<p>Hey CC,</p>
<p>I am a the father of a son who was suspended 10 days from school due to alcohol use at his junior homecoming. <em>As far as his application goes, how will this affect his chances of admission? *He is looking for to apply ED at Duke and regular decision at Pitt--is he all but shunned from Duke by indicating this incident on the Common App? *He is a good kid however he just made a bad decision. *Here are his scores and grades below. *Thanks for the help.</em></p>
<p>(Electives also omitted)
Cumulative GPA (weighted/unweighted): 4.34/4.0</p>
<p>Freshman classes:
Hnrs Geometry -A
Hrs English I -A
Hrs Bio -A
Spanish I -A
West. Civ./American History -A</p>
<p>Sophomore classes:
Hrs Algebra II -A
Hrs English II -A
Hrs Chem -A
Spanish II -A
World Cultures -A</p>
<p>Junior classes:
AP Econ -A
AP Physics B -A
AP English III -A
Hnrs Pre-calc -A
Hrs American History/Hrs Govt -A</p>
<p>Senior classes:
AP Calc BC
AP Physics C
AP English IV
AP Bio
Hrs Organic Chem
Hrs Anatomy and Physiology</p>
<p>SAT scores:
710 Reading
700 Math
710 Writing
11 Essay</p>
<p>SAT Subject Tests:
Physics 750
Math II 710</p>
<p>ACT:
32 composite
34 Math
33 English
10 Essay</p>
<p>Make an appointment with his HS guidance counselor (or the college counselor there if that is a separate person), so that you and your son can get advice about this. There are various ways to handle the information, and a good counselor who knows that your son has seen the error of his ways and is making solid steps to stay out of trouble, will be able to advise you about the best way(s) to handle things.</p>
<p>Comcerneddad5, just want to say that if every kid who ever did what your son did got caught, you would not need to ask this question because there would be so many. </p>
<p>I agree with happy mom. You need to find out how the school will deal with it because they do send in something with the applications. And applications do ask whether a student has been suspended. Your son will have to explain it.</p>
<p>Good luck with the process. My son got caught in an academic dishonesty case his junior year…good kid, BAD decision. Fortunately for him, the school did not make an example out of him and I think he learned from his mistake and was punished.</p>
<p>I was suspended for breaking my school’s computer code as a junior. So was my friend. We were both strong students and were accepted to UVA. I was also accepted every else I applied but one place. I was denied at that school because of better applicants, not the suspension. I gave a reasonable explanation of it, and that seemed to be enough. With that being said, my suspension is perhaps for a more intellectual reason than getting drunk, but your son is a strong student and most schools will probably understand. I recommend getting a higher ACT score for Duke as it will probably have more impact than the suspension. Definitely get the counselor to mention how he has changed and learned from the experience if at all possible.</p>