underage drinking citation - impact on admissions? Feedback/advice from any admin officers sought

Applying to College
1

My son should be competitive for most but the most elite schools - not picture perfect, but very good grades, high test scores (33 ACT superscored), AP classes and 5s, captain of varsity sports team, volunteer history for years at local food pantry, likable guy.

Then he drank a beer…

Didn’t buy it, didn’t bring it, didn’t drive, but did accept a beer offered by a friend well before a game last fall. A bit later, walking into the game with a crowd, including some noisy kids who obviously had been drinking, was approached by a teacher who said if anyone made a bad decision, they should leave. My son and the friend decided to turn and go. Vice principal saw them and said, too late now and pulled the kids aside. He blew a .01 on a breathlyzer. Honest, polite, contrite. Served three days in in-school suspension, 5 sessions with in-school counselor, loss of privileges. Then the school resource officer (police at school) called to tell us to have my son pick up his citation at the office. In our state, this is an adult charge at 17. District court, lawyer, referral to teen court. $800 fees and court costs. next Teen court=raked over the coals for an hour by the volunteer judge in front of a room of his peers, 20 hours community service, 2000 word essay, 10 more hours serving at juror for future teen courts, and required assessment by formal drug abuse and alcohol treatment program (assessment - he does not have a problem). He’s done it all so well that the orgs want him back as a regular volunteer. Charges will be dismissed.

Yet automatic denial of his nomination to National Honor Society. Not sure if he’ll ever be able not be able to volunteer for any organization that requires a criminal background check…such as our local YMCA. One computerized school record stated he was intoxicated at school (not true - cleaning that one up right now). His application to take advance math courses at an area highly ranked public university as a non-degree high school student was flagged because he reported the incident and we had to produce tons of documents on 2 days notice. We had a certified letter from the school system office noting his “excessive disciplinary incidents”. Working on cleaning that up too. It was a mistake, based on computerized record.

We have a very open relationship and talk a lot. Alcohol and pot are everywhere in his high pressure high school. He does his best to avoid it but it seems to come up at almost every social situation. He’s been very honest with me for years and I am very proud of him. He is the one who calls me at night to let me know he is driving someone else home. He came to me upset one night saying he’s just trying to do the right thing. He wanted to be honest. So please no answers condemning him or saying there is a deeper problem. He already feels pretty beaten down. He sees a regular counselor, and a pediatrician - he made a mistake and drank a beer. I did much worse at his age.

So I am seeking advice on admissions - he’ll answer questions honestly, but should he go into all the details in extra submission materials? He’d like to reach for an ivy or two, and some near Ivies or well ranked math, science and engineering schools. He is looking at very strong private universities.

With 40k applications, should he even get his hopes up for any top school? How will this affect financial aid? Is he forever barred from scholarships that have any “character” requirement? Is this the type of thing to discuss in an essay or avoid at all costs?

2

I doubt that this would automatically disqualify him from consideration, but it is a hurdle. I suggest that you and he request a lengthy discussion about it with the guidance counselor or college adviser who will be responsible for writing his letters of recommendation. They will be critical in the process. Some colleges might even call the high school if he is otherwise considered a strong candidate for admission. You and your son should ask for the unofficial, unsealed copy of his transcript if you want to see just what will be reported on it. Good luck!

3

Have you talked to a lawyer who specializes in these cases? In some states you can plead down the charges. I suppose that’s too late now. Are there systems to expunge this after a time limit?

4

Thank you for the advice - we actually had a long meeting with the vice principal and counselor to go over what having the school resource officer actually file a charge has resulted in. They didn’t know. The counselor is behind us, but she covers 300-400 students so I can only hope she’ll have time to make a difference in his case. We had a highly recommended lawyer who specializes in these cases, and there is nothing less to go down to, really. We can have it expunged…takes about a year, can only do that once in life, and these days with easy access to info, I expect it would still show up in some fashion, somewhere, somehow, just as “expunged” and I wonder how that in and of itself looks. It doesn’t fit with being honest and ‘owning’ your mistakes and learning lessons. But being up front about it opens him up to more condemnation and penalty. The whole thing is incredibly disheartening.

5

do you think the counselor should bring it up in her letter in the first place, or wait for an inquiry?

6

She is required to disclose any discipline in her letter of reccomendation.

7

I feel your pain. Such a shame. We can rail on about draconian repercussions but that is beside the point now. I don’t even understand what infraction it was. Citation (for what adult charge, underage drinking?) So not a misdemeanor even?

The good news is that if he is accepted it doesn’t affect need based aid. It doesn’t affect federal aid or loan entitlements either. For merit aid, it won’t affect automatic aid based on stats, I don’t think. It could affect selective merit awards. (Ivies do not give merit awards.)

I see you have two issues. One is a suspension which I assume will be on the transcript. Chase down all those erroneous records, that is really insane, and pull a transcript next fall so you will know exactly what it says. Here is some survey info:

26% of secondary schools have written policies on disclosure of student disciplinary information to colleges
38% of secondary schools reported they do not disclose student disciplinary information
23% report that they do disclose
39% report they disclose in some cases

The other issue is the citation/infraction/misdemeanor which is unfortunate pile on, but the application will ask you about it. It isn’t a juvenile record you say. You say charges will be dismissed, you also mention expunged so I am unclear on this. I’m not sure it is required to disclose charged that are dismissed. Sure the colleges want you to. Also it may help you look transparent. I’d like to see some discussion on that. But see:
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/infractions/?_r=0

I do think he has to address it. I’m thinking in his essay although it could be in ‘other info’. I think he may be able to put it to rest if it is one of the essays, better than a statement in the other info. He will have to be thoughtful and it must be well crafted with just the right touch. It can include some of his background and values. And some insights. No minimizing, Everything matters is the lesson he needs to learn for himself in this at the least. Although I’m sure it is easy to be resentful, don’t encourage that. Actually I’m a bit torn on which way to go on this, essay or other info. Essay could backfire and make it the only thing that they remember about him.

It will help if the counselor mentions it, it is going to be out there anyway. Is she willing or able to say it is out of character and emphasize no previous issues and does she know enough about him? I have suggestion for how to present it I can add.

This is going to remind everyone of the book The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg, where the student took a bite of a pot brownie that was being handed out then tossed it. Kids got sick and the administration advised turning yourself in if you participated, which she alone did. One day suspension. She did write about it in her essay. No college admissions, only a couple waitlists. But her high profile private school has counselors who call the admissions offices and lobby for their student body president. She was admitted off the waitlist at Cornell. I think that alcohol isn’t going to be a big a deal as a drug incident, somehow.

One way to address this may be for him to take on those additional volunteering opportunities, sort of go all in. I’m sure that would help back his learning from the experience and showing a pattern of responsible behavior.He may also he must be interested in helping peers understand repercussions are not worth the trouble. Drinking driving programs, after all are emphasizing making better choices because of repercussions (to others and yourself) instead of ineffectively telling people not to drink.

About college strategy. He can apply wherever his stats are inline and he may or may not get in becuse of this and also that is the case even if this didn’t happen. So he especially but any kid can’'t take the admissions game as a prize or a referendum. He should add some of the many good colleges where he will be a big asset (top 10-25% of class who take the time to read everything carefully.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-heaton/college-disciplinary-infractions_b_2396256.html