<p>Well, I have gotten myself into a mess. During the spring semester, I got into quite a bit of trouble at my university (an ivy) and was forced to take a leave of absence. As a result of the trouble, I also have a criminal case pending, but my lawyer believes things will turn out fine (no felonies). Since I was a freshman and took the leave in the spring, I only have one semester of college credits. At this stage, I am not sure what to do next. Should I try to apply for re-entry into my university, even though there might exist a strong bias against me; maybe faculty/student relations have been tarnished? With only one semester of credits and a slew of withdrawals, can I transfer to another school? Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated.</p>
<p>If you left the school on a leave of absence, you should not have to reapply - rather you simply have to call the admin office and see what you need to do to get off of your leave of absence. It may even say on the paperwork you filled out.</p>
<p>As for a bias, I think the answer to that will really be up to you. If you walk back into school with an attitude, people will assume that you didn’t learn anything. If you come back in with a fresh glad to be here approach and appear to be trying to fit in and be a part of the campus life, people will forgive and move on. </p>
<p>Obviously it depends on why you left - and how widely known the problem was. If it was very serious and widely known, then perhaps a meeting with the Dean of Students is in order to discuss how to transition back into the campus environment. You faculty advisor is another person you should be talking with prior to your return.</p>
<p>Coming from an Ivy, might you be in a position to get one of those rare transfer scholarships to a good-but-not-great college somewhere? Depending on the severity of your transgression, that could be a more attractive option.</p>
<p>Assuming that you have not been permanently expelled from your original college, as a practical matter, you are unlikely to be able to transfer to a better college than the one you have. If you transfer now, you will be basing your decision on embarassment, speculation, and fear, none of which are particularly good decision-generators.</p>
<p>You should (a) take care of your criminal case, (b) figure out what you have to do to return to your college, (c) do it, (d) keep your head down and work hard, and then (e) evaluate based on your experience whether you are so uncomfortable and the well so poisoned that you should transfer elsewhere. At that point, one hopes, the answer will be a clear “no”, or if it is “yes” you will have something better than one semester, a fistful of withdrawals, and a cloud of dust to offer your transfer school.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I had a number of friends in college who took involuntary leaves of absence in connection with some very destructive criminal mischief. One of them had serious problems, but he was a law student and a borderline psychopath (not a good combination, and people felt very nervous about him). The undergraduates were fine. One just finished a stint as a high-ranking government official with a very, very high-level security clearance. And the whole shebang was his fault.</p>
<p>Take the long view.</p>
<p>It depends on the terms of your leave of absence. My son took a leave that permitted him to re-enroll within a two year window without having to reapply, but he would have to request permission and give some statement as to what he was doing during that time away. However, that is not the only type of leave given at his school, and other schools may do things differently. You have to ask specifically.</p>
<p>As for transfer to other schools, you can give it a try. If it does not look good, you may want to take some course as a non matriculating student at a college, and then apply there or elsewhere when you have shown you can do college level work well.</p>
<p>If you can return to your Ivy, then do so, make amends, learn from the experience and continue with your college education there. There is no way you will get be able to transfer into a comparable college with a slew of withdrawals.</p>
<p>Practical suggestion: Before you go forward and deal with your academic situation (the above posters have offered good advice) figure out if you need counseling. Why did you get into the mess you got into? Do you know you can avoid it in the future? Get help from professionals–you don’t have to figure it out by yourself.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies.</p>
<p>You have a pending criminal case, you believe “things will turn out fine”, and you’re worried about transfering?</p>
<p>Get a grip kid. This is real life. With an attitude like yours, I wouldn’t count on the charges being dismissed. Judges like to see some growth, humility, accepting of responsibility, owning up to what you did, etc. How about some genuine contrition, admission that you were wrong and wronged someone else, before you immediately leap to the damage control phase of your life, i.e. how can I make this go away?</p>
<p>You know, I just re-read the OP, and somehow I missed the “attitude.” He/she didn’t provide us with details, so we don’t know kind of trouble the poster caused, and he or she may well deserve a scolding from someone. But I think the poster was looking for advice about how to move forward - I don’t read the post to mean that the student wants to avoid paying the price for his/her actions. We don’t know what they were, but avoiding felony charges isn’t the same as receiving no punishment. And he/she will have to move forward - I don’t think it’s evidence of a moral failure to think about transferring.</p>
<p>Frazzled, you are very kind. I see “mess” as a euphemism for “I did something wrong and very bad but my lawyer will make it go away”. I see “things will turn out fine” to mean, “someone else gets to clean up my pile”. And “was forced to take a leave of absence” could mean any one of 12 scenarios.</p>
<p>So yes- kid could have set a mischief fire in a metal recycling bin which could not have harmed anyone, did limited property damage, and now it’s time to move forward. Or he could have an impending trial for rape, have sent a child to the hospital by driving recklessly while intoxicated, or have sold crystal meth to a minor (or propositioned an FBI officer who he thought was a 9 year old on the internet).</p>
<p>So I like your reaction better than mine… but my local newspaper is filled with college kids who get to plead out some crime so they can “move forward”. If the kid is poor or doesn’t have savvy parents, they get charged with a felony. If the kid goes to an Ivy or plays a sport at Lehigh, they get community service and the charges are expunged. I hope you are right on this kid. And there are very few felonies that fall under the category of “scolding” (Halloween prank that went awry but nobody was hurt?)</p>
<p>Oops - didn’t mean to imply that scolding is an appropriate punishment for a felony-level offense. I meant that the original post was asking for advice on moving forward,which in and of itself doesn’t, to me, merit a scolding here. All of the crimes you outline above are despicable, of course. I’m not willing to assume that the OP is guilty of such major violent or sexual offenses, especially if felony charges are likely to be dropped. I’d like to have a bit more concrete information before deciding that someone doesn’t deserve a second chance.</p>