<p>In my Sophomore year in high school, I was arrested and expelled for bringing a weapon to school... This was not because I was trying to hurt anybody, but because i had used my backpack for other activities and hadn't removed it... Other than that one slip up, I have no disciplinary problems, 4.0 unweighted, 6.0 weighted GPA, tons of AP's, high SAT's high SAT 2's, and some community service... My big lack is in something that makes me stand out from the masses of other perfect students... Would my situation be something that I would want to sweep under the rug and pretend it never happened, or to portray as a learning experience where I got to know the system from the inside and met some interesting people?</p>
<p>I believe that on the application there is a section to put if you have ever been arrested/etc. You would have to tell them that.</p>
<p>Unfortunately you can’t “sweep that under the rug” as CommonApp requires you to tell if you’ve ever had any disciplinary problems. You should most definitely explain it though, in your “Additional Information” or “Essay” section. Generally, discipline problems do hurt a lot, but I don’t know about yours’… considering that’s terrible… I’m guessing you explained but they didn’t care? hmmmmm… well good luck!</p>
<p>Yea, I know that, but on my transcript it doesn’t say expelled and on my record I have no convictions… The arrest is no big deal, I’m trying to decide if that experience can be used as a “significant learning event”</p>
<p>Well… if you are planning on lying, then yes you could probably sweep it under the rug. So it comes down to a moral decision which none of us (or anyone) can condone either way… I still don’t understand how you were arrested for that though</p>
<p>While there are some schools that ask for arrests, most only ask about convictions. I just wouldn’t apply to any school that asked about arrests since you weren’t found guilty. If the school doesn’t consider it an expelling, I wouldn’t either. BUt I don’t understand. Were you expelled and they reversed the expelltion?</p>
<p>I was suspended for ten days at first, but knew the mandatory step was expulsion, so i was withdrawn from the school first… I believe that was the situation</p>
<p>Don’t forget you need letters from counselors, and you do not want them to bring it up.</p>
<p>Yeah this sounds difficult. I obviously have no idea what the situation was, but the fact that it involved a gun may be very off putting to colleges. Regardless I think you have to mention it on the common app and hopefully be able to explain it in an appropriate way.</p>
<p>Was it a gun? Ooops, I was assuming it was a knife 
Well, in your explanation, “weapon” is fine (and explain what is was left over from)</p>
<p>I recall the language on common app being very clear when asking about about being expelled/suspended from school. So, either you lie and roll the dice, or you tell the truth and explain that you’ve had a learning experience. I’d choose the latter because the former will catch up to you.</p>
<p>I agree with bibbist. Lie and roll the dice or tell the truth and explain. It’s a difficult choice. I would go with the latter but I could see how bringing a weapon to school, regardless of the explanation, can really tarnish an application.</p>
<p>
“other activies”? man, you left yourself wide open! Actually, any opinion I would give would depend on what type of weapon, and what you mean by “other activities”. If it was a hunting knife that you keep in your backpack while hiking, and forgot to remove, that’s one thing. If it was a handgun that you use to rob convenience stores, that’s another matter … see what I mean?</p>
<p>I agree with all the above posts. My friend chose to not to tell the school that he got caught cheating, even though no where on the transcript stated that fact. However, somehow the counselor knew about it and wrote it in the letter of recommendation. He was rejected from more than half of the school that he chose as safety. My best advice is to come clean, because it’s not on the transcript doesn’t mean the college won’t know about it. I wish you luck, and don’t be afraid. Carefully and honestly explain what happened and I think the admission office will get through the negative fact.</p>
<p>The college forms ask guidance counselors questions about disciplinary problems. If you don’t mention an expulsion and the guidance counselor does, that will look very very bad. The guidance counselors are bound to tell the truth, and can hurt the chances for other students from their school if they try to cover something up.</p>
<p>Explain it the best way you can, but don’t try to cover it up. As said above, if you were hunting and forgot to take the knife out of your backpack, that is more understandable. I personally think a gun in school will freak out colleges and probably put your app in the recycle bin.</p>
<p>No gun, it was a hunting knife… and I suppose everyone is right… I just hope I can spin it to not destroy my application</p>