No student wants to include unflattering information on a college application.

But if a student has ever been arrested or suspended or expelled from a school, there's a good chance he or she might have to address that question and explain the details in writing.

A "yes" answer won't automatically ruin the student's chances.

Smoking in the bathroom and playing hooky a time or two are not going to cause most admissions officers to agonize over an application.

But any student who habitually breaks the rules, has a history of violence or drugs, cheating, computer hacking or any type of arrest record will need to provide details, and in some cases will be denied admission.

It all depends on what happened and whether the admissions officers believe the student has taken responsibility for the actions and learned from mistakes.

"We're looking for honesty and remorse, if it requires that, and really to find out what happened and if we think it's something that will adversely affect our student body when making a decision," said Chris Boehm, director of admissions at Albright College in Reading, Berks County.

More colleges are asking the question on their admissions application.

Next fall, the question of disciplinary history will be added to the common application. The common application is a standard form that students can use to apply to about 300 colleges and universities that accept it.

While most students will mark an "x" in the "no" box, those with a blemish on their disciplinary record might worry about how much their answer will influence a committee's decision on whether to admit them.

When the admissions committee at Drexel University in Philadelphia learned one of its applicants was disciplined for hacking into his high school computer system, it refused to admit him.

"Computer hacking concerns us because our focus here is highly oriented toward technology," said Dana Davies, director of undergraduate enrollment at Drexel, which offers seven computer-studies majors.

"A student who is dishonest would be a concern," she said.

Certain schools are more sensitive to different kinds of offenses.

At the University of North Carolina, any hint of violence will route that application to a special task force that carefully scrutinizes each one, looking at the severity of the offense, the person's age when it happened and whether it was an isolated event.

The task force was formed after two female students were murdered at the Wilmington campus in two unrelated instances by two males students in 2004. One suspect had a prior rape conviction. The other had a misdemeanor conviction for larceny.

"There are a lot of students who've had disciplinary action or criminal convictions who we'll admit," said Leslie Winner, general counsel for the UNC system, which gets more than 100,000 applications a year. "We're not as concerned about one fight on the basketball court. But we would worry about one rape conviction."

UNC recently revised its admissions application to ask for a full record of expulsions and long-term suspensions, any criminal background and a list of all other educational institutions applicants have attended.

Administrators there also have a system that checks gaps in a student's educational history, and they've created a suspension and expulsion database where records follow students from one UNC campus to another. Some students have been denied admission to a UNC campus because they didn't disclose a suspension from another UNC school, Ms. Winner said.

"We had this pair of tragic incidents, and we did take that very seriously to look at our admissions system to make it safer," Ms. Winner said. "At the same time, one of our highest priorities is providing access to higher education. So you have to be careful not to lightly deny someone access based on a past transgression. So, it's a fine balance."

Only a handful of applicants have disciplinary issues. And many of them are minor, even humorous at times, college officials said.

"Some students check 'yes' and say they were put on detention in ninth grade for being late to class too many times," said Jess Lord, dean of admissions and financial aid at Haverford College in Haverford, Delaware County.

Students who aren't honest about the question run the risk of being found out. If a student who has a discipline history doesn't admit to it, colleges and universities still may learn of it. They often ask high school counselors to answer questions about an applicant, and that's usually how they find out about disciplinary matters that a student did not disclose.

Ten years ago, Harvard University took back an offer of early admission from a student who failed to mention on her application that she had bludgeoned her mother to death with a candlestick.

Although the woman was a stellar student and captain of her high school tennis team, Harvard rescinded the offer after receiving an anonymous package of news clips about the incident.

Another school discipline case that recently made local headlines involves Justin Layshock, of Hickory High School in Hermitage, Mercer County, who was suspended for 10 days and placed in an alternative education program as punishment for creating an online parody of his principal.

Justin's application to Penn State University is on hold because of his punishment. He informed the college of his suspension on his enrollment application, his lawyer said.

"He's concerned about Penn State and has made arrangements to talk to them and explain the situation," said Justin's attorney, Witold Walczak, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. "We don't know what effect this will have on his admission. If he gets in, it'll have no effect. If he doesn't, we'll be left to wonder forever."

Jen Bowers, a guidance counselor at Pine-Richland High School, said she's only had one situation in her nine years on the job where she had to call a college to explain a discipline problem.

"We had a student who couldn't come back to our high school due to an expulsion and was accepted to a very prestigious college," she said. "Ethically, I had to call and report his change of status."

Pine-Richland High did permit the student to earn a diploma. Ms. Bowers said she and the principal wrote letters on the student's behalf. The student was able to explain his side and was able to attend that college.

Carnegie Mellon University's application process requires high school counselors to weigh in on a student's disciplinary history.

"Counselors are permitted to answer the question if their school districts allow it," said Michael Steidel, CMU director of admissions. "Counselors are typically honest in telling us there was a problem, but will refer us to the student for any details.

"What we're really looking for are issues surrounding academic integrity. We're not looking for kids caught smoking in the bathroom. The university community at large is really dependent on kids doing their own work and not cheating."