Writing about transferring high school on Common App with expulsion

Hi everyone!

I had an academic misconduct issue at my old school back in 9th grade that resulted in my expulsion. I joined a different school that same semester and tried extremely hard the past 3 years to redeem myself. I have had no other academic dishonesty related issues since then.

Northwestern says they don’t look at disciplinary issues for their application, but I still am required to write about it in the common app. Will this affect my chances and how should I go about writing it? They also require that I submit more documentation if accepted. What I did in 9th grade was egregious, but will admissions staff be more lenient since it happened three years ago?

My opinion is that you should own up to what you did and talk about what you learned from it. What lessons you have learned. Whatever you do, do not make excuses.

No on here can tell you how they will look upon this type of situation.

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Common app does not have a question about discipline issues, that was eliminated a few years ago.

Some schools however, do ask for this information in their school specific questions. Here is what NU says:

So, what this means is that if you are accepted to NU and decide to matriculate, you will have to explain the situation that led to your expulsion. I would encourage you to speak with your current counselor and perhaps an attorney as to how best to address it.

Thoughts @hanna?

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There isn’t a direct question about disciplinary issues, but there is one that asks why I left my previous high school, which was due to an expulsion. Some schools don’t ask about this at all, but I worry that for those that do, my chances may be lower since I’ll stand out as one of the few applicants with a record of disciplinary action.

I can’t embed pictures since my account is too new, but the question asks, “Please provide details about why you left each of the above secondary/high schools.”

Should I take full responsibility and be completely transparent, even if it risks an admission officer singling me out, or is it better to acknowledge disciplinary issues without explicitly mentioning the expulsion?

Thank you.

typo in the sentence

It should say:
Some schools do ask about this, but I worry for those that don’t, my admission chances may be lower since I’ll stand out as one of the few applicants with a record of disciplinary action.

The truth is almost never as bad as what they will imagine in the absence of information. Own it up and tell the facts. If you don’t, they won’t wonder, “Plagiarism?” They’ll wonder, “Axe murderer?”

It makes a big difference that this was three years ago and not last semester. A high school freshman is a larva. Give Northwestern a chance to give you the benefit of the doubt.

I can’t summarize how to write an excellent explanation in an online post. Teaching kids how to do this right is what I do all day. But hiding the ball is never the smart strategy.

Good luck!

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