Clearing Up an Application Blemish

What do you do if you've got a legal or academic problem in your past? Here's some advice for B-school applicants

By Alison Damast

During the height of the fall admissions frenzy, schools admissions consultant Linda Abraham typically gets deluged with questions ranging from everything on how to craft a compelling admissions essay to when one should apply in the application cycle. This fall, she's gotten a rash of inquiries on a topic that usually comes up infrequently: how to handle an academic or disciplinary blemish on your record.

"It's a question that has come up repeatedly, and people are really struggling with how to handle it," said Abraham, an admissions consultant for Accepted.com. In just the past month, students have called her asking her advice on everything from how to deal with a former driving-under-the-influence conviction to a previous expulsion from school, she said.

"Our advice is, always deal with it forthrightly, succinctly, take responsibility, and move on," Abraham said. "What is more difficult to deal with is academic discipline, especially if cheating is involved."

The numbers themselves aren't huge. Abraham says that she's gotten about 10 inquiries concerning black marks this year, while in most years it might come up once. Though its unclear what's behind all the skittishness, Abraham believes one factor is the publicity surrounding MBA applicants' use of Scoretop.com, a Web site that allegedly gave users a look at current questions being used on the GMAT business school entrance exam. More than 80 MBA applicants had their GMAT scores canceled (BusinessWeek.com, 9/9/08) because of their involvement with the site.

Indeed, recent ethical breaches, including a 2007 cheating incident (BusinessWeek.com, 5/22/08) ] at Duke's Fuqua School of Business has increased sensitivity to any hint of academic dishonesty. At the same time, more and more business schools are using background checks to verify the information (BusinessWeek.com, 8/26/08) submitted by students on their applications. In addition, schools are being more pointed than ever before with applicants, often directly asking them if they have been convicted of a felony or have been academically disciplined by their undergraduate institution

"There is a general sense of caution in the industry, and I know that every school is hoping applicants are feeling that as well," said Carrie Marcinkevage, director of MBA admissions at Pennsylvania State University's Smeal College of Business.

Yet determining what is appropriate to disclose on your business school application can be a difficult matter. For example, does a student need to report a ticket he received for drinking in public back when he was an undergrad? And what about that failing grade a student received in a course freshman year in college? Obtaining a straight answer from admissions officers on how to handle an uncomfortable incident in one's past can be difficult, especially if an applicant is wary of bringing up the incident with the admissions office before applying. To help clarify the situation, we've spoken to several admissions officers from schools around the country. Here's their advice.