I’m a good student, and generally get along with people rather well. However, recently, a classmate made a vicious attack on my character, and my gut response was to punch him. No, I didn’t learn anything from the experience, because I don’t make a habit of hitting everyone who says rude things to me, but this guy crossed a line, and I reacted without much in the way of thought. I ended up with a single day in school suspension. Would Georgetown rescind my acceptance for this? What about Rice, or William and Mary?
If they ask, tell the truth about it, and talk about what made you go off, very clearly. My son had a 1-day suspension (out of school) for getting into a scrap with someone who was saying that races shouldn’t mix by marriage or children; he was punched, and didn’t throw a punch, but was suspended anyway. We’re hearing about UCB, CMC, Cornell, Harvard, and Brown in the next ten days; it didn’t stop him from being accepted to UCSB and UCSD in physics.
Be honest with them and explain the situation but I would be cautious about saying “No, I didn’t learn anything…” You don’t have to say that the guy was right or that he shouldn’t have been reprimanded, but rather acknowledge that other avenues would have been better to express your dissatisfaction.
If you don’t express any remorse, even if this is the first time you’ve done something, then what’s to stop you (in their minds) from punching someone else who calls you names?
I think you should find out if this will be on the final transcript. My friend’s son got written up for using an outside source on an assignment when he had been told not to. It was considered cheating but it was never added to the transcript and colleges were not notified about it. The incident was dealt with only at the high school level and the F on the assignment was the punishment. I know it’s not the same but it’s all about policy. So find out what is your school’s policy.
I don’t know about your school, but my school does not report in school suspensions on transcripts, mainly because they’re such a joke. A friend of mine got a day of in school suspension for creating a google doc with quotes from teachers. The school said it won’t appear on transcripts, but if it does, I agree with all the other commenters: be honest about what set you off. If you were already accepted to these schools (which it sounds like you are), colleges don’t like to rescind admissions, so you should be fine.