As a high school student, can a referral due to a meltdown effect your entry into college? (SAT, best)

[marcus903]

On April 5, 2012, I had an extremely unexpected meltdown where I screamed, threw a book in the air, pushed another student, grabbed the phone and slammed it onto the ground and walked out of the room.

I didn't even know what I was doing during this meltdown. Worse part was, my IEP teacher was there.

That teacher then wrote me up for Disorderly Conduct, Chronic Disruptions, and leaving classroom. I did go to an administrator and she called my mom to let her know that I had a meltdown. I wasn't being disciplined, but this might be on my permanent record.

I received a referral earlier this school year because I hit another student with my shoe, that never got put on my permanent record because I apologized to the student.

This is my first meltdown that got put on a referral. The referral is being documented so that means colleges will read it. Will this effect my entry to college?

[marigolds6]

Unless criminal charges were filed against you, it is highly unlikely the colleges will ever know.
It will not go on your transcripts, and that is basically all a college will see of your academic record.

What you should be more concerned about is how affects your own relationship with your teachers. You want them to be able to write possible letters of reference for you, and an incident like this will affect other people's opinions of you. The colleges will probably never know.

[Lily2204]

Having worked in undergraduate admissions before, I know things like this are definitely flagged on your transcript and the school will look into it to make sure you aren't going to be too much of a risk. It will certainly influence their decision, especially with all of the recent school shootings by unstable students. You may try having yourself formally evaluated by a psychiatrist and have their clearance (if you get it) included in your application.

[intelfan11315]

Depends, where are you applying and what are your grades? My guess is you're going to be just fine if you're a competitive applicant, if you're on the edge it might hurt you.

I have a hard time seeing just how your application could get flagged. I've seen HS transcripts and it never shows up. I had been suspended from high school myself and it NEVER showed up anywhere.

Don't worry about it, you can't change anything. Do the best you can in your classes apply and hope for the best. My guess is you'll end up just fine. Don't fret over the past, just don't make mistakes in the future, everything always will go well.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by Lily2204

Having worked in undergraduate admissions before, I know things like this are definitely flagged on your transcript and the school will look into it to make sure you aren't going to be too much of a risk. It will certainly influence their decision, especially with all of the recent school shootings by unstable students. You may try having yourself formally evaluated by a psychiatrist and have their clearance (if you get it) included in your application.

It's great to have the input of an admissions professional. I would think that these events would flavor the recommendation written by a teacher. Perhaps the OP should discuss this with the teacher....and pick your referring teachers very carefully. Psychological evaluation could be helpful and will be more of a necessity to endure college than it is to complete high school. College tends to be harder! At least, that's what I've seen. The other thing we don't know about the OP is grades/class standing/SAT/extracurricular AND the caliber of university he/she is applying to.

[intelfan11315]

Originally Posted by Lily2204

Having worked in undergraduate admissions before, I know things like this are definitely flagged on your transcript and the school will look into it to make sure you aren't going to be too much of a risk. It will certainly influence their decision, especially with all of the recent school shootings by unstable students. You may try having yourself formally evaluated by a psychiatrist and have their clearance (if you get it) included in your application.

How exactly are they flagged? Does it depend on the university? I have honestly never seen anything like this before.. I'm not saying you're wrong because you obviously work in the field, but how exactly does it work?

[HelloWorldItsMe]

I know what an IEP is but I am not sure what an IEP teacher is. Is an IEP teacher like a special education teacher? If so I just have never heard them referred to like that. The reason I am asking is, do you have to have a hearing to see if the melt down was related to what you might have an IEP for and/or in special education. Just thinking that it if so it may make a difference in how it is listed in your record.

[Lily2204]

You know, it's actually really sad how the whole process works sometimes. Having been on both sides of it (applicant and evaluator), students don't realize how trivial it can be. What happens (at least at large universities) is that graduate students get hired for about $10 per hour to sit at a computer and sift through undergraduate applications. When I was in graduate school I did this for a semester and was a bit surprised at how it all works. Evaluators are given certain parameters and criteria to exclude applications (i.e. don't put through any applications with a GPA and/or SAT score below a certain number). If the application makes the initial cutoff, it then gets "points" based on aspects such as legacy status and difficulty of high school classes taken. Ultimately applications are sorted into different folders based on their scores, and applications with low GPAs and/or SAT scores never even get looked at by anyone with any decision-making power.
As for the original question, applications with suspensions or disciplinary/mental health notes are flagged in the system and put through a separate channel for further review. This will likely delay the decision for at least a few weeks as additional research is done to get the details on the incident. I've seen students get denied for having physical altercations with other students because they were seen as a risk to the campus community. Also, some students are denied for having mental health issues such as anorexia or bulimia, but this is pretty common as most colleges would ask students with these issues to take a semester off if they were already enrolled. Like I said, if there is going to be evidence of an unstable mental incident on your record it might be best to get an evaluation from a professional to convince the school that you are OK to admit to the campus community. Safety is something they take very seriously, especially with the recent events at places like Virginia Tech.

[rimmerama]

Originally Posted by marcus903

On April 5, 2012, I had an extremely unexpected meltdown where I screamed, threw a book in the air, pushed another student, grabbed the phone and slammed it onto the ground and walked out of the room.

I didn't even know what I was doing during this meltdown. Worse part was, my IEP teacher was there.

That teacher then wrote me up for Disorderly Conduct, Chronic Disruptions, and leaving classroom. I did go to an administrator and she called my mom to let her know that I had a meltdown. I wasn't being disciplined, but this might be on my permanent record.

I received a referral earlier this school year because I hit another student with my shoe, that never got put on my permanent record because I apologized to the student.

This is my first meltdown that got put on a referral. The referral is being documented so that means colleges will read it. Will this effect my entry to college?

The more pertinent question is this - will you actually be able to succeed in college?

You say "meltdown" like it's an isolated event that has no bearing on your mental state...

[Pupmom]

But the question remains- when a high school transcript is sent to a college, it does not include disciplinary issues. It only includes grades, classes, attendance, sat/act scores. (or do certain areas of the country include disciplinary actions?) I can see why a recommendation could mention the issue, but why would anyone ask a teacher to write a recommendation that says anything negative. Please explain.