Alcohol violation not always risk for college applicant

Being suspended from high school for an alcohol violation is not considered reason enough for colleges to dismiss a student's freshman application outright, admissions officials said.

The issue has gained attention after a lawsuit was filed by the father of a Kings Park High School senior who was suspended and barred from sports and other extracurricular activities after she admitted giving alcohol to another student. Nina Ottaviano's chances of getting into a top-tier school or receiving an athletic scholarship have been damaged because of the disciplinary action, according to her father and the lawsuit.

"Could it hurt her? Yes," said Matthew Whelan, assistant provost for admissions at Stony Brook University, in reference to Ottaviano's suspension. "Is it an absolute denial of an admissions decision? No, it's not."

Whelan and other officials said they take a holistic approach to the admissions process, but that applications that indicate a disciplinary action are given further scrutiny.

"When we see there have been problems we just try to understand the nature of them . . . and if this is somebody where we would have concern about them joining our academic community," said Nancy Rothschild, associate dean of admissions at Syracuse University.

Alcohol-related violations do not necessarily stand out, Rothschild said. Situations that involve academic integrity or physical harm to an individual probably carry the most weight in evaluating disciplinary actions, she said.

With an alcohol violation, Whalen said, the school is looking to see whether it was a one-time event or repetitive action. For the New York Institute of Technology, an alcohol-related offense is cause enough to throw the application out.

"At NYIT we look beyond grades and test scores, to the student's character," said Dean of Admissions Stacey Munsky-Acquaro. "Respect for school policy is one sign of character and if a student broke rules about alcohol, it would cause us to deny the applicant."

But Shawn Abbott, assistant vice president of admissions at New York University said parents shouldn't overreact to a blemish on their child's record.

"We're not looking to further the disciplinary action by revoking admission," he said. "We're not looking to sock it to the student twice."

Rothschild said she likes to see how much school support the student still receives, such as positive teachers' letters.

Admissions officials said honesty is key. Often, applications ask for information on infractions and students are required to provide explanations. Abbott recommends not using the personal statement for the explanation and instead include an additional statement.

"We understand that students make mistakes," Rothschild said. "We like to see that they've learned from them. You would be surprised by the number of times that students still don't take responsibility for the action that's occurred."

Abbott said he has been increasingly receiving anonymous "tips" from classmates of applicants and even classmates' parents, alerting him to a disciplinary action the applicant had not revealed.

"The student that tries to cover up any kind of disciplinary action, nine times out of ten will find themselves in hot water," he said. "Someone will divulge that information. You want you or your counselor to be the first person to report that information, not a classmate or their parent."