<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>Fairfax County Public Schools make it very clear who qualifies for valedictorian under THEIR policy and who doesn't. This is no surprise to any adcom who has dealt with any applicant from FCPS.</p>
<p>Worrying about geographic balance is the least of it!>></p>
<p>Absolutely. It is pretty impossible to guess ahead of time what will matter -- or if there might also happen to be another kid in the admissions pool from Kentucky who lived on their own in high school or three other kids who also grew up in Paris. Stranger things have happened. The bottomline is don't try to second guess too much, don't try to game the system, just present yourself in as honestly and effectively as possible and cross your fingers. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. If not, that's why it is important to build your list on a firm foundation that isn't all about lottery schools.</p>
<p>So what I'm hearing is we need to move to North Dakota before the kid's freshman year in hs, so that he only has one complete ND transcript. I am not aware of any other way that the college checks for geographic authenticity. I certainly don't expect my son to gain any admissions advantage for being born in an exotic Asian country while we were living overseas.</p>
<p>Also, do they understand that our hs lacrosse team might have 12 captains? :D All seniors, all "captains" not "co-captains"</p>
<p>I think you are reading too much into what the Brown ad rep said -- I think the point he was trying to make is that geographic diversity is considered, but that it won't work to move to an underrepresented state just to enhance changes. </p>
<p>And georgemma, I don't know whether I sensed a tone of bitterness in your post, or you meant things lightheartedly -- but the fact that your daughter was deferred rather than rejected means that your daughter did have a "fighting chance". Brown like all the Ivies turns away half a dozen well qualified applicants for each one that they accept. Students are never accepted simply because of geographical factors or other interesting characterstics, though all of those are tip factors that could make the difference between one candidate or another. It simply is a mistake to draw much of a conclusion from a deferral, waitlist or rejection.. other than the fact that they happened to choose other students. It's a subjective process. In other words, it isn't that they prefer kids with uneducated parents over multilingual, European-raised kids -- the reality is that they accept both types, and they reject both types. </p>
<p>A person cannot go and listen to admissions presentation and take each comment as if it were meant as a literal step to follow in a recipe. The admissions rep is trying to highlight some factors that tend to be viewed favorably.</p>
<p>georgemma, I wouldn't take that rep's comments too literally. It can't be a case of "only" being interested in students from noneducated households, etc. (Because all the top schools, including all the Ivies, have a substantial portion of the opposite representation in their student bodies.) However, I do know that Brown happens to be a favorite choice for many European or European-raised students. Thus, it was more likely that your D had the misfortune to be in an over-represented group for this particular college.</p>
<p>I wish reps wouldn't make misleading statements like that. It is not so absolute or a matter of blanket <em>preference</em>, but in some cases a tip if that applicant has met all the other necessary qualifications for admission. </p>
<p>There are many other fine universities, as you undoubtedly know, that have an internationally diverse presence. Columbia, Georgetown come to mind. There are plenty of others. In many institutions it's quite a plus, & considered affirmatively unusual, to have been educated overseas & be trilingual. Many admissions committees would consider your D's background a tip.</p>
<p>How are we supposed to take comments from admissions persons if not literally? Why do they say this stuff? My kid is taking AP Calc from a teacher who can't teach it because he was told in info sessions that he was expected to take courses at the highest level of rigor his school offered in all the core areas. He's trying to teach himself college level Calc from the textbook.</p>
<p>SuNa: I'm not sure I understand your question. You asked, "Are you saying that a kid might prepare in advance for the essay question?" Miller was talking to a roomful of alumni, not applicants, so he wasn't giving advice to applicants. He was just saying that if there were any questions about a student's writing ability, they would read the essay written for the SAT writing section. </p>
<p>I agree that you have to take what admissions people say with a large grain of salt. There are exceptions to every rule. And the rules change every year. Last year they wanted unusual students, this year the tuba player, etc. In that session with Miller, I heard him say one thing about admissions, and then he pretty much contradicted himself 15 minutes later. If there is a kid they really want for some reason, they will accept this kid despite their "rules." And I think there are policies and practices they follow that are set by internal college decisionmaking that they don't want to make public. While we would all like to know the magic elixir that will get our kids into the school of their choice, I don't think asking an ad rep for that recipe is useful. The recipe changes, perhaps even day by day, kid by kid. (OTOH, I will confess to really wanting to know. I'd like a million bucks, too. Oh well.)</p>
<p>Bethie, yes they tell you to take the highest level of rigor -- but they accept kids all the time who haven't. You will probably never know if your kid is rejected if that decision to take stats instead of calculus was the tipping factor, or if they would have been rejected even if they had taken calculus. My daughter decided against taking calculus at her HS (and is taking a HS-level online class instead), and we supported her decision despite GC pressure partly because of the experiences I read about on CC. What's most important is to follow Carolyn's advice, and do things that fit who you are and what you are interested in and make sure that comes through in your application.</p>