You spent all of high school working hard to get into your dream college. You studied. You kept your grades up. You aced your tests. And, in the end, you got a spot. You were thrilled and you knew it would change your future forever.
Then you made one mistake during your freshman year, or, at least, the police believe that you did — whether you did or not. You got arrested. Aside from the legal ramifications, you find yourself wondering if you’re going to get expelled from college. Is all of your hard work going to be for nothing?
You could face expulsion. It does happen. What really matters is what code of conduct the school has for its students and what they think about what happened. If you violated that code, they could expel you. That doesn’t mean they will, however. Students often get charges for things like drinking underage or even drinking and driving without getting expelled. But the school could decide that your actions warrant expulsion depending on your case.
One thing to remember is that the school doesn’t necessarily need all of the same evidence that you’d see in court to act. It is possible that the police won’t have enough evidence to meet a court’s standards and convict you, but the school could still feel that you violated the policy and deserve to be removed from the institution.
This is a crucial time in your life. There is a lot on the line, and your status at school is only one thing to keep in mind. Be sure you know what rights and defense options you have.