<p>lvvcsf:
Actually, even if it’s counterintuitive, research shows that for lower income and/or first gen and/or immigrant kids, they are more successful if they attend the most selective college that admitted them. Indeed, these colleges have the means to offer support to help smart but less-prepared students reach their potential. They also have more driven students, for whom college is a norm and who convey that value to their classmates who in turn carry a full load of classes, expect to graduate, etc.
In addition, you based your analysis of her “capabilities” off her ACT score. But for all you know, she took that test only once, with no idea of the format or any preparation for it - as is the norm for most lower-income students. And once they’ve taken it once, nobody’s there to tell them to prep and take it a second time. </p>
<p>Wrt international students: they’re taking the test in a foreign language for them; for that reason, they may score well on the Math test, but poorly on the CR test, which is hard enough already if you’re taking it in your first language. Can you imagine the CR test in Spanish, or Russian, or Arabic? Scoring anything about 400 on that test in a foreign language is quite good and is understood as such. (No such understanding is given to students from the UK, Canada, or Australia, of course.)</p>