I know you are worried about the "bad" stuff on your record. Every applicant is. Of course, "bad" is a relative term. So how worried you should be and what you should do about it depends on what you mean by bad.

Bad Means Imperfect

For most of you, "bad" simply means that your record isn't perfect. If you are in this camp, relax. Perfection is not the standard; maturity and accomplishment are. You can't mature without confronting and overcoming setbacks, failures, embarrassments, and mistakes. All those leave a little "bad" mark on your record, but if you respond maturely, you are the better for them. Likewise, you won't accomplish much unless you reach beyond what you can do perfectly - beginner anything is not pretty and all truly gifted folks have some ugly periods of growth to live down.

Generally, you probably don't need to address any of this kind of bad at all in your application. Your overall record will overcome the little blips. Furthermore, the overanxious applicant who tries to explain/excuse every imperfect aspect does not impress admissions officers. However, there are a couple of exceptions to this general rule. First, if the blip is recent and/or happening as your application is going in - something like a steep falloff in your grades during the spring of junior year - then, you should include a supplemental essay that explains the situation. Note I said explains, not excuses. See more about that below. Second, if the blip on your record is the tip of a notable iceberg in your life from which you learned much and/or were transformed - something like you got chosen for a national competition and bombed, but went back and won two years later - then, you may have the makings of a good personal essay topic.

One cautionary note: you should read on because you need to know what you should avoid doing in college. Often applicants have been protected from doing the really bad stuff during high school because of good parents. But, then you get out on your own and have some freedom. Then, wham -- some really bad things can happen, which then means you have to confront this stuff when you go looking for your first job or try to get into graduate or professional school.

Bad Means Really Bad

For some of you, "bad" means really bad. What are examples of this kind of bad?

• Academic Suspension or Expulsion
• School Disciplinary Action
• Criminal Record

These are things that signal to an admissions officer that you are a high risk admit either because you won't be able to perform academically or because you will injure the learning community in some way. If you are in this camp, you have reason to worry. More importantly, you have reason to take action both in your life and in your application.

First, the life stuff.

Solve the underlying problem. You don't want to peak in high school. Figure out what's wrong and deal with it. Are you struggling academically because you have a substance abuse problem? Get sober. Did you get an in-school suspension because you hit another student? Violence is not acceptable in a learning community. Learn to control your temper. Do you have a criminal record because you shoplifted? You may have thought it was a harmless dare that would make you a part of a more popular crowd, but it is really something that makes you untrustworthy. Establish your independence and self-reliance so you don't succumb to negative peer pressure.

Build an "after" record. Once you have dealt with the underlying problem, you need to build enough of a record that you can persuade others that you had a problem in the past, but it has been addressed and your future will not include that problem. If your bad thing happened within the last six months, you probably will have to adjust your college plans accordingly. You may need to extend high school for a year. You may need to enroll in a community college and then look to transfer. In other words, you need to accumulate some time and a solid record between you and the bad stuff. As a general rule, you need at least a year and some obvious examples of how you have addressed the problem on your record.

Now the application stuff.

Choose something positive about you to make the "center" of your application story. You want to highlight all of your good stuff, so that the bad stuff becomes one aspect of your record, not the whole thing. For example, you should write a personal essay that focuses on how you led the basketball team to its first ever state championship, not on your criminal conviction.

Disclose the bad stuff. Don't look for ways to hide it - it always comes out. A cover-up is its own bad and now you're back to square one. So just disclose it.

Write a supplemental essay to include with all your applications that addresses the bad stuff. The first part of the essay should be a straightforward, forthright presentation of the facts. No excuse making, no "totally unfair" etc. The second part of the essay should be how you have changed your behavior since the bad thing and should describe your commitment to never doing something illegal or wrong again. The third and final part of the essay should be what you have learned from the whole experience.

Fortify your story with how you have changed with other information. For example, you could get a recommendation from the teacher who turned you in for cheating if you subsequently won that teacher's trust and became an exam proctor for him.

Schedule a personal interview with an admissions officer if possible. You should go prepared to tell the officer your story during the interview - basically it should be a oral version of your supplemental essay. A personal encounter can be very persuasive and can go a long way to convincing the admissions officer to take a chance on you.

Final Thoughts

I'll let you in on what I've learned only through life and admissions experience.

You can't escape bad. Everyone I know has "bad" in his/her history. Every friend; every colleague; every applicant. Bad grades, bad relationships, bad deeds.

But, you can overcome bad. Some of the most inspiring applications I have read come from applicants who have done just that. And I admitted those applicants. I've admitted cheaters and felons because they were so much more than that. They were people who exhibited strength and courage and turned their lives around after some really bad stuff. They were worthy.

Be someone like that - someone who overcomes the bad. If you do that, you're in.

Comments or Questions? 

Post your "bad" and get ideas for how to handle it.