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[quote=Anonymous]I've been an Ivy interviewer for quite a while here.  The success rate for kids from DC, as opposed to MD and VA is higher because 1) a lot of the applicants come from Sidwell ST ALban's, GDS etc. and 2) the kids from DC often have a lot going on with respect to extracurriculars.  Some of the  kids in the burbs suffer from  "stuck in the cul-de-sac syndrome", i.e. it's harder to do extracurriculars and internships when your parents have to drive you everywhere.  They are also more likely to have been sheltered in a way that may call into question their ability to function independently a school full of go-getters.  We have had kids tell us they've never been in apartment buildings before or that they've never taken the Metro by themselves.

Kids do get in from DC publics every year.  A few of those have overcome substantial obstacles, but many of the accepted kids from DC publics come from double-graduate degreed homes, just like their private school counterparts.

The reason that states have different cut-offs for the NMSQT is that the program is aimed at the top 1/2 of 1 percent of scorers for each state.  In DC, that's a really small number and so they let DC have the cutoff of the highest scoring state, or else the only national Merit Scholars would be a few kids from NCS and the score cutoff would be substanitally higher than any other state.

This area is really competitive for admissions, but I wouldn't trade places with those kids from West Va.  The reason they get cut so much slack in admissions is that it is so difficult to achive at a high level when no one else around you has the same initiative, no one in your census tract (let alone your family) has been to college, your school doesn't offer any AP's, and even the people who want to support you can't give you any advice.
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