[AGDee]

He can stay on more than one wait list. I have a few ideas and want to run them by him. He was obviously close or they would have flat out rejected him. One idea is a gap year- IF and only IF he can come up with something that would really help him grow personally and increase his chances. Then he would reapply ED for next year.

The wait list instructions say that he can obtain an additional letter of recommendation IF it highlights additional information that was not previously available. He did email the admissions counselor a few times with updates for BPA and Quiz Bowl but there are some things that I noticed are not on his application anywhere- like his parts in the school musicals this year. He mentioned briefly his involvement on the school board curriculum committee but perhaps a more robust description of what he is doing and how he got there would help.

He heard they were talking about moving back to semesters from trimesters. They had moved to trimesters just when Hypo was starting high school. It allows the kids 1.5 more credits a year for electives. When Halo heard about it, he was organizing a group of kids to attend a school board meeting to plead a case for staying on trimesters. The assistant principal found out he was doing that and suggested that he be on the curriculum committee as a student member so he could really give his in depth input. To me, that shows the kind of initiative and spirit that Brown appreciates. I believe the assistant principal would write a letter further explaining Halo's ability to effect change for something he believes in.

He and I will talk tomorrow. I don't know about the gap year idea. I think he'd have to find something really incredible to do with that year. Something that would make him really really stand out. Could an 18 year old start a non-profit for something he's interested in? I don't know... not sure what he could do, but he would have to have a good start on it by October when he reapplied.

He could also go to Michigan or Kalamazoo and take advantage of some really awesome opportunities for research and political involvement and aim for grad school at Brown.