<p>Your points are well-taken. I just found a volunteer opportunity on craigslist to tutor kids who are intelligent but underprivileged - hope that works out. </p>
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<p>I am on deferred disposition. this means I have not been convicted of anything and the charges are dismissed after the probationary period. If I recall correctly the commonapp only asks about convictions</p>
<p>RE: self-study</p>
<p>While I’m certainly not trying to take the “easy way out” by doing self-study (quite the opposite - I plan it to be intensive and relentless), I can easily understand how it could sound that way. thanks for bringing this to my awareness </p>
<p>RE: therapy/counseling</p>
<p>I have a wonderful therapist whom I’ve been to off and on since my mom’s passing. we’ve been meeting weekly since the legal incident but have agreed to meet every other week now, to satisfy the probation requirements. I was pretty depressed for a lot of high school. she helped me a lot and, well, we don’t have much to discuss anymore</p>
<p>I think the advice administered so far is worthwhile and I hope ya’ll know that’s it’s causing me serious contemplation and reconsideration :)</p>
<p>A lot of people here are suggesting you get a job. Of course, that’s a good idea, but don’t forget your studies. It’s important to keep a good flow in academics, even if you’re not going to school. Something especially important, like math and maybe english/writing, needs to be practiced and done constantly in order to keep you fresh. You’ll thank yourself for doing so later on.</p>
<p>Also, if you can without changing your status to transfer student, take a few classes at a CC and get a job. It can’t hurt. I’d say a math, english, and maybe one other class you’re interested in (unless a third class is too much). That should be enough to handle while working full time.</p>
<p>Forget APs. They’re a bastardized version of a college education and is completely useless. Don’t waste your time with that. If you’re looking for credit, see about CC classes.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear about your mom’s passing. It is not unusual for young people to have behavior problems after such a loss, and I’m glad to hear that you’re in counseling. </p>
<p>I appreciate, too, how you’ve been so thoughtful about responding to the comments here.</p>
<p>I wish you the best as you continue to move on with your life.</p>
<p>my history might create a different impression, but, sincerely all I want to do in this short lifetime is help humanity as much as I can with the tiny little body I’ve been given control over :)</p>
<p>Are you on drugs or any thing? You do not have to answer here, but if you are, perhaps drug rehab is needed for you to return to Reed. You can go back next year, if you can proof to them you have been rehabed and have been working as a stand up citizen.</p>
<p>and show to Reed that you have been frequent in those programs and you have totally changed. You also should tell Reed that you will continue these programs while you are attending the school. to make sure you will not revert back to your old self.</p>
<p>my older daughter went to Reed ('06)- she didn’t apply after high school- she took a gap year first- that was not connected with any academics- </p>
<p>I was just in Portland coincidentally and was discussing with her the differences between Reed and other schools in regards to substance use.</p>
<p>She feels that Reeds handling of student drug/alcohol use is more supportive- because they encourage not the usage, but in the honesty about the usage, so that medical professionals and others can support appropriately.
For example, someone may be on medication that is not recommended to take while drinking- at one school, they may deny they are drinking & so stay on the medication, but while risking their health and possibly their life.
At Reed, they may be more honest, and then get a recommendation for a different type of meds that wouldn’t be so harmful with alcohol.</p>
<p>But still- they are not going to be your parents & they expect you to act like a responsible adult.</p>
<p>Portland has a big drug problem, not just @ Reed, and they are very disinclined to take any more students who appear to have the risk factors of not knowing how to regulate their own behavior. ( having several students overdose in a relatively short period will do that)</p>
<p>IMO if you are as interested as you seem to attend Reed would be to find a way to show that you are responsible, dependable, hard working and motivated.</p>
<p>A full time job at mcdonalds could show that or many other full time commitments of at least 9 months- a few months isn’t going to do it & even a year is a relatively short time to really illustrate a turn around.</p>
<p>Good strong new recommendations from adults in your community will help also.</p>
<p>dear parents - thanks for your concern about drug usage. I know it’s a subject not to be taken lightly. However, I feel that they might be some misunderstandings by the catch-all phrase of “drug-usage”. I smoked pot, heavily, and experimented with psychedelics. Not that I condone either of those; I just get the feeling from some of these posts that people think I am battling with the intense addictions of harder drugs. my sympathies go out to anyone who is.</p>
<p>I did some more research tonight and NVCC seems to have an excellent online courses program. they offer a lot of courses which interest me. Deadlines are closing in fast. I get to go in at my choosing to a campus to get my tests proctored. Seems like a pretty good way to show colleges I am capable of college-level material. furthermore, taking 6 credits or more qualifies me for an example part-time student clerical position at the place where my dad works. It would be more than excellent if I could double up on this opportunity. </p>
<p>Someone mentioned that applying as a transfer could limit scholarship opportunities. I’m pretty sure that with my dad’s salary (and he was about to pay full freight at Reed) I’m not going to get any need-based anyway. Is there anything else to watch out for when applying as a transfer? Is it more competitive?</p>
<p>This is not about how hard the drug you used, it is about the perception about you from the socity and the school point of view.</p>
<p>They will look at this kids taking “drug” and result in </p>
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<p>If you still want to go to college, at the same level as Reed, you must work hard to make ppl believe that you have turned around. It may take more than a year or it may not. Its up to you now.</p>
<p>“Seems like a pretty good way to show colleges I am capable of college-level material.”</p>
<p>That’s not going to be what colleges are concerned about. Since one of the most academicaly difficult colleges admitted you, obviously you’re capable of handling college material. That’s not what’s in question. What’s in question is whether you have the maturity and sense of responsibility to attend college without doing things resulting in legal problems and embarrassment for the college.</p>
<p>“thanks for your concern about drug usage. I know it’s a subject not to be taken lightly. However, I feel that they might be some misunderstandings by the catch-all phrase of “drug-usage”. I smoked pot, heavily, and experimented with psychedelics. Not that I condone either of those; I just get the feeling from some of these posts that people think I am battling with the intense addictions of harder drugs”</p>
<p>Drug use seems to have caused some major problems for you, so it would be appropriate for you to attend a group like AA or NA. One doesn’t have to be addicted to attend such groups. One just has to have had problems caused by drug or alcohol use.</p>
<p>Will your indecent exposure charges cause you to be listed on a sex offender registry?</p>
<p>Who knows, maybe I will check out NA; probably not, though. I am already in a group counseling program and go to therapy, and sobriety gets easier every day. i also have replaced my habit with positive outlets, mostly meditation. like you said, though, “One day at a time.”</p>
<p>Besides demonstrating my ability to handle college level material, I feel a genuine need to keep myself occupied academically, and learning is my oldest passion. I’ve definitely got the idea in my head that I need to live a productive life and be able to show it, but I think something can be said for balance. After all, it’s not exactly like I’m going to be able to wave around an “I was accepted to Reed” flag on my applications</p>
<p>and, luckily, the indecent exposure charge was dropped. right now I am on deferred disposition for the destruction of private property.</p>
<p>I hope you don’t feel like I’m blowing off your advice NSM - I consider it invaluable. I just don’t feel that NA is appropriate for me, but maybe I will check it out</p>
<p>You have some very good suggestions in this posting. Can you take community college courses or register as a non degree student in a local university?</p>
<p>Also, when you apply next year you may have to set your sights differently. Top LAC’s may have become a reach. So keep that in mind when. The most important thing you can do is to prove that you have learned your lesson and that you are beyond that behavior.</p>
<p>* I feel a genuine need to keep myself occupied academically, and learning is my oldest passion. *</p>
<p>And that is something that interests * you*- not something that you would be doing to get yourself outside of your own head unless you find a way to apply it.</p>
<p>I think you are going to have to demonstrate a real shift in thinking- but that doesn’t happen just because you want it to.</p>
<p>I start volunteering at an afterschool program for elementary schoolers on Thursday :D.</p>
<p>I researched the transfer issue. The main problem here seems to be that you can only pick one (Freshman or Transfer) on the commonapp, even though different schools have alternate definitions of what it means to be a transfer student. Reed outlines the following criteria:
" * completed one or more terms (such as a quarter or semester) as a full-time student working toward a degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning, or
* received financial aid at an accredited institution of higher learning, or
* earned a minimum of six Reed units (one Reed unit equals four semester or six quarter credit hours) of allowable transfer credit from an institution of higher learning. For further details, please refer to the “How will my credits transfer to Reed?” section of this guide."</p>
<p>So, therefore, I can take a few online courses at NVCC and still be a freshman. I checked some other schools and all have said, so far, that you need one full year of college study to apply as a transfer. Hampshire requires at least 15 semester credits. At Bard, it is considered essential to qualifying as a transfer that one has enrolled in a “degree-seeking” program. Oberlin has a very similar policy: “1) They have been enrolled in a degree-seeking program, regardless of how many credits have been earned. 2) They have earned more than 30 semester hours of credit without being enrolled in a degree-seeking program.” so I will make I am a non-degree student (thanks mazewanderer). It seems as long as I follow that guideline I should have no shortage of schools to apply to as a first-year student</p>
<p>Good Lord! Hallucinogenic drug use (which you euphemistically term “experimented with psychedelics” ), indecent exposure charges, destruction of property, and now you’ll be WORKING WITH CHILDREN!? How did you pass the criminal background check required to work in a school program? I’m stunned that you’ll be working with children, and it makes me think this entire post is some kind of joke. </p>
<p>If not, though, the tone and content of your posts indicates that the last place on earth you should be is alone in a room with other people’s children. All you talk about is “my passion, my ability, my genuine need,” blah, blah, blah, my, my, me, me. Your narcissistic desire to feel good about yourself as you wallow in self pity for getting caught engaging in highly inappropriate, immature, and criminal behavior that resulted in a college offer being rescinded tells me that college made an excellent decision. If you were my child, I would tell you to grow up, get a full-time job, and save the phony “do-gooder” stuff for a time when it’s genuinely selfless and not part of a spoiled child’s personal rehabilitation so he can get into college and, presumably, engage in a whole lot more inappropriate behavior.</p>
<p>Actually I just found out it doesn’t start up until september and I haven’t done the background check yet. it’s definitely possible i will get rejected. thanks for sharing your opinion…</p>
<p>I agree with Gimmiechocolate. OP – if you had kids, would you want a person who was recently a heavy pot smoker, using hallucinagenic drugs, is undergoing counseling for various problems, and was recently arrested for indecent exposure, and destruction of property working with your kids? </p>
<p>That you think that you’re an appropriate volunteer with kids indicates a serious lack of judgement about the nature of your own problems. </p>
<p>I believe you need to get a full time job, the kind of job like cashiering or construction work that people get who aren’t educated. If you want to volunteer, do something with animals or inanimate objects, not kids who’d look to you as a role model.</p>
<p>I think post #38 and #39 have been kind of harsh. This kid is in therapy, group sessions, and trying to stay sober. There’s been some adversity in his (not sure if he or she) life. He seems to acknowledge his own screw-up. He came to us for some suggestions of what to do during the next year in terms of applications, and we’ve given all kinds of other advice that has been graciously considered.</p>
<p>This screw up has already affected his life significantly. He may not be able to get a job working with kids, but he’s not a child molester. What, specifically, makes him an inappropriate volunteer with kids? There are more people that you might think in public life who have had all kinds of misdemeanor charges dropped.</p>
<p>This is a kid who was accepted to Reed, so it is not surprising that his focus is wanting to “keep myself occupied academically, and learning is my oldest passion.”</p>
<p>I agree with those who suggest that finding and keeping a regular job, and getting a good recommendation from his employer, may be the best way to show an adjustment in focus. But, I hope he can also find an outlet for his interest in learning – since it is so important to him.</p>
