I got suspended

[Patriot1208]

Drinking to the point of incident isn't cool at eighteen either. At least, not for the majority of people. There is only a small subsection of groups that think blacking out is cool. Not even most frat kids I know think that throwing up, blacking out, and ending up in the hospital is cool. But of course, some people do. I'm not talking about abstaining from drinking, simply not being an idiot and quitting after 8 beers.

In all fairness, you go to a pretty lame ass undergrad for partying.

To be even more fair, I spent a year and a half at a public school with tens of thousands of students and played a sport there.

[Jack Smirks]

OP, if you have experienced one or more of any of the following, you may be an alcoholic:

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV) defines abuse as:

* A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:
1. recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, home (e.g., repeated absences or poor work performance related to substance use; substance-related absences, suspensions, or expulsions from school; neglect of children or household)
2. recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (e.g., driving an automobile or operating a machine when impaired by substance use)
3. recurrent substance-related legal problems (e.g., arrests for substance-related disorderly conduct)
4. continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance (e.g., arguments with spouse about consequences of intoxication, physical fights)

http://www.mentalhealthchannel.net/alco ... osis.shtml

[TCScrutinizer]

Dude, I got shit wrecked 24/7 in undergrad and I didn't get into the kind of trouble you did. It's not about the alcohol. It's about you being an idiot, and schools don't want to take risks on someone who might make them look bad.

1. Go to alcohol counseling and put this in your PS or an addendum.

2. If you don't actually stop drinking, stop doing stupid shit when you drink, and stop drinking so much that you go to the hospital.
2a. If you can't moderate your drinking, STOP DRINKING.

3. Don't go straight from undergrad to law school. Take a year or two off and get a job. Two years of consistent and successful work experience would go far to show schools that you've "grown up" (even if you haven't). And hey, maybe you will.

Put some mileage between yourself and that behavior. That's all you can do to really mitigate the harm. I can pretty much guarantee you that your results with a ~170/3.9 are going to be superior with a couple years of WE between you and your indiscretions than straight from undergrad.

[JazzOne]

Hahahahahahah

You broke the shit refusing treatment? lololoololol

[achilles]

I don't think this is as big of a deal as some people are making it out to be, and I don't think you should go to AA just for the sake of law school admissions (but if you think you really need it, then you should). You got caught drinking while underage. I don't know ANYONE who didn't drink underage in college. My school also had a ridiculous RA policy to send any underage to the hospital if they were caught drinking, so many people with a reasonable amount of alcohol in their system ended up at the hospital. If this is the case at your school, then you could work that in to your addendum. If you accidentally broke the oximeter, explain that too. Just say that you did your community service hours in full, and I like the idea of volunteering at your school's wellness center to help other kids adjust to college life. I think that sort of addendum would work just fine, especially with your high GPA.

PS I had a friend with a similar situation, and she got in to TFA. I think most adcomms know that this sort of thing goes on in college, and very few people get caught. Smarten up.

[dood]

...

[mcdad]

OP, you will be definitely viewed as a risk. There is a problem with drinking in Law School and the deans are not happy about it. The longer it has been that you have been dry and the more you have done to face this risk the less of a risk you will seem. If you look at the curves on LSN you will find where you are by counting on being at the upper end of the curve of a lower ranked school.
Getting back to your drinking, you should see an expert. You may have what we used to call pathological intoxication. You seem like a good student who ordinarily has a strong work ethic but undergo a personality change when drinking. Get Help

[Patriot1208]

There is a problem with drinking in Law School and the deans are not happy about it.

Considering most schools host events that encourage drunkenness multiple times a week, i'm going to say that this is wrong.

[JazzOne]

There is a problem with drinking in Law School and the deans are not happy about it.

Considering most schools host events that encourage drunkenness multiple times a week, i'm going to say that this is wrong.

That's the thing. They don't want people like OP getting all slopping, going to the hospital, and ruining the fun for everyone else. He's definitely a risk.

[beachbum]

Learn to handle your alcohol. Learn to avoid situations in which authority figures might frown upon your (excessive) alcohol consumption. Learn to write a good addendum.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

I really want to go to law school, I am a sophomore undergrad right now, but I recently got suspended ( for the upcoming Spring semester). I have a 3.88, and I'm planning on raising it, I got a 4.0 last semester and I'm planning on getting a 4.0 this semester. The problem is that I have an extensive student conduct disciplinary record, but I do not have a criminal record.
Freshman year:
Incident number one ( Age 17): Hospitalization due to intoxication, underage consumption, and possession of fake ID
I got 25 hours of community service, and University Probation for about 3 months, and $50 fine
Incident number two ( age 18): Possession of Alcohol
I got 20 hours of community service and a $50 fine
Sophomore year:
Incident number three ( Age 18): Hospitalization due to intoxication, Disruptive activity ( for trying to refuse/resist hospitalization), and property damage over $500 ( I broke some sort of medical equipment that they tried using on me, a pulse oximeter)
I got restitution for property damage, resident hall expulsion, and university suspension for a semester.

So, what are the chances that I get into law school, I know I screwed up, but I have a really high GPA and hopefully I'll do really good on the LSAT. I am going to steer away from alcohol, and avoid any future trouble. I also do a lot of volunteer work, and I am a part of many organizations and clubs at my school.

You're going to get into a law school if you have a high GPA and high LSAT. The problem is that you will have to settle for a "lesser option" as schools are going to see you as a large risk. If your incidents had happened once, it would probably be overlooked. But you have a "repeated history" of trouble stemming from alcohol, and the repeated behavior is going to bite you in the ass. I had an acquittance in the same situation who got a 3.8 and a 168, and ended up at UA because his behavior was seen as a liability. He also entered the school under a probationary period, but not sure what that means.

Will they acknowledge the fact that I was pretty young when it happened? because I'll be 21/22 when I apply, and all those incidents occurred between the ages of 17 and 18.

Nope. They are going to concerned about the fact that you have REPEATED problems with alcohol. Like I said, if it was once, they would toss it off as youth being youth. It has happened more than once, so it will help you. This doesn't mean you're going to get TTT, but my aforementioned friend had numbers for Penn. and ended up at UA.

Rawlberto's advice is most likely wrong. If you show there is some distance between these events there shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you do anything proactive to show that this is a problem that has been overcome, even better. If you get citations all throughout undergrad and there's no obvious "turn around" point...then that's when you have a problem.

[xyzzzzzzzz]

I don't think this is too bad. If the OP's school forced him to go to the hospital when he wasn't blackout drunk he can simply write in his addendum, per school policy I was over the legal limit and thus forced into an ambulance or whatever. If this is the case, it would be helpful to know what his blood alcohol content actually was. Some schools do breathalyzer tests. However, if the OP was dangerously drunk, disregard the above.

[serdog]

As many other have said I hope OP will talk to someone(A professional) about some of the impacts drinking is have on your life, you may find that you just a regular crazy kid, you may find that you have a serious health issue. You need to find out because if it the 2nd you need to deal with, it not about law school it about life.

ETA: Note I'm Canadian(UBC) and I think are school are more Liberal when in comes to drinking you would generally only go to the hospital if you were in danger, it sounds to me that some school are using them as basically drunk tanks. n

[kkklick]

The funny thing is this guy could get into law school despite getting repeatedly shitfaced to the point he needed to be hospitalized, but someone with so much as a joint has basically no chance at getting in.

Not bashing the OP, just a generalization I find interesting

[09042014]

The funny thing is this guy could get into law school despite getting repeatedly shitfaced to the point he needed to be hospitalized, but someone with so much as a joint has basically no chance at getting in.

Not bashing the OP, just a generalization I find interesting

That isn't true.

[Veyron]

AA is a waste of time. It's religion based hocus pocus with a really terrible success rate.

Stop drinking. If you feel the urge to drink, check into a real rehab.

How often were you drinking OP? Every day? Every weekend?

The point is not that he does AA. Its that he does SOMETHING to demonstrate that he has taken responsibility and cleaned his shit up. AA is just an example.

Facking rehab for law school admissions is a huge waste of time. If he does rehab it must be because he thinks he needs help.

Law schools aren't nearly as picky about alcohol violations as some people on this thread are saying. If he keeps his nose clean for a couple years, he'll be fine.

I'm not saying fake it.

[jarofsoup]

I think you got to lay off the booze man.

I dont know about AA, but dont let this list of problems grow anymore.


And when you get arrested or deal with cops for god sakes just chill out dont fight them or resist. Just shut up and keep composure and if you get arrested do not talk and waive your Miranda rights. Even be polite. Every little thing negative you do when you are in these situations looks bad.

[glewz]

wow ok...this is out of control. dont listen to the comments that recommend that you go to AA or whatever. heck, doing that will show law schools that it's more of a problem than it really is.

also, don't take a year off for work exp unless you really want to/are passionate about that line of work.

just dont do anything stupid for the next 2 years & explain it in an addendum.



fellas calm down.

[paratactical]

For everyone who missed it:

And btw, I go to a private jesuit university, so thier obviously strict on drinking, and they make everyone who is intoxicated go to the hospital, they say its for liability reasons....

[09042014]

For everyone who missed it:

And btw, I go to a private jesuit university, so thier obviously strict on drinking, and they make everyone who is intoxicated go to the hospital, they say its for liability reasons....

Yea I laughed at that too.

[PDaddy]

Get counseling and wait a couple of years after you graduuate, to put some distance between the incidents and your law schools apps. The good news is that this will make for a great addendum or diversity statement about growth. I didn't read your entire post. Are you an alcoholic? Get counseling and keep a diary. Make it work for you.

[afa_brandon]

For everyone who missed it:

And btw, I go to a private jesuit university, so thier obviously strict on drinking, and they make everyone who is intoxicated go to the hospital, they say its for liability reasons....

Yea I laughed at that too.

that's a sufficient way to explain away the hospitalizatoins, until he has to explain why he lost his shit and broke hospital equipment resisting treatment. i don't think it's a stretch to say that most people would view drunken fits of violence, regardless of the circumstances, as undesirable behavior.

all i'm saying is which story would you prefer:

"i got screwed by stupid school policies, it wasn't my fault, i don't have a problem, kids will be kids"
or
"i felt the policies were a little strict, but my chain of incidents prompted me to seek a professional second opinion on my drinking."

i'm a regular drinker, so i'm not coming from some moral high ground, but i do realize how the professional world views binge drinking and the like. you can insist all you want that 'an addendum will be fine,' but the risk of seeking help is nonexistant (i simply don't buy that "getting help will tell the adcomms you definitely have a problem," and even if it was true, explaining in an addendum that it was a precautionary measure would fix that). on the other hand, if the adcomm falls in with what seems to be at least half of the respondents to this thread, reading in an addendum that it was "no big deal bro i wasn't even blackout drunk" seems pretty damning.

[2014]

Will they acknowledge the fact that I was pretty young when it happened? because I'll be 21/22 when I apply, and all those incidents occurred between the ages of 17 and 18.

What makes you think you aren't going to do more stupid shit between now and when you graduate? It's not like getting hospitalized slowed you down the first time...

[mindybluehammer]

Yes. Two years later join aa and tell them you changed your life around...just ig
note it IMO or refer to it subtly in ps.

[r6_philly]

I don't get the sense that OP feels bad about what he did, so I am going to say he will repeat it multiple times, if not in senior year, in LS as well, especially when he is allowed to drink legally. That may be the real problem for him. Not once does he say now that he is suspended, he will not drink again and will do well. He is still saying it's not serious, and he can do well in school despite his problems... wait he doesn't have any problems.