Columbia even though she got caught drinking in her dorm)</p>
<p>I'd like to apply to UPenn (ED), U of C, Georgetown, Columbia, Brown, Johns Hopkins, NYU, and Harvard. </p>
<p>Would I get rejected from all these schools?
If I have to explain, I'm going to write how I began volunteering at this women's shelter for 200 hours after this incident. </p>
<p>Please, please help me! Some of my friends are saying that I won't get in, but I don't want to lose any hope! :S</p>
<p>It’s going to hurt you a lot. You’ll be competing against an overabundance of stellar applicants who do community service and other ECs, and haven’t been suspended for anything. For instance, Harvard had 30,000 applicants this year for about 2,000 spaces.</p>
<p>Colleges in general are going to be wary about admitting applicants who steal. The colleges would fear that if admitted, you’d steal from your roommate and others in the college. For that reason, stealing would hurt one’s chances more than would a suspension for drinking.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you revise your college application list to add some colleges that are much easier to gain acceptance to.</p>
<p>It’s going to be tricky, for the reasons that Northstarmom pointed out. Those schools are a reach for pretty much everyone, and they might decide to play it safe and pick the valedictorians who weren’t caught stealing. Those other people who got caught drinking is somewhat different since it’s much more common and accepted at colleges than theft. </p>
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<p>Was that court-ordered community service? I wouldn’t brag too much about that if it was. Still, if you can demonstrate that you changed and grew as a person because of this experience then it will help your case. I would still recommend adding a few safety schools to your list though, because it’s a gamble.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how volunteering at the women’s shelter compensates for your trying to steal from a dorm mate.</p>
<p>The top colleges that you’re applying to can pick from outstanding applicants who volunteer because they like to help others, not to attempt to make up for being caught stealing.</p>
<p>This is my honest opinion, if a college is so stuck up about its own reputation that they reject you for a slight flaw in your character, you’re better off not going to that college. With that said, your chances would definitely be hurt by the incident, but it shouldn’t be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>I don’t know how things will end up for you, but what an eye opener to realize that one dumb 30 second decision can potentially wipe out your dreams. Apply to a bunch of safeties (they may not be pleased with your actions either) and keep being the best person you can be. You can once again rise to the top, but you will have to stay humble throughout the process.</p>
<p>"This is my honest opinion, if a college is so stuck up about its own reputation that they reject you for a slight flaw in your character, you’re better off not going to that college. "</p>
<p>Failboat, How would you feel if your were in college and your roommate was stealing from you?</p>
<p>I know students who had to go to the police because their roommates were stealing their credit cards. I also know of a situation in which a college student was stabbed to death by a friend who had stolen her bank card and had been using it. She didn’t realize that her “friend” was the thief, and she told him that the police wanted her to view a picture of a man who was using her card. Her friend stabbed her to death in her dorm room.</p>
<p>Colleges have very good reasons not to accept students who have been caught stealing. Stealing isn’t considered a minor character flaw.</p>
<p>You absolutely have to make the admissions people believe that you learned your lesson and will never, ever, steal from a roomie ever again. And even then, they may well say “nah, we don’t want to take the chance”.</p>
<p>It doesn’t really “compensate” for it, but, with the Government’s permission, a judge can impose community service on a defendant like this in lieu of jail time or a heftier fine. My concern was that if this was compulsory community service, the OP should avoid bragging about it too much since it wasn’t, as you said, something that he or she did out of community-minded spirit rather than to avoid going to jail. </p>
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<p>I disagree. Honestly, most of those colleges on his / her list are so swamped with good applicants that they don’t need to risk admitting a student with a bad reputation. I don’t know how many applications Harvard gets per year but I’m almost positive that it’s more than the amount of spots they have in their freshman class.</p>
<p>I would honestly be extremely angry, and in the most likely case, if I am to attend a prestigious college, wonder how the said person was admitted. Even now, I also do not find the OP as a good future roommate, nor believe that he/she should be given a chance at admission.</p>
<p>Yet this doesn’t necessarily give justification to deny entry to an otherwise qualified applicant. To do so would justify the presumption that character flaws are static and immutable. The OP have clearly expressed regret for his/her action, albeit with some smugness. While the college of interest doesn’t necessarily know of his/her intentions, it should at least give all applicants benefits of the doubt and not make hasty rejections based on spontaneous warrants that may prove to be false in the future. If the said college does indeed reject the applicant solely on the basis of his/her non-defining social demeanors, I stand by my assertion that the applicant is better off going to another college.</p>
<p>And of course, I do not condone the OP’s behaviors, in fact I find it deplorable, yet that’s life.</p>
<p>I see what you’re saying. I’m just saying that many, many people will be rejected from all of those colleges for all sorts of reasons. The people who apply to those colleges are all exemplary candidates, every one of whom would almost certainly excel if granted admissions. Even if this OP had never been suspended for theft, he or she stillprobably would not have gotten in since most people who apply to those schools don’t get in.</p>
<p>That’s why being suspended for theft is a big deal. Not because any college will automatically reject him / her without a second glance, but because the OP will be running against candidates with the same qualifications who don’t have that suspension around their necks.</p>
<p>You’re right, in retrospect I guess I’m just taking a cheap shot at the prestigious colleges, as the same argument can be generalized to everyone who will be rejected by the Ivies, although the argument would then obviously not hold as the relational justification that I am using would be diluted by the variation in the qualification of the rejectees. However I might as well just be hanged for my own hypocrisy.</p>
<p>“I don’t know how many applications Harvard gets per year but I’m almost positive that it’s more than the amount of spots they have in their freshman class.”</p>
<p>This year, Harvard got 30,000 applicants for about 2,000 spots. Something like 85% of students accepted by Harvard choose Harvard. </p>
<p>“To do so would justify the presumption that character flaws are static and immutable. The OP have clearly expressed regret for his/her action, albeit with some smugness. While the college of interest doesn’t necessarily know of his/her intentions, it should at least give all applicants benefits of the doubt and not make hasty rejections based on spontaneous warrants that may prove to be false in the future.”</p>
<p>Why should top colleges take a student who has been suspended for theft when they have an overabundance of highly qualified applicants with no suspensions and no legal problems? When making decisions, all the colleges can go on are what the applicants have done in the past. The applicant may never steal again, but why would colleges take that risk when they can chose from many excellent applicants who’ve never been caught stealing and have never been suspended?</p>
<p>From Sally Rubenstone, CC’s senior college counselor:</p>
<p>"[W]ill your suspension affect your admission decisions nonetheless? Probably not, but maybe.</p>
<p>For starters, the nature of your infraction may come into play. Admission officers tend to look somewhat kindly on what might be called youthful follies or rites of passage (sharing a beer under the basketball bleachers, putting Monopoly money in the soda machine). Episodes that endanger or belittle others are not regarded as frivolously. Academic violations … are often viewed seriously, too. However, again, the type of violation may make a difference. Copying a seatmate’s biology lab report on the school bus would probably be dismissed with an “everybody does it at some point” wave of hands, while stealing test answers from the teacher’s file cabinet might raise questions about personal integrity. Frankly, there is some dumb luck involved, too. One admission staff member might consider an incident to be trivial while another could regard the same incident with disdain. So, depending on whose desk your application folder lands, your suspension may hurt you—or not at all.</p>
<p>Another important factor will be how strong a candidate you are. If your “numbers” (test scores, rank, GPA, etc.), your background, or your special talents make you a top contender, then your suspension will probably not affect your admission decision. If, on the other hand, you are a borderline candidate (and at the Ivy League colleges and their equivalents, almost no one is a shoo-in) then it’s possible that your infraction may come back to haunt you when the final tough choices are made among equally qualified candidates. In other words, you will definitely have colleges that will admit you, despite this one-time mistake, even if your first-choice school turns you down.</p>
<p>Because of your situation, admission officials may scrutinize your required references very carefully, so be sure to choose wisely when you select the teachers who will write on your behalf. If your guidance counselor speaks well of you at recommendation time, then this will be a big plus, too. Thus it would be wise of you to keep in regular touch with your counselor throughout your high school career and remind him or her periodically that you’ve made good on your promise to stay out of trouble."
[Suspension</a> and Discipline Comments by Sally Rubenstone](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/experts/suspension-rubenstone.htm]Suspension”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/experts/suspension-rubenstone.htm)</p>