Would my first suspension affect my college admissions?

Applying to College
1

<p>So, I'm in grade 11 and I go to a boarding school. Last week, I was caught stealing. I was caught in my dormmate's room with her wallet, but I was going to put it back since I was scared ****less, and that was when she came in. </p>

<p>It was a huge shock for everyone at my dorm/the whole ****ing school since I was the typical straight A student. My principal told me that after my suspension, I can start over again by earning all my trust back. </p>

<p>My friends are on my side, and all I'm worrying about is my relationship with all the teachers.</p>

<p>I live in Canada, but I'm planning on applying to UPenn, Harvard, Brown, Georgetown, Stanford, NYU, Skidmore and Columbia. My GPA is 4.0, got 2250 on the SATs, 35 on the ACT, and got 780 over five SATIIs (world history, math II, bio, chem, french). Plus, I'm in top 1% of my school, and I can speak English, French and Portuguese.</p>

<p>I know two teachers who'd still write me outstanding recommendation letters, and I'm planning on asking my choir director for a letter as well. </p>

<p>I'm currently head of AIDS Awareness Committee, Amnesty International and choir. I'm also the lead flute in band and a warrant officer in cadets. I also volunteer at the womens shelter nearby every weekend.</p>

<p>I've received bronze and silver medals from internationally recognized Duke of Edinburgh program. So far as in-school awards, I've received history award in grade 9&10, first class honor medal in grade 9&10, and science award in grade 9&10. Two years ago, all the 9th graders participated in University of Waterloo's Pascal Math Contest, and I had the highest score in my whole grade and received a certificate.</p>

<p>I know that I'm in a risky position right now, and I really need advices from everyone. Would this one mistake ruin my entire life? My first choice is UPenn and I want to study International Relations. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>P.S Would this show on my application? </p>

<p>Janey</p>

2

<p>I think it depends on what your school’s policies are for disciplinary actions.</p>

3

<p>The thing is that my principal sorta mentioned in my narrative report card saying that my action was ‘shocking’…so, if this report goes to univs, wouldn’t they question what happened??</p>

4

<p>Oh, actually, on the CommonApp (and I’m assuming all applications for that matter) there is a place to write about any “disciplinary violations” so yes, you would probably have to write about it, but you also have the opportunity to explain how you’ve learned from your mistakes.</p>

5

<p>Yes, it may affect your admission chances. Remember, you’ll be competing against students with no disciplinary records.</p>

6

<p>Check with your school principal/head. At my son’s school a few years ago, a student was also caught stealing and was suspended. The head of the school made it clear to his parents that they considered this an internal thing and that it would not in any way show on his record unless it happened again. (He would therefore not be expected to report the infraction on his apps.) Kids make mistakes.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

7

<p>Colleges do expect schools to be completely honest. The poster above me mentioned that some schools might choose to withhold information regarding disciplinary actions as per its policies. While this is true, there are some colleges (e.g. MIT) that ask if a school’s policy allows it to do so and may still ask for an explanation. Ask your school and check with the colleges that you’re applying to. </p>

<p>Stealing is likely to affect your chances. However, you can show colleges that you’ve learnt from and grown as a result of the incident through your essays, rec’s, peer evaluations, etc. Best of luck :)</p>

8

<p>Thanks a lot!
I’ll ask my headmaster again about this issue, and if he says that this has to be mentioned on my app, I’ll write a thorough explanation regarding this and what I’ve learned.
But, I have another question. Let’s say that there’s another student without any disciplinary records, but with lower gpa and standarized test scores. Would the admissions comm. choose him/her over me?</p>

9

<p>Yes, the admissions committee could choose a person with lower stats over you. That could happen even if you didn’t have the suspension. It’s less likely to happen, however at in state public colleges because they tend to make decisions mainly by stats and state of residence.</p>

10

<p>Janey, colleges place a lot of emphasis on an applicant’s personality, integrity and how well they get along with others. This is the kind of info that they seek from counsellor and teacher evaluations. They want to know that the candidate they are choosing is honest and friendly. Northstarmom is right. Are you applying this year or the next (probably this, since you’re a junior right now)? If you have a year in hand, then you have a better opportunity to clean up on paper :)</p>

11

<p>So you stole a wallet from your dormmate. I mean, that’s bad, but it’s hardly the kind of thing that will irreparably taint your image. Like others have said, you may not have to report it, but even if you do it’s not going to destroy your chances at good schools.</p>

12

<p>amarkov,
a lot of time I agree with your posts, but not this time. If the incident of stealing does appear on the OP’s record, it will have a negative effect on her applications. It goes to the schools’ perception of her integrity and trustworthiness.</p>

<p>The school will consider what kind of person the OP will be on campus. Will she steal from people in her dorm or classes or in the library, if another student leaves belongings unattended for a few minutes? Will she steal supplies from a lab or offices ? They may believe she has a low benchmark for integrity, and thus be more likely to cheat or plagiarize.</p>

<p>These are all only “ifs” but they exist.</p>

<p>IF colleges are told of the incident, a good part of how it effects her applications will be how the OP deals with it in a supplemental essay…will it come across as she is sorry, and has learned a life lesson, or will it come across as she is sorry she was caught, and has learned how not to get caught next time?</p>

13

<p>Well I didn’t ‘take’ it. As I said, I was caught in action (when I was just about to put it down).
Slakedlime: Yes, I’m applying next year, and I still have about a year to redeem myself and get back on my feet. :)</p>

14

<p>“In reality, it was a big misunderstanding. I was admiring the wallet when my roomate walked in. She accused me of conspiring to steal it, when all I wanted to know was where she got it.”</p>

<p>You have good grades, a good track record, people will be on your side.</p>

15

<p>Maybe write an essay on what you’ve learned from committing this act.</p>

16

<p>What ever happened is happened. You had been punished for your misconduct. The purpose of any punishment is to correct oneself.Hope you have learned lesson and will not do any mistake. Normally after punishment is imposed legally second punishment can not be awared by way of rejecting your candidature. If anybody rejects your candidature based on the punishment they know that , they do it without any jurisdiction and they also commit mistake. College admission officials are matured and experienced.They are your godfathers.</p>

<p>It has to be appreciated that you had been given this experience at the early stage of your life. You will be the strongest person on the earth.</p>

<p>You continue to build your strong areas. Be courageous to explain this incident in your application. Try to apply more colleges including those colleges which does not ask for these information. </p>

<p>I believe You will be number one in studies in your country. Best of luck.</p>

17

<p>Honestly? You don’t seem to show much remorse on your first post. Having had important articles stolen from me, the fact that you were even considering it is worrisome. If you are making excuses, that is even more worrisome. Don’t hate on me for this, but this will affect your chances. I went to Harvard Summer School and I was amazed by the honesty and integrity of the people there. I did not lose a single thing all summer, and once, I was careless enough to leave my laptop outside in one of the study areas and only realized I had lost it five hours later. I came back and it was still there, exactly where I left it. This is the kind of place where I want to go to school, and this is the kind of places these selective colleges want to be.</p>

<p>I am sure there will be tons of other people with equally good stats (if not better - some peoples’ stats are insane - in fact, my stats are pretty much identical to yours down to the Pascal Competition and the subject prizes, except for slightly lower SAT I scores - cause of writing - but the fact that I’m a published author might compensate.) I really hate bursting your bubble but schools with this ability to select from thousands of applicants will probably try to find any reason to eliminate a candidate (no matter what they say - this is true. How else do they pick a class of 1,500 from 30,000 applicants?) so you might be on the chopping block in this case.</p>

<p>Good luck though. For your sake I hope you learned a valuable lesson and will never do anything of that nature again. I also hope colleges won’t be too harsh on you. Your stats are solid, so I’m sure at least one of your choices will accept you. Don’t forget to pick some safeties though!</p>

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<p>manavazhagan: Your line of logic is inexplicable. Let alone the fact that a person’s honesty and integrity are his/her most important qualities, disciplinary problems are considered in employment of practically every profession, quite a few of which require an impeccable past record. Though it would not be as serious when it comes to university admission, suspension<br>
resulted from misconduct such as stealing would greatly hurt OP’s chances. As well, if she does any thing as an attempt to cover it up, then she would make a even greater mistake. Also, I take ‘I believe you will be number in studies in your country’. What’s up with that? I’m a Canadian and I personally know a great many students who are undoubtedly more gifted than her - all of whom have zero suspension record.</p>

<p>OP: The fact that you’re seeking help in covering up your own act from colleges shows that you do not have the slightest remorse. You only sneaked into your dormmate’s room to admire her wallet? No logical person would have faith in that explanation. Try come out with better ones when facing college applications.</p>

<p>Futurephysician: well said. Very well said…</p>

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<p>I would expect that your school can provide you with help and direction in dealing with the transgression. I don’t think that your academic record is relevant to the issue that your brought up. In a public setting you may very well have been reported to the police, and you would have done well to get through it with no more than a misdemeanor on your public record. So you’re lucky to be in a private school, where you’ve been protected from external authorities.</p>

<p>The answer to your dilemma is in two parts. The first is deeply felt contrition. I’m not sure how you go about feeling that, and then acting on it. Only you can determine that. The second, once you show contrition and act on it, is to discuss your situation with the head of the school, and your parents. How do you convince them, your roommate and your peers (who no doubt know what happened) that you made a deep mistake? Don’t underestimate their suspicions that this was not the first incident, but rather the first one in which you were caught.</p>

<p>If you successfully go through the process of contrition, apology, remorse, then the issue will be behind you and you’ll be able to move on. It’ll be a difficult process.</p>