I was suspended in my Freshman year for possession and use of marijuana. However, I would say I completely overcame it and haven’t touched a vape or weed in 3 years. Also I can show proof with my GPA, sudden engagement with the community, and such. For example, my GPA my freshman year was a 2.7, but it gradually improves with 3.8 Sophomore year, and 4.0 Junior year, with APs and college courses. I was told to write about this, and I agree with it, but I was told by some people that writing about my suspension won’t really help with the chances of admission. I’m just really confused on what to do.
I don’t think this essay will help. I’d recommend another topic.
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I’d pick something else
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Itsgettingreal21 and happy1 are both spot on. It won’t help you but could certainly hurt you.
Pot smoking isn’t the end of the world but in the context of a college essay you are expected to reveal and provide insight into who you are. The risk of forever being the “pot smoking guy” in the subconscious of the AO simply isn’t worth it.
Good luck and congratulations on the upward trend in GPA!
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How should I explain to a college I improved as a person if I don’t write about it? In the specific college’s common app process, it doesn’t ask me if I was suspended.
Should I even give a little hint of my suspension in my essay?
Leave this out of your essays. If you overcame this…then wrote about something you have done more recently!
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Leave it out completely?
Please find another topic.
Yes, that’s what I would suggest. You say you got over it…and have moved on. So why are you suggesting this should be included in your essays?
Please explain…maybe I’ve missed something.
It’s just I really want to explain it, so they know I’m not that person anymore.
You can write about who you are now without discussing illegal activity and a suspension from three years ago. Paint yourself in the best possible light possible and don’t give an ad com any reason to doubt that you would make a positive contribution to their campus and be successful. Yes you changed but it could be a big red flag that you were using and suspended. It’s not worth the risk.
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Look forward not backwards!
Aren’t they going to find out anyways? Thank you everyone for the help.
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They’d find out if it’s on your transcript which I don’t think it would be. You want to write about you. Not you the pot smoker but you who has a passion or talent, etc. stopping smoking lot and getting good grades isn’t really exciting or interesting. They will see your academic progression and will know you’ve made improvements in your life.
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Why would it not be on my transcript?
You’ve really turned things around. Make an appointment with your school guidance counselor, and ask that the record of the suspension be removed from your transcript. The school is likely to agree - after all, why should a mistake you made in 9th grade hold you back, when you’ve done so well since? If the guidance counselor cannot do this for you, get your parents involved and have them meet with the school principal to make this request.
And then write your essay about something else. You shouldn’t waste that essay space talking about a dumb thing you did in 9th grade. Talk about what you love, what you care about doing, your ambitions, your achievements. The good stuff.
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Yes, make an appt with your guidance counselor and find out from your them whether colleges are going to be made aware of this at all. If the answer is yes, see if there’s any way to change that. If there isn’t, then ask how this will be addressed in your counselor recommendation. Having them vouch that you have moved past the earlier issues and shown growth academically and in terms of community engagement will be far more compelling than just saying it yourself. If you need to mention it all all, put it in the “additional info” section, not as your main essay.
What you seem to be asserting is that overcoming this issue several years ago (would you say you had an actual substance abuse problem, or did you just get caught experimenting?) is the most admirable and interesting thing about you. Is that really how you feel? Is that what you want to convey to AO’s?
If there was something you were struggling with at the time, of which getting into trouble with weed was only a symptom, then it may be worth talking about the crux of that struggle if it sheds light on who you are as a person, what’s important to you, and what interesting thoughts you have about life and how you want to spend it. But nobody-and-I-mean-nobody wants to read an essay that implies that the most interesting thing you’ve ever done is to stop smoking pot. If you really want to show that you’re not that person anymore, come up with a way to paint a vivid picture of the person you are now. If you do this well, there will be no need to talk about who you aren’t.
What if I moved schools at the end of my Sophomore year? I’m in a whole different area. Should I contact my old school’s counselor, or can my current school deal with it?
I would say it was just a phase, I didn’t have an actual problem. It was just teenagers being dumb. So basically, what everyone’s saying is that if the suspension doesn’t show up in my transcript, don’t talk about it at all?