#071 School Discipline and College Admissions with Hanna Stotland

Flourish Coaching

May 23, 2023

In this episode Lisa and Hanna discuss:

Categories of student misconduct from minor to major.
The evolution of misconduct by students (and how COVID rapidly changed some of those bad decisions).
Your teen’s obligation to disclose misconduct during the college admissions process (or not).
How your student can tell the truth, explain their story, and understand how colleges will perceive misconduct on applications.

Key Takeaways:

Young people will find boundaries to push against and they will test those boundaries, even if they’re physically under their parent’s watch. This is normal and natural.
Students should have a wider and deeper set of college options as they build their college list if misconduct has been an issue.
On new campus visits, encourage students to look at their likely list and to be more open-minded when they may be harder for the college to admit.
The most important thing when writing admissions essays or applications is telling the truth. There is no such thing as the whole truth, but don’t try and hide the information.
Expulsion does not need to be the end of anybody’s education. There are many alternate paths forward. Any high school decision will never be the end of a student’s life or education.

“If there is any perception that you’re blaming third parties for bad choices that you made, that is a very, very bad impression to leave. This is about you taking ownership for your decisions.”

– Hanna Stotland

About Hanna Stotland:

Hanna Stotland, JD flunked out of high school, got a G.E.D., and went on to graduate from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. For 24 years, she has served students facing the hardest college and law school admissions problems: six of the “Varsity Blues” families; hundreds of students accused of sexual misconduct; would-be students emerging from prison; even a victim of the Sarah Lawrence cult. The last two years produced an explosion of novel cases involving academic dishonesty during remote learning, misuse of social media, and violation of Covid protocols. She has advised countless students making serious character & fitness disclosures on both law school and bar applications. From 2008-2013, she was a career counselor for law students at Northwestern University School of Law and at Harvard Law School. She frequently serves as an expert witness in admissions-related litigation. Her recent professional presentations include conferences of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, the Higher Education Consultants Association, ten regional ACACs, and Families Advocating for Campus Equality. She has also been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS News, PBS, and WNYC.

Take Lisa’s free quiz “Is your teen ready for coaching?” here- https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/608984a7a898980017089b21/q/1