Question on reporting suspensions

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EatonSmith

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May 3, 2025
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My son is applying to West Point. He was suspended for horsing around with his friends and it was recorded on video. He reported it on the application and then they had an optional follow-up question that asked:

Please provide a personal statement describing the incident, what the punishment was, what your reflections or lessons learned were from the incident. Please include all relevant information regarding the incident.

Should he answer it if it is optional? My gut says yes but curious what others think
 
EatonSmith said:
My son is applying to West Point. He was suspended for horsing around with his friends and it was recorded on video. He reported it on the application and then they had an optional follow-up question that asked:

Please provide a personal statement describing the incident, what the punishment was, what your reflections or lessons learned were from the incident. Please include all relevant information regarding the incident.

Should he answer it if it is optional? My gut says yes but curious what others think
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Absolutely yes. With a question like that, USMA is probing to see if the candidate has taken responsibility and changed their behavior. It may be optional, but my thought is that if he doesn’t answer it, it will severely harm his application. It is also an opportunity for your son to show growth and maturity in his response, which can even help his application.
 
They are going to use the answer (if he chooses to answer) to adjudicate the situation-important to know they are looking for the circumstances around it and more importantly the likely of it occurring in the future-if he chooses to answer, make sure to address all pertinent information as this is the due process part of the application.
 
Thanks for the follow-up. When admissions reviews it, will they ask for a response from the school? His college counselor/advisor is ready to write a letter of support/recommendation if needed. Should he list his college counselor/advisor by name in his response that they would be willing to write a recommendation if needed?
 
There was an applicant in this cycle who had this issue with I think USAFA. His application was initially closed but he appealed and won. I will see if I can find the thread
 
EatonSmith said:
Anyone?
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Archangel354

Thread 'Disqualified for Conduct - Appeal?'

Hello,

This morning, I got a letter of disqualification for USAFA. I reached out to the admissions team and the Directorate of Admissions to find out why, and they stated that it was because of my Conduct Questionnaire.

For reference, here's what's on the record:
5-day suspension from school (freshman year)
$150 traffic ticket (junior year)

I gave lengthy explanations for both, taking full responsibility for my actions and stating how I've learned/matured from them.

Does anyone know if there's a way to appeal for this, or if it's even realistic to reapply if they've already determined...
 
Optional is better stated as "opportunity". Take it and use it to demonstrate maturity and growth from what was an unfortunate incident. Young people make mistakes and will do so at the academy as well. Taking accountability, reflecting on the incident and plotting a path forward will demonstrate a tremendous amount of responsibility and maturity.
 
For what it’s worth, everytime I see a celebrity smoking dope, I know they are promoting the thinning of the herd for service academy applicants. I am sure that a suspension, or the reaction to it, can open up opportunities to set one apart….but I’d feel better if my child was not suspended.

In the event that a the kid was in the “right” on the suspension, yet were rejected by an academy, then it should be embraced as the academies loss.
 
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