Hi, I’m a rising junior in high school and I’ve been very, very worried about college, etc. since about eighth grade. I currently have a 3.8 GPA, am in the top 5% of my class, am multilingual, and have received a lot of honors and awards because of my writing and academics. I thought I would have at least an alright chance of getting into some pretty good schools up until recently, because I got suspended. I’m Chinese, and this guy in my sixth period class was making fun of Chinese people and doing racist accents and making racist jokes about Chinese people for most of the period. The entire class was telling him to stop but the teacher wasn’t really doing anything, and it was extremely offensive. At the end of the period I decided to throw my water bottle at him and somehow gave him a black eye/cut his cheek, so I ended up being suspended for two days.
Some of my teachers told me that due to the circumstances surrounding the suspension, it might actually help me, but I think they were just telling me that to make me feel better… So my question is, how badly will this affect my chances of getting into a really good school (I’m thinking Boston University and that tier) and receiving scholarships? And how will this affect my chances of getting an (AF)ROTC scholarship?
A kid at my school got drunk at school, got suspended and an M.I.P, and he still got into Cornell. Just something to think about.
On most college applications, there is space for you to include additional information. People sometimes use this to explain unusual circumstances that caused poor grades, etc. Use this area to explain the story behind your suspension. Take full responsibility - while the kid was obviously wrong by making racist jokes, don’t blame it on him. That will just make you look as that you feel your violence was justified (even if you feel that it’s justified, you don’t want them to think you’re making excuses).Instead, write about what you’ve learned from the event and how you have changed. Make sure you have someone qualified read it for you, and if you can, get a college counselor to give you personal advice on the situation. Ask your guidance counselor/school administrator if they can explain the circumstances on your record to validate your story.
If you make sure that you take responsibility for your actions and SHOW the school you’re applying to that you have taken that responsibility, it might not have as big as an impact.
Good luck!
Maybe even seek out a seminar or short program on constructive race relations to show you now are prepared to constructively handle it.
Completely Agree with cug19. Also, I know racist comments are so disgusting. You need to be completely sincere because your schools will probably ask about your actions from now on to the GC. What you did was wrong. Violence won’t get you anywhere. Also, if you can get into program or something alike that prove you are ready to handle this kind of situations.
If possible, arrange a meeting with the college advisor or guidance counselor who will write your letter of recommendation. You can see what will appear on your official transcript, and discuss the best way to address the matter.
All the good advice is above mine. If you were my kid we’d be consulting an attorney for the teacher allowing the
racist environment. The teacher needs retraining. I’m sorry you had to live through that. Violence is wrong but most of us do have a breaking point. IMO it’s your racist class mate who should be forced to attend a race relations and bullying seminar. I find when stupid people are saying stupid things it works well to just stare at a spot (zit or mole) on their face. Expressionless. It freaks them out.
You decided and you were wrong. Regardless of what someone else “says” you are not justified initializing violence. The instigator did NOT “somehow” get a black eye and cut on his cheek. You caused that. Take responsibility for your own actions and learn how to use your big people words. You may need those words IF your top choices of colleges are willing to overlook this lapse in judgement. AFROTC may well take a dim view of your inability to control your temper. All you can do is be honest and hope they need your multilingual skills enough to overlook this issue.
Good Luck!
If you were a parent, how would you feel about your kid attending a university with someone who had a record of assault?
@JustOneDad I have to say that although the OP did have a reason to lash out like that, violence is never really “justified.” However, this is hardly “assault”. It’s not like he’s done this several times, and I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt the kid in question (but the issue could have been resolved in a better way). I’m pretty sure OP is feeling a lot of regret over the situation, and just snapped for a moment. If he explains what happened, then he should be ok, although admissions might perceive him as having a small temper problem.
Ask if it’ll go on your college transcript. If you want, you could threaten the school for not doing their job training teachers, so they’ll back off and not do anything to you. Worse case scenario, bring a lawyer in. You don’t want to have suspension on your record
@collegeguy97 whoa whoa whoa. BRING A LAWYER IN? By all means, the OP conciously made that decision, it was just a very bad one, and he did have some reason to do that. However, his decision hurt the kid in question. If anything, he’d lose the case. He conciously made that decision. If anything, he can explain his actions through the little optional essay on the bottom of the app or have a rec letter explain his circumstances.
Some here need to look at a sample app. It asks about disciplinary action and tells you to attach an explanation.
And assault doesn’t depend on having done it several times. And it isn’t easily excused by saying, I didn’t mean to or the other kid started it.
OP threw the bottle. Bad choice. Some high schools have a zero tolerance policy.
Kids make bad choices. Adcoms know that. If your school reports, your success hinges on how you explain this. Pointing fingers won’t help. And make this a life lesson.
A kid says something offensive to a classmate. The classmate’s response is to throw a bottle at his head, giving him a cut across the cheek. Following the inevitable disciplinary action, the thrower posts on collegeboard, where some advise bringing in a lawyer to browbeat school administrators and/or suggest that the incident can be blamed on a teacher (who needs “retraining”). This says something about the unduly litigious nature of our society, which seeks to settle so many questions before a judge.
OP’s classmate sounds like a nasty person. The teacher seems to have done a poor job of keeping that one kid in check-though I know better than to declare him/her in need of retraining on the basis of one incident, related over the internet (odd as it may seem, such matters are what school administrators are paid to address). None of this forced OP to throw a water bottle at the little (unprintable).
I agree with those more reasonable posters who, instead of ushering you into the lawyer’s office, urge honesty as the best policy. Find a way to learn from this experience, and trust in the understanding of admissions officers who were once teenagers themselves.
Okay, thanks for the explanation. I see now why bringing in a lawyer might appear unkarmaly. However, it sounds quite unfair. That kid was being racist
write this in your essay, it would make a great essay topic and doesn’t show violence as much as standing up for your beliefs which is good.
Chance back please?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1786085-brown-university-ed.html#latest