[jacketree]

What about white South Africans?  Aren't they African?  (Maybe the box say "black"?)

One of my business partners went back to school for a MSCE years ago, and since she wanted to keep working for us part time, applied only to Stanford and UCB.  She got into both.  Stanford offered her a full scholarship.  She called about the details and was thinking she might take it. Somehow they thought she was black. She assured them she was not and didn't check the black box.  (She's Irish if it matters.)  Stanford mulled it over and decided to honor the scholarship since it was their mistake.  Fine, my partner said, but if you are that reluctant about it, I will pay my own way over in Berkeley, which she did.

In terms of the OP and high achieving kids and their families getting miffed about not getting in, I have to admire both of my children's respective high school principals who both unequivocally told their charges that getting into a prestigious university is not the goal; the goal is putting our children in a good situation for them as individuals within the context of what a family could afford, whatever that may be. It might not be the dream school or the "best" school, but well, welcome to life. My son's principal told us they were working very diligently to instill the trait of resilience in each student, so their entire self-worth is not defined by whether Georgetown believes they are worthy of admission.

[jacketree]

What about white South Africans?  Aren't they African?  (Maybe the box say "black"?)

One of my business partners went back to school for a MSCE years ago, and since she wanted to keep working for us part time, applied only to Stanford and UCB.  She got into both.  Stanford offered her a full scholarship.  She called about the details and was thinking she might take it. Somehow they thought she was black. She assured them she was not and didn't check the black box.  (She's Irish if it matters.)  Stanford mulled it over and decided to honor the scholarship since it was their mistake.  Fine, my partner said, but if you are that reluctant about it, I will pay my own way over in Berkeley, which she did.

In terms of the OP and high achieving kids and their families getting miffed about not getting in, I have to admire both of my children's respective high school principals who both unequivocally told their charges that getting into a prestigious university is not the goal; the goal is putting our children in a good situation for them as individuals within the context of what a family could afford, whatever that may be. It might not be the dream school or the "best" school, but well, welcome to life. My son's principal told us they were working very diligently to instill the trait of resilience in each student, so their entire self-worth is not defined by whether Georgetown believes they are worthy of admission.