Addendum For Suspension Forum

[Miniver]

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[anonymousquestion]

Well, figure out what it's called, describe it as such, and give a single sentence explaining what happened. Last thing you need is to send in this addendum explaining your suspension alone, and then the school later finds out you had some sort of probation that you didn't reveal.

well, funny thing is i was put on probation that i could accept or have nothing and wait until i had a disciplinary hearing. i called her a slut before the hearing, and was suspended so technically i was never "on probation" -- i was offered this as an initial settlement.

[anonymousquestion]

Well, figure out what it's called, describe it as such, and give a single sentence explaining what happened. Last thing you need is to send in this addendum explaining your suspension alone, and then the school later finds out you had some sort of probation that you didn't reveal.

okay. had to go back to old, old e-mails:

it was called "disciplinary probation"

nonetheless, i did have the option of accepting this sanction or could have a meeting. before i made up my mind, i got suspended so technically i was never put on probation. they were also both the same person for the same crime. do i have to disclose it?

[Miniver]

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[kalvano]

In February of 2009, I had discovered that my girlfriend of two years had been unfaithful, and later referred to her in dishonorable fashion. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs stated that I was in violation of the university’s zero tolerance anti-harassment policy, and suspended me. In the preceding months, I have repaired my standing and reputation at the university, and the very dean who suspended me has written me a letter of recommendation vouching for my character. I am deeply regret ful for my actions because of how they represent the university and myself.

Did you slap her in the face with a glove and challenge her to a duel as well?

Why not say "and had a public disagreement with her in which regrettable things were said in the heat of the moment." It covers the fact that you said things without being too specific, and also makes you a little more human to the person reading it. Who can't relate to having an argument with someone you care about in which things got slightly out of hand?

Also, see strikeouts. Other than that, I like that one.

[fenway]

1. don't try to sue the school. had a somewhat similar incident of mishandling/negligence (though my case was considerably stronger than what you put forward) and it was/is simply not worth it. if anything send an initial petition to the general counsel and see if they bite on an early settlement offer. to get a good enough lawyer to even play ball in a case though you'd be looking at 10,000 retainer + fees. just move on

2. if there is no disciplinary mark on your record, why on earth would you write an addendum describing you acting like an idiot? if the Dean will write a recommendation advocating your character, just couple that with maybe a (brief) explanation about how you decided that you needed some time off from school to mature and allow yourself to get the most out of your education. Ostensibly no eyebrows or question marks raised.

3. based on your writing, you are clearly quite intelligent. do not make a bonehead move and send an addendum like what you posted by any means if you do not have a noted disciplinary sanction. good luck and congrats on making the strides that you have btw

[anonymousquestion]

1. don't try to sue the school. had a somewhat similar incident of mishandling/negligence (though my case was considerably stronger than what you put forward) and it was/is simply not worth it. if anything send an initial petition to the general counsel and see if they bite on an early settlement offer. to get a good enough lawyer to even play ball in a case though you'd be looking at 10,000 retainer + fees. just move on

2. if there is no disciplinary mark on your record, why on earth would you write an addendum describing you acting like an idiot? if the Dean will write a recommendation advocating your character, just couple that with maybe a (brief) explanation about how you decided that you needed some time off from school to mature and allow yourself to get the most out of your education. Ostensibly no eyebrows or question marks raised.

3. based on your writing, you are clearly quite intelligent. do not make a bonehead move and send an addendum like what you posted by any means if you do not have a noted disciplinary sanction. good luck and congrats on making the strides that you have btw

fenway:

i don't know what i need here.

here's what i know:

1.) it's off my record
2.) law school app's ask if i've ever received disciplinary action.

i don't want to get murdered by lying, but obviously would prefer to not disclose as i find the situation (being cheated on, and my response to being cheated on) humiliating.

[Miniver]

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[anonymousquestion]

Might not be on your record, but you did receive disciplinary action; so it should probably be disclosed if they're going to be technical about it. Ask the school you're applying to for confirmation as to whether a suspension needs to be disclosed and explained even though there's no official record of it. Of course, once you ask that question and they know who you are, they're going to be expecting to see that addendum if they say it requires disclosure. Up to you to decide how you want to play this. Personally, I'd just disclose it.

are u in law school currently?

how big of a deal is it in the admissions process?

[Miniver]

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[anonymousquestion]

thank you for all your feedback and help everybody. i appreciate it. as long as you could take a joke and are not overly sensitive, this site has a lot of useful information thanks to all the contribution.

[anonymousquestion]

I just graduated from law school. I guess you could say I'm talking out of my ass because I've never been involved with the admissions process at my school; that's why I say you should ask the school about what they want to see disclosed.

As for the rest of my opinions, I'm just looking at this from a common sense perspective about how people tend to think. It seems unreasonable that something like this would grossly prejudice you. Your girlfriend cheated on you, you said some stupid things, you accept it, and you're honest about it. It just doesn't make sense to hammer you so hard for it.

all in all, not disclosing it would be far worse?

[Miniver]

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[romothesavior]

I would be sure to briefly describe the nature of the harassment. If you just say that you got in trouble for harassment, that leave it open to a wide variety of things. You want to say it in a way that mitigates the blow, but still takes responsibility. Maybe say:

During my _____ year, I was was suspended under our school's zero-tolerance policy for an off-color comment I made regarding my ex-girlfriend. I deeply regret making this foolish lapse in judgment, but I have grown as a person after the incident and have maintained a clean record since then.

Seriously, this charge is not a serious one. Your punishment was serious, but what you actually did was not. I can't see this being a huge deal. I woud limit your addendum to a few lines, but I would DEFINITELY not be vague about what you did. If you just say you harassed someone, it comes off as sexual harassment, racial harassment, anti-homosexual harrassment, etc. Just be succint and forthcoming from the outset.

[fenway]

If it's something that would require disclosure and they find out about it from someone other than you, then you're likely going to have a lot of problems. Because then you're not being honest with them, and another dishonest lawyer really isn't what the profession needs, now is it?

you bring up a real tricky point that I hadn't considered adequately in my suggestion. I had been thinking of a suspension only in terms of one being noted on a transcript. it's confusing because if it is not on his record, it's highly unlikely anything would ever get traced back in the first place. the possibility though of it surfacing would obviously be a concern. what I would do first is talk to your undergrad and ask them how they would respond to an inquiry about your academic and disciplinary record. if you reached an agreement with the school that they would not disclose the information to grad schools/employers if you met their condition of 1 1/2 off, you would appear to be in the clear. i would double check with the dean's office however just to be sure how the school would respond. Miniver is right in the moral sense, but IMO disclosing that information would make it pretty easy to shut you out of any close admission decisions. if you do write one, I would coordinate closely with what your Dean is going to say in his statement for you

[06132010]

law schools will see that you missed an entire semester of college, no? you're going to have to account for that regardless of whether the incident is expunged from your academic record.

[fenway]

also, if you want to know the law school's policy, have a friend call for you to avoid unnecessarily red-flagging yourself

[anonymousquestion]

thanks everybody. this seems to be my final statement:

In February of 2009, I had discovered that my girlfriend of two years had been unfaithful, and had a public disagreement with her in which regrettable things were said in the heat of the moment. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs stated that I was in violation of the university’s zero tolerance anti-harassment policy and suspended me. Over the past year, I have repaired my standing and reputation at the university, and the same dean who suspended me has written me a letter of recommendation vouching for my character. I deeply regret my actions because of how they represent the university and myself.

conversely, i cannot attach anything about this as it is only an internal matter and just say how i took time off to think about my future... because i had debated doing this at the time, and did put a lot of thought into my future... plus i wouldn't have taken the deal unless the dean told me nobody would ever find out.

[kalvano]

Much better. Clear, concise, contrite without being whiny.

[anonymousquestion]

Much better. Clear, concise, contrite without being whiny.

will this make me look worse than having nothing or be a non-issue, honestly?

again, is it the punishment or the crime?

i feel like the crime is minimal.

the punishment is severe.

i'd just like to have an idea of where to apply to. i know the old "can't hurts" philosophy, but i don't have the $ to apply to 30 schools. i won't apply to schools i am just at the 50th percentile at if i know this will be an eye opener.

[kalvano]

Ask for fee waivers.

[anonymousquestion]

Ask for fee waivers.

?

how's this work? it took me a while just to figure out the LSAT.

[kalvano]

Ask for fee waivers.

?

how's this work? it took me a while just to figure out the LSAT.

Email schools and ask them to waive the application fee. The worst they can say is no.

[Miniver]

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[fenway]

there's no way to say how much it would actually affect your candidacy, so I would not let your decision whether or not to include an addendum influence where you send applications. just keep in context the fact that most adcoms are female. i think i read a comment before about how what you said was not that big a deal--possibly the case for a dude--but im not so sure about 40-50 yr old woman. I think your revision did a much better job of being a tad more discrete (i.e not saying you called g/f a "fucking slut" or w/e you said). Honestly, I'd give whatever you write to a few adults you are comfortable with/trust, (both men and women I suppose) ask them for their initial reaction and then edit accordingly. I think with careful crafting you can come up with a statement that does enough damage control as to not sink your chances at least with respect to this particular blemish on your application. Get this knocked out, and then forget about it until it becomes necessary to revisit. It'd be a gamble/hard to pull off, but you could potentially write some sort of personal growth PS about your year off from school (keeping the incident itself in the background though as simply the unfortunate impetus). However, I think this PS would be somewhat limiting/potentially tacky. You are a good writer so I'd probably look to showcase your ability in something a little more creative. A good addendum, a dean's character statement, and a strong PS will give you softs that are at the least not in the negative--so apply wherever your GPA/LSAT match up