<p>Last week, I was caught drinking at my school dance and was suspended for 3 days, I havent sent out my applications yet... how much will this hurt my chances??</p>
<p>write an amazing essay about what you learned and what not and you should be fine.
it is not something that you can leave alone, because colleges will see it, so it must be explained.</p>
<p>The way ive heard it is this:</p>
<p>colleges under the top 150 wont care.
colleges in the top 150 will care bvecause their so competitive (at ivies especially) that they can have either the 4.0 with a clean record or the 4.0 with the drinking suspension. Who do you think they'll choose. The ny times had a story in there magazine where a student at scarsdale (few towns over from me) had almost a 4.0, 4 gen of legacy at princton, and 2200 sats and got rejected after switching schools becaause of a drinking incident. Not much you can do about it except try to cover it up or wrtie a really good essay about it. Either way isnt good.</p>
<p>cheers,
Mike</p>
<p>OP so much depends on how you've responded to the suspension. Your GC will need to comment on it in his/her recommendation. Were you remorseful, and was this a first-time offense? You will also be writing about it, of course, so this will be your most important essay. I didn't say longest, just most important. Admissions is not simply about grades and scores, but also about character. If you have a strong positive track record, documented by your recommendation letters, this might just be a bump in the road. Best wishes to you.</p>
<p>you're pretty much f---ed, why did you do it knowing it could harm you?</p>
<p>My guess is that a long essay on the topic of underage drinking will just annoy the heck out of the admission officers who've already got enough reading to do.</p>
<p>My another guess is that since underage drinking is indeed abundant among teenagers in our country, it truly won't matter. Yes, I disagree with you Miktau. Seriously..... everyone will be drinking at college, and many of them underage. It's not like a serious reflection of the applicant's rebellious character or anything. Kids who like to party or experiement, pretty much everyone at high school, will do it, and I think adcoms will be well-aware of that.</p>
<p>Miktau, I read that same story... too bad that one part of his application ruined him.
To the OP, it's hard to say the effect it'll have. The student in the story (rejected from Princeton) was accepted into UVa, which is an excellent school, so it obviously wasn't a HUGE factor, but I guess for a school as competitive as Princeton, it made a difference.
As mentioned before, this could actually be a great opportunity for writing an amazing essay: focus in on a non-cliche summary of what you learned and such.
Hope it works out for you!</p>
<p>
[quote]
My another guess is that since underage drinking is indeed abundant among teenagers in our country, it truly won't matter. Yes, I disagree with you Miktau. Seriously..... everyone will be drinking at college, and many of them underage. It's not like a serious reflection of the applicant's rebellious character or anything. Kids who like to party or experiement, pretty much everyone at high school, will do it, and I think adcoms will be well-aware of that.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Except that the drinking is "supposed" to be after you get in and are there. Getting caught beforehand is stupid...and at a competitive school they can just take someone with a similar profile who didn't make the mistake of bringing drinks to a school dance...</p>
<p>Other than learning to not do it because you'll get in trouble, did you actually LEARN anything from it?</p>
<p>I wouldn't go by the top 150 thing, it will likely hurt you at very selective schools but most state flagships won't care, especially if you weren't arrested.</p>
<p>It sorta varies. I was told that many universities want to drop the drinking age to 18 years old since it's already an ongoing problem. So depending on the school, they may see a lot into it. Although other schools who would like to keep the drinking age at 21, it may harm chances.</p>
<p>i second locrasaur's comment...why would u drink at a school event? i dont wanna sound like d-bag here...but ur pretty screwed..colleges dont wanna deal with the nonsense.</p>
<p>Lol buddy underage drinking aint your only problem. </p>
<p>This is kind of interesting because I actually went to the same school as that guy who got rejected from Princeton and into UVA. He went to St. Paul's School, in New Hampshire, an elite boarding school, and I was in his dorm. I didn't know him very well, because I was a freshman and he was a junior, but I do know that it was not his first drinking offense. Prep schools tend to take drinking offenses more seriously, particularly boarding schools because it is your home, so they have to enforce punishments as much as possible. Anyways, I know that he had been caught drinking prior to that incident. The reason he switched schools in the first place was because he would have been expelled with two drinking offenses on his record, since he was on probation. From this same school, plenty of kids have been caught drinking (but only once) and end up going to Ivy League Schools. It's my opinion that having drinking on your high school record is pretty much negligible on applications as long as it's not a pattern of repeated violations.</p>
<p>Check previous threads on this topic. This will likely have no impact on your admission chances. I know something about this topic, so trust me on this one. First-find out if your school is going to disclose it. I have been told by a number of admission reps from top 20 schools that an incident such as you are describing does not even make the radar. High school students are expected to experiment, and some DO get caught.<br>
I know a young man who was expelled from one of the top boarding schools in the country for a serious drinking offense (involved the police). This was mid-senior year. He wound up at my son's school and still got great college acceptances.</p>
<p>
How is drinking at school nonsense? Underage drinking is one of the most ubiquitous issues amongst teenagers. I know more kids who have taken a sip of beer than those who haven't. We are 15-18 years old who obviously have lapses in judgements, and I think colleges will be more willing to overlook such minor offense and give a second chance. </p>
<p> [quote=geste90] Prep schools tend to take drinking offenses more seriously, particularly boarding schools because it is your home, so they have to enforce punishments as much as possible ...It's my opinion that having drinking on your high school record is pretty much negligible on applications as long as it's not a pattern of repeated violations.
Totally agreed. It's also EASIER to get caught at boarding schools, because you are under 24/7 supervision of teachers in your dorm, classroom, whatever building you will be at the school. It's not like you invite a bunch of friends to your empty house when your parents are out of town. I know a plenty of kids who got expelled or switched school before expulsion for substance problem, and IF they were good enough students, Ivies were always eager to "ignore" these offenses. Bottom line is that if you are amazing and competitive schools want you, one-time substance abuse isn't suddenly gonna ruin everything.</p>
<p>haha is this really true that in u.s. you can't drink under 21?</p>
<p>lol you can but it's illegal</p>
<p>nooo :) It'll be like return to past to study in U.S. In almost every country in europe after 18 you're free, can do anything you like to. Probably not start in elections (is... 24? or like that).</p>
<p>Yeah and drinking will be pleasure again :) prohibited is tempting :P</p>