<p>My son had been a student of St. Mark's, a private high school in MA from Freshmen year to Senior Year. However, he recently had to withdraw from the school after having not cited a source from which he received help for a homework assignment. He had a similar previous offense and received a suspension. He had to withdraw this time round because a second offense would result in expulsion.</p>
<p>Under the circumstances, he has two choices: 1. Finish up his Senior Year at a public school and stay his college apps or 2. Pull out from this year's college process and apply to go to another private school in the same league as St. Mark's (ISL) and repeat Senior Year. </p>
<p>His college counselor said that the second option might be better because if he were to start at a new school, when he applies to college next year, he would not need to report the suspension he received at St. Mark's, which he has reported for this year's process. The counselor said this might help his chances overall because he would be applying without a disciplinary record.</p>
<p>However, if he were to follow this option, would colleges be wondering why he spent an extra year in high school? Would they ask him for an explanation? Would this extra year of high school affect his chances more than if he just stayed in the process this year with a suspension and a withdrawal on his record?</p>
<p>Need more information: where is he applying? what are his stats? For many schools, he would do just as well going through this years apps. For some of the more competitive schools, you really need to get some information from those schools in order to make an educated decision.</p>
<p>I’m not a college admissions official or a high school guidance counselor, so perhaps those people will have more specific information for you. But I am a parent. I think my first question would be, Is my child really ready for college? He made a serious mistake and has had to withdraw from a school he’s attended for almost four years. I guess I would want to explore what happened. Does he need some more time to mature? Is he having trouble dealing with academic pressure, the college application process, social issues? Has he been honest with you about what happened?</p>
<p>If you can afford it, I think an extra year of high school (at another school, in this case) could be beneficial. </p>
<p>I would worry less about how this all impacts his college choices and be focused on what’s best for your child right now and in the near future. You might want to consider some counseling for him or for all of you. You are not in a happy place right now, but hang in there. Things have a way of working out.</p>
<p>Does St. Mark’s include disciplinary notations on transcripts? Do the colleges he will be applying to ask about disciplinary records on their applications?</p>
<p>I’m not positive about this, but isnt it mildly common for kids to take a 5th “post graduate” year at certain boarding schools? If this is the case, maybe finish sr yr at public then enroll him in a boarding school PG year and then it might not look very odd at all. And apply to colleges next year.</p>
<p>Don’t the college applications ask this straight out? My son had a disciplinary explanation supplement as thick as an atlas. Probably the most interesting reading those adcoms had in the admissions process.</p>
<p>I cannot help but think adcoms will not be fooled by sneaky attempts to clean his record. I am sure they have seen all kinds of things and short of him outright lying at some point, he will likely have to come clean, won’t he?</p>
<p>cptofthehouse–I agree, this student has been caught at least 2 times for this–colleges don’t look kindly to kids that plagiarize, especially to the point of expulsion. </p>
<p>OP, if you omitted that information from applications and they find out, your son will not be able to attend college anywhere…I think what to do next year is the least of your problems right now. Your son needs to fess up to this with the colleges to which he applied and see what they have to say.</p>
<p>Rather than working on ways to salvage “his” college admissions, I think you should be focusing on ways to salvage his dishonest approach to academics. He’s already been caught twice for offenses serious enough to warrant significant consequences; it’s likely that he got away with multiple other ethical slips. If admitted to college, the probability is that he will continue to do so.</p>
<p>The question is WHY he feels the need to cheat. Does he not understand the instructions or have some sort of learning difference? Is he under so much pressure to do well that he sees no other option? Has he learned from his family or school that the end justifies the means (as in apply from another school next year and hide the academic dishonesty history)? Is he lazy? Until you sort out the underlying cause, the behavior will continue.</p>
<p>Does he really need more high school? Does he want to go to college? As others have said, you don’t want this habit to continue in college.</p>
<p>That said, I’d be inclined to go to public school and stay his college apps. If nothing works out, take a gap year and do something other than go to school.</p>
<p>More realistic would be to go to community college, do well there honestly, and then transfer to a university as a junior on the basis of the community college records.</p>
<p>I agree with stradmom.
The underlying problem isn’t that he was expelled. At this point he probably has enough credits for a state diploma, or else he could be homeschooled.
But if he has cheated repeatedly, that behavior is likely to continue with the same result.</p>