Academic probation

[Virago]

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place for this question, but here it is. So I was on academic probation my very first semester in college, looking back probably as a result of me being a 17/18 year old freshman and not having my head on completely straight, no excuses, I did improve my grades thereafter though. Anyway I'm filling out my application and I come across this question:

Were you ever found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any college or university you attended, whether related to academic or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in your probation, suspension, or dismissal from that institution?

If you answered "Yes", please provide an explanation of the incident(s), including date(s) and terms of the resolution(s), including fines, suspension, probation, etc.

Obviously, there's no way to get around it, since it's all on my transcript. It's frustrating to have something that happened 6 years ago come back to haunt me especially since it's not a reflection of who I truly am as a student. Anyway my question is, do any of you have a similar experience and how did you justify it? I wrote something to the likes of me "adjusting to college". This makes me feel like a criminal or something.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Virago

[sing something]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it was going to preclude them from admitting you they wouldn't have a place for you to explain and your situation is the most innocent of all potential situations. I would provide one concise, but truthful sentence in which you explain. Accept responsibility and don't make an excuse, just tell the truth. Then spend a couple more sentences expressing how you have improved, what you learned from the experience, and what you have been able to achieve academically since.

[katydid]

Were you ever found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any college or university you attended, whether related to academic or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in your probation, suspension, or dismissal from that institution?

If you answered "Yes", please provide an explanation of the incident(s), including date(s) and terms of the resolution(s), including fines, suspension, probation, etc.

I actually think this may not be referring to standard academic probation (for bad grades)... It's asking if you were found responsible for a disciplinary violation ... related to academic misconduct. I think they're asking if you were ever placed on probation for something like plagiarism, especially since there's a later reference to resolutions and fines.

If I were you, I'd contact the school and ask for clarification, because if they are asking about plagiarism, you don't need to unnecessarily draw extra attention to a semester of bad grades. If it turns out that they'd like an explanation anyway, I agree with sing something's advice. Just be honest, and trust that they'll understand that you've grown since then.

[fuzzylogician]

I actually think this may not be referring to standard academic probation (for bad grades)... It's asking if you were found responsible for a disciplinary violation ... related to academic misconduct. I think they're asking if you were ever placed on probation for something like plagiarism, especially since there's a later reference to resolutions and fines.

I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I don't think it matters and I think it's a particularly bad idea to read too much into the wording here.

OP: you say that there is a record of this academic probation on your transcript. This is not the kind of thing that will just slip by the adcoms' eyes unnoticed, and there is no reason for them to give you the benefit of the doubt - there are plenty of good qualified applicants out there who didn't commit any academic offense of any kind during their studies. You need to find a way to address this in all your applications, regardless of whether or not they have a question specifically targeting academic probation. Maybe the way to do it is by having a recommender write about it, or by having an addendum to your SOP, but whatever you do don't just ignore it and hope for the best.

As for what to actually write, you didn't quite explain what the offense was, why you committed it, and what exactly your transcript shows; so you may need to tweak this accordingly. Generally, I'd suggest having a very short (=1-2 sentences) text acknowledging this past bad behavior, explaining it briefly and stressing the up-trend in your behavior and grades ever since. If it's a behavior problem, I think it'd be very important to have a recommender explicitly state that it has not been a problem for X years (or as long as they've known you, or whatever works). Precisely because it's a one-time offense that happened many years ago, you want to put it in that context and not let adcom members think up other explanations.

Again, don't just ignore this. You messed up, now you have to deal with it. If you do it right, it shouldn't hold you back.

[crazygirl2012]

Try not to panic until you're sure you need to disclose it. And even then, it isn't so bad. Hell, I was almost expelled from college entirely as a freshman because I got too many drinking tickets. Nobody got hurt or anything like that, I was just an idiotic (and apparently quite loud) 17/18 year old. When I saw that question on grad school applications, I went to the associate dean at my undergrad university and found out that I was never on official probation and therefore didn't need to disclose it at all.

I just read it again, and I am almost certain it doesn't even apply to you. So no need to worry! They'll see the grades on your transcript, probably gloss over them because it was your freshman year, and move on. You're not a criminal.

FuzzyLogician-- I don't think the OP actually committed any sort of offense. Academic probation is, to the best of my knowledge, just a semester of really poor grades. I agree that you need to have it addressed in some way, whether in your personal statement or in a recommendation letter, but I really do not think you need to answer "yes" to that question.

Edited December 11, 2012 by crazygirl2012

[fuzzylogician]

FuzzyLogician-- I don't think the OP actually committed any sort of offense. Academic probation is, to the best of my knowledge, just a semester of really poor grades. I agree that you need to have it addressed in some way, whether in your personal statement or in a recommendation letter, but I really do not think you need to answer "yes" to that question.

Oh, I see. I understood that differently. If that's the case then by all means, you could still explain in a brief 1-2 sentence statement that you had a bad semester all that time ago but you've been doing well ever since. And indeed, that's not the kind of thing that the question you quoted is referring to. I apologize for the confusion!

[Virago]

Sorry guys, I should have been more specific, the reason I did poorly academically was because I declared myself a Biology major as soon as I started college, and did horribly in chemistry (F) and I was taking two Credit/No Credit courses and another humanities course, which I did well on, but of course the F in chemistry brought me down to below a 2.0 semester GPA, hence my probation. I feel as if I don't answer "yes" to the above question I'd be hiding something, yet it's totally irrelevant to my field of study now. Should I really talk about something that happened eons ago? I don't plan to address it in my SOP at all, if anything just answer "Yes" and give a brief two sentence explanation. Thank you for your suggestions, I appreciate it.

On second thought I probably will contact the program and ask for clarification. Thanks again!

Edited December 11, 2012 by Virago

[DaisyAdair]

I had lunch with the a group of people including the DGS earlier this semester, and this question came up. His answer was that they don't get too worried if an undergrad has something like that on his/her record. If it happens once, they assume the student was adjusting to college life. If it happened a couple of times but was a while ago (time has passed between the probation and the graduate application), they really don't worry about it. As long as it is in the past and more current records show it is not likely to happen again, they look at the rest of your application.

It is if it is recent, I would be concerned, but if it was your first year, I wouldn't stress about it. I would, however, answer yes. I would not feel comfortable answering no, especially since it is on your transcript.

[TakeruK]

Sorry guys, I should have been more specific, the reason I did poorly academically was because I declared myself a Biology major as soon as I started college, and did horribly in chemistry (F) and I was taking two Credit/No Credit courses and another humanities course, which I did well on, but of course the F in chemistry brought me down to below a 2.0 semester GPA, hence my probation. I feel as if I don't answer "yes" to the above question I'd be hiding something, yet it's totally irrelevant to my field of study now. Should I really talk about something that happened eons ago? I don't plan to address it in my SOP at all, if anything just answer "Yes" and give a brief two sentence explanation. Thank you for your suggestions, I appreciate it.

On second thought I probably will contact the program and ask for clarification. Thanks again!

Asking for clarification would be the best bet. But I would agree with the others in this thread that pointed out that academic probation for bad grades isn't a "disciplinary action". In my interpretation, a "disciplinary action" involves some kind of hearing or meeting with profs/officials -- e.g. plagiarism drinking while underaged etc. Academic probation for failing or not meeting a minimum GPA is generally an automatic thing and I wouldn't say it's discipline (which usually involve breaking a regulation or law, not simply performing poorly).

[bamafan]

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place for this question, but here it is. So I was on academic probation my very first semester in college, looking back probably as a result of me being a 17/18 year old freshman and not having my head on completely straight, no excuses, I did improve my grades thereafter though. Anyway I'm filling out my application and I come across this question:

Were you ever found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any college or university you attended, whether related to academic or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in your probation, suspension, or dismissal from that institution?

If you answered "Yes", please provide an explanation of the incident(s), including date(s) and terms of the resolution(s), including fines, suspension, probation, etc.

Obviously, there's no way to get around it, since it's all on my transcript. It's frustrating to have something that happened 6 years ago come back to haunt me especially since it's not a reflection of who I truly am as a student. Anyway my question is, do any of you have a similar experience and how did you justify it? I wrote something to the likes of me "adjusting to college". This makes me feel like a criminal or something.

At the OP, I'd find out first of all if bad grades probation is even what they're asking about. I too read it as misconduct for things like academic dishonesty. Have you seen your official transcript to verify that it actually is on it or are you just guessing? Check with your school to see if you actually have any record of it on your transcript, because maybe it's not.

For instance, at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/acadinfo/cap/endofterm/studentrw.html), they explicitly say that if you are on academic probation or forced to take a gap year, it will NOT be on your transcript and does NOT count as academic misconduct or anything like that (of course, you may still have to explain the gap in attendance...). It will depend on your UG school, but again check, as I don't believe you have to answer yes.

Edited December 12, 2012 by bamafan

[Virago]

Yeah it's definitely on my transcript I saw it. I also double checked with my school, I asked the registrar's office they pretty much advised me to answer yes and explain that it was academic probation and NOT any other kind of misconduct. Thank you again for your suggestions/thoughts

[CHOCTICK]

This question is not concerned with academic probation for poor grades. Answer yes if you were caught cheating or detained for getting into drunken fights with your dorm mates.