<p>1.) I think that because you’re an international student, you may have more emotional/psychological ground. Most study abroad/international students suffer from depression anyway, and that COULD be helpful in your medical “excuse.”</p>
<p>2.) and just as a friendly warning, I wouldn’t be saying things like “but hey, US has over 4000 colleges. There are plenty of seats. But then there are plenty of students/kids/teens in the US who “decide not to pursue a college education””</p>
<p>You have no idea how many people in this country are too poor to afford college or how many must make larger sacrifices and decisions. Likewise, if they DID have your opportunity to study at a university, I’m sure they wouldn’t hack their prof’s computer. Just saying and putting it into perspective. </p>
<p>Sure, I very much agree with your second point. I know I am lucky to be studying. And deeply ashamed of what I did. And yes you are right I shouldnt say things like that, but then it was very general idea to present.</p>
<p>And yes, even if there is a 1% chance that anything will save me from suspension and give me a second chance to prove myself a better person I will take it :).</p>
<p>Having (or, I guess potentially having) bipolar disorder did not force you to hack into a teacher’s account. I’m sorry, but this sounds like a huge excuse and inability for you to truly own up to what you did. You hacked the account. And only you can be blamed for it. I would highly recommend taking bipolar disorder out of your defense (I might still mention it but definitely not as your explanation for your action). If I were the school and heard you using bipolar disorder as an excuse, I’d give you a harsher sentence. You’re an adult, man up for crying out loud. </p>
<p>People have problems. People suffer. One of my family members was murdered this summer. You think I used that as an excuse to get out of schoolwork? Yes, it was a major cause in my sub-par grades this semester but I did not ask for any special treatment. I simply had to work past the depression and horrific feeling of loss because teachers did not, on an academic level, care. </p>
<p>Please do not spend the entire hearing giving excuses. Own up to your actions. That’ll give you more respect than any excuse could.</p>
<p>1) At the hearing do not say that you are bipolar. You do not yet have a diagnosis, and that can take months (and there’s a very real chance your diagnosis will be something else along the manic spectrum). If anything, mention that you have gone to a therapist and are now going to a psychiatrist for further evaluation.</p>
<p>2) You’re blaming this issue on the disorder, which is not the brightest idea. I see two outcomes of that - either the committee at your hearing thinks that’s a load of crock and that you don’t know how to take responsibility, or they do take it seriously. BUT here’s the thing with the second possibility - as I said, it takes months for a bipolar diagnosis. The committee could very well say “well, if you’re not stable now, you’re not going to be stable until you’re on meds (which could also take a while to figure out), and that won’t happen until a diagnosis happens so you shouldn’t be in school anyway.” And boom, there goes your student visa anyway and you’ll be out of the country.</p>
<p>3) Yes, a suspension from an academic integrity violation does mean your student visa will be revoked. Being suspended means you’re violating the terms of the F-1, which the school has to report, and you’ll have to leave.</p>
<p>4) Quite frankly you deserve to be expelled, not just suspended. No disorder is any excuse for the crap you’ve pulled. So if you are suspended, be gracious that that is all that will be on record. Whatever you do, don’t show anger towards the committee.</p>
<p>If it looks like you are going to get suspended (not saying it does right now), would it be possible for you to leave the university, take your credits to another school, and finish up your degree there?? I don’t know a lot about your situation, so that might not be possible. But it could be an option…</p>
<p>I am already filling applications of another university. But then it all depends on how much info is on my record and the number of available seats in the university.</p>
<p>Don’t blame your actions on potentially having bipolar disorder. Plenty of people have it and are being treated for it and plenty have it without even knowing it. That wasn’t why you hacked into your professor’s computer. Apologize, explain your visa situation (without fishing too hard for pity) and hope for the best. There’s not much else that can be done.</p>
<p>If you truly have bipolar disorder, then perhaps this is a good thing after all. </p>
<p>Now you get the chance to figure out why you have these periods of life when you act impulsively and recklessly, and it is better you got caught now then later when you’ve already built a life for yourself. </p>
<p>You are young, and now you are going to be able to tackle your issues head on and get back on course. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Ugh. I sincerely hope that your university reports your actions to any other university you apply to. You do NOT deserve a seat at any university, in the U.S. or in your own country.</p>
<p>Go home. Get treatment. After you finally learn how to be an upstanding human being, start building a life for yourself. Stop placing blame on everything you can reach for that isn’t yourself. </p>
<p>As a student who is currently studying abroad, I am disgusted with your actions. You disgrace all of us.</p>
<p>I had a friend who was bipolar. He jumped into a lake and swam across it because he thought dogs were chasing him sent by the KBI. Then he walked into another student’s room and put on his clothes because he thought he received a message from the FBI that this will be the new persona he’s taking on. Would that be his fault or something that can be blamed on his mental illness?</p>
<p>My point is that if OP actually does have bipolar disorder, then it very easily could have caused him to behave very irrationally during a manic episode. Very easily. So if I was on his hearing committee, and if the therapist told me he believes OP has bipolar, I wouldn’t suspend him, but let him know that one more screw-up would lead to a suspension.</p>
<p>By the way, now that my friend is on medication, he’s completely fine. He doesn’t have manic episodes as long as he stayed on his medication.</p>
<p>People wonder why many Americans don’t seek treatment for mental illnesses and it’s all here. The summary of this thread is “Don’t blame your mental illness, it’s your fault you did what you did.” Then people with mentall illnesses think, “oh I guess I can’t blame my mental illness, so there’s no point in getting treatment. It’s something within myself and I just need to try really hard to be normal.” People here need to realize that yes, sometimes you can blame your actions on your mental illness. That’s how mental illnesses work…</p>
<p>I’ll be surprised if you aren’t suspended… But maybe I don’t know the general punishment for these sorts of things. I would have thought expulsion to be quite honest.</p>
<p>I don’t like to put people down, and I don’t think OP is a bad person for what his (not yet officially diagnosed) illness MAY have caused him to do. It’s the part where he’s trying to escape responsibility for his actions that I dislike. It’s the part where he’s trying to avoid his illness, where he thinks he can swallow a pill and just go on living. That’s not possible, not with this disorder. He needs to own up to what he did(not just say ‘my illness made me do it’), accept the consequences, go home, and start working on it.</p>
<p>I said he was a disgrace to us not because of what he did, but because of what he’s DOING. He’s being selfish, trying to cling to a spot in a university that he should not be in. He should not remain in a foreign country, in a foreign school, while he’s undergoing treatment for a mental disorder. He needs to go home. If all of the exchange students abroad who have experienced a mental illness(and you just need to check out boards like Cultures Shocked to know that depression is very common amongst exchange students) and did something extremely detrimental like this and then tried to get away with it and stay, then the entire exchange system would rapidly develop a terrible reputation and no one would want to take in an ES for fear of them ‘cracking under pressure.’ </p>
<p>You may not like my opinion, but you don’t have a right to call me a ‘disgusting, ignorant human being’ because of it. And don’t assume that I don’t understand mental disorders, I’ve been intimately acquainted with them via association throughout my life. And I would push all of those people to accept responsibility, go home, and get treatment.</p>
<p>Why do you assume his mental illness is due to the fact that he’s an exchange student? If he really is bipolar, then he was probably already predisposed to it. </p>
<p>And you’re ignorant, because you’re saying that even if he has a mental disorder, it’s still his fault for what he did. Why do you think some people can get out of jail time if they are shown to have a mental disorder and are shown that their actions are directly caused by their mental disorder? Do you think lawmakers got together and made that law arbitrarily? It’s because that it’s a fact that people with mental disorders can sometimes have episodes that cause them to lose control over their behavior. </p>
<p>And yes, I do have a right to call you a disgusting, ignorant human being. Because you are. Learn stuff.</p>
<p>The problem with your attitude is you assume the OP can’t get better and continue with college, like anyone else. Being foreign means they shouldn’t have the same rights as others to defend their actions? Then why would anyone bother coming here for an education? Not everyone believes he should be sacrificed for sake of the “honor” of this system, as if one person can determine that, and especially not that this one action means he doesn’t deserve to attend any college anywhere. Talk about an extreme overreaction.</p>
<p>Mental illnesses are poorly understood and hugely under treated. Whether or not it is a cause of the OP’s actions in this case, or simply a contributing factor to impulse control and poor decision making, it is unlikely to gain the sympathy of the university administrators. You need to take ownership of your actions and show that you do. </p>
<p>Show that you are contrite and that you are pursuing getting a psyc evaluation. Hope for the best, but be prepared that you may not only be kicked out but you may have even more consequences tied to staying in the US or switching to another school. You will be required to admit anywhere to disciplinary or legal actions and lying about it would only make your problems greater. What you do have in your favor is that schools know they are dealing with young adults who are prone to making poor decisions and they may be compassionate to a limited extent. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. </p>
<p>And to the rest of you, keep the personal attacks to yourselves. They serve no productive function.</p>
<p>offtopic: @username1824: Wow, I actually didn’t know being delusion was also associated with being bipolar. I always assumed that it was more of a trait of being schizophrenic. Sounds like a pretty severe case of bipolar. My condolence to your friend. </p>
<p>Anyways, I also agree with the sentiment that you guys should hold back your attacks on the OP to a minimum. Even regular college students often have lapse of judgement and violate academic integrity. And now we are talking about a students with bipolar disorder; we don’t know if he had an episode when he committed the crime or not. With that said, the OP shouldn’t make it sounds like his bipolar disorder should be a justification for his action either. In my opinion, I think the committee will give you the benefit of the doubt that you do have bipolar disorder. However, chances are that their decision still won’t be good for you. Sorry to say but as long as you still are a risk, the university most likely won’t be very inclined to deal with you.</p>