will a highschool suspension hurt me a lot?

nonconformity
Fri, 06 May 2005 21:16:58 +0000

Own up to it and show you’ve moved on. The college WILL find out. You have nothing to gain from trying to cover up your suspension. I’m not going to judge what you did because quite frankly no one is perfect, and if there was ever a time to screw up and do something you regret later, high school would be it. Be glad you did it in high school and not college, where they might kick you out for that sort of thing.
A guy in my school got suspended twice for sexual harrassment but did not check “yes” on his applications. The schools found out and the only school he got into was BU. A good school, but still, one might wonder where he could have gotten in if hadn’t lied.
I got suspended for drinking and I always felt uncomfortable with applications that asked that suspension question. I’m a person who tends to suffer from a lot of guilt and don’t want to constantly be reminded of one stupid instance from my past when I’m thinking about my future…so I applied to only two schools that asked that question. I got rejected from one, but that’s because my grades and SATs weren’t good enough. It was definetely a reach anyway. As for other schools I applied to, they were SUNY schools as well as McGill University in Canada. I would have applied to state schools in other states, which also wouldn’t have asked, but I wanted an inexpensive education and state schools tend to cost a lot for out of staters. Long story short, I’m going to McGill, which didn’t ask that question on the application because McGill doesn’t waste time trying to judge you as a person when you apply, it simply looks at your scores and determines that you could succeed there. BTW, The other person in my grade who was in the same situation as me is going to Vanderbilt–very good school. It asked about the suspension, and I’m sure that he adressed it in an honest manner.
If you’re a good student who doesn’t really feel like having to explain the suspension, apply to any of the UCs (except maybe Riverside, I haven’t heard very good things about it), University of Michigan, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, William and Mary, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University-Bloomington, University of Texas-Austin, Penn State, University of Maryland -College Park, University of Illinois, University of Iowa (if you want to pursue English), University of Minnesota (top-notch for journalism), SUNY Binghamton or other fantastic options. These state schools are nothing to look down on…they are all excellent schools that look good on transcripts and I’m pretty sure (correct me if I’m wrong, CCers) that they don’t ask about suspensions. May I also recommend Canada? University of Toronto and McGill kick ass.
If a particular private school is your dream, apply to it. I’m not going to tell you that you wouldn’t get in. College admissions are really unpredictable, and regardless of what people on this board say, I really don’t think they will close the books on somebody SIMPLY because they were suspended from high school. (Note–what I just said ONLY applies if you are honest and explain yourself in a humble manner, showing that you have moved on.) Seriously, they know that people aren’t perfect, and there are probably people at that insititution that are way bigger *******s than you (jk), they are just smarter at not being caught. It’s not like you’re a serial killer. You made a human mistake, now show the positive side of your humanity and own your mistake, learn from it, and move on.