<p>I have a question about how to answer a question on the common app, but it will apply to general apps too…</p>
<p>I’m a parent. My child called today to ask how to answer the question on the common app about why she switched secondary schools. The truth is that she was severely bullied and harrassed after I, as a member of the booster club, discovered wrongdoing by some coaches and exposed those coaches to school administrators. The coaches were all fired, but after it was too late to help my child. The story was covered in our local (but national…) newspaper. We pulled her out of our public high school in the second semester of her junior year, and she repeated her junior year at a private school two hours from our home. She is now a senior and doing well. How do we address this? I could upload the entire legal document that we filed in court in our suit against certain school employees…that certainly tells the story! The case is pending and there will be additional press on it now that bullying has become a major national issue. I don’t want my kid to sound too victim like - she’s a tough kid but she went through a terrible ordeal. She also doesn’t want this terrible story to overshadow who she really is. We don’t want this subject to dominate the app, but she has to answer the question. How do we best address this on the common app to show that she’s strong but had to leave our public school because she was literally in danger there? She can’t be the only kid who has had to address a really tough situation on a college app. Thanks in advance for any advice. Best of luck to all of you and your children!</p>
<p>I changed to school Y because my parents and I were advised that my safety was at risk at school X following a courageous public statement made by my parent.</p>
<p>First of all, thank you for having the courage and integrity to do the right thing. This is a great example for your daughter. It is shameful that she experienced repercussions from this. I am glad that she is doing well at her new school.
I don’t think that she needs to go into detail about this on an application. I think that she can simply say that she found a better learning environment elsewhere, and that it was important to her to find the right fit with respect to her learning environment, or something like this. If she is doing well, that speaks for itself. JMHO
Good luck!</p>
<p>Agree with levirm: No need to go into it. And if for some reason you do need to explain the switch, simply way that you were looking for a more compatible atmosphere. Which would be true.</p>
<p>Is this situation such that any of the schools would recognize her name from the papers, etc.? Or is she pretty much out of the line of media fire?</p>
<p>Since she repeated her junior year, you might have to explain a bit more than “looking for a better learning environment.” You don’t want her to look like a victim, but you don’t want them wondering if she had (for example) addiction or mental health issues that she didn’t have (not that some successful students don’t have those problems. . .) If you explain the real issue briefly in a few sentences (exposure of wrongdoing, public scandal, bullying/safety) it will show that she transferred for good reasons.</p>
<p>i admire your courage, and i hope your daughter’s college search ends with the results she hopes for. you would be best served by getting opinions on this from the pros - maybe some college admissions deans & staff who sometimes post here would be willing to give it a shot - or maybe the college counseling office at your daughter’s school (assuming they know the story).</p>
<p>2 years of attendance at the new school at least gives her a good track record, and (hopefully) recommendations from teachers who can vouch for her character.</p>
<p>My instinct is that this is something that can and should be addressed positively in the GC letter, if possible. I would not try to be anodyne or vague. Admissions staff will notice that she took her junior year twice. Many schools will want to see the official transcript from the old school, which will certainly reflect a mid-year withdrawal. It would be too easy to assume that she did something wrong.</p>
<p>If you can swing it, I would use a brief, dry description in the student’s application itself, and try to get the GC to describe the situation more vividly in his/her letter.</p>
<p>I agree with JHS, and I like mafool’s suggestion.</p>
<p>She is repeating a grade, which should be addressed, especially if she is aiming at top colleges. If they sense any covering up in her application, they will assume she is at fault for something, and likely will not take the risk accepting her.</p>
<p>I changed to school Y because my parents and I were advised that my safety was at risk at school X following a courageous public statement made by my parent.</p>
<p>Good, but how about something less personal, like…</p>
<p>I changed to school Y because my parents and I believed that there were safety risks at my previous school, which were later verified in the media.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for your D’s situation. It sounds like she’s managing to fight her way back from it. Is she planning to address this at all in her essay? If so, I’d advise having some people you trust read it to make sure the tone is really what she intended to express.</p>
<p>So many sad bullying stories lately. I honestly think texting and facebook have a lot to do with it.</p>
<p>I am a reader for state and federal grants that often have severe space limitations. One technique that I have seen used for very difficult situations is to do something like this:</p>
<p>I changed to school Y because my parents and I were advised that my safety was at risk at school X following a courageous public statement made by my parent. For more information please see (link to a media article).</p>
<p>Of course ONLY use this technique if you are comfortable with the admissions officer see ALL the media stories.</p>