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What happens if one of the bug three questions** used to determine where a student is placed isn't answered?  Harder with a digital form, but with a dead tree form...


** -  questions 41, 42, 42

forty-one on your application which read, "Ah consider mahself to be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.
- The Bear, the Bitch, and Everything

42 and 43, ' Gender, Male, Female, Complicated' and 'My powers or incidents associated with them are transforming/have transformed me: to have no gender, to become more feminine, to become more masculine, to exhibit characteristics of multiple genders.' 
- The Case of the Poisonous Patent

It might come up as part of the entry interview, or the school might contact the student for more detailed explanations. In Kit's case, she met with Carson because Carson had some apprehension due to Catherine being a regress case. Similarly, Carson met with Ribbon prior to entry, because she had questions for Alyss. 

What happens if one of the big three questions** used to determine where a student is placed isn't answered?  Harder with a digital form, but with a dead tree

You could ask the student to retrieve a book for you, to see how she comports herself in a skirt.  Whisper was placed in Whitman, not Poe.

For other students, the most truthful answer may not be the most helpful.
"I consider myself to be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual,": Yes".
"Gender: Male, Female, Complicated,": "What's on sale?"
"My powers or incidents associated with them are transforming/have transformed me: to have no gender, to become more feminine, to become more masculine, to exhibit characteristics of multiple genders.": "You have no idea."
 

The application will in fact let you leave those questions blank.  On purpose.  If the student does leave them blank, they'll be asked about them on their first interview with their student advisor.  IF they're very hesitant about the answer, there might be some digging.  But the default choices work for most and a student can always be moved if needs be.

E. E. wrote: The application will in fact let you leave those questions blank.  On purpose.  If the student does leave them blank, they'll be asked about them on their first interview with their student advisor.  IF they're very hesitant about the answer, there might be some digging.  But the default choices work for most and a student can always be moved if needs be.

That... is actually pretty close to what I ran with in my fic.  I don't need to scrap that seen, Yay!

Remember that in many cases the application form is only part of the information they have on students. Many come with data files about them, so if there is a discrepancy between these and the form it will be noted, And if said data includes sex/gender info, they might use that to place the student appropriately no matter what they put on the form.

-nods at Astrodragon's point-
I'm having a character objecting to # 40, so th data packet shouldn't come into play.

-nubs chin-  There's a thought; character who's powers make their sexuality go all over the map.

Cryptic wrote:

-nubs chin-  There's a thought; character who's powers make their sexuality go all over the map.
 

Reactive shifter + poorly-controlled empath, like someone from the Martian Chronicles?  It could happen.

I have two thoughts concerning the questions:
1. It's an *application* form. Meaning, you are ASKING for them to LET you go there. Playing ruler lawyer games is no way to endear you to the people you are asking for stuff. Consider if you would be a smartass in a college application, most students would feel pressured to answer in SOME way.
2. Then again, they are circa-fourteen *teenagers*. Few of the non-straight persuasion would be really sure about what they are (there's this big river in Egypt where they keep swimming despite the crocodiles ) And, even if they DO know, very few would be willing to admit it on paper -- unless it has become REALLY hard to hide.

My take is: (a) most of the forms will have those fields filled and (b) applicants will for the most part answer "yes, I'm heterosexual, and no, I'm not changing genders, nossir, what do you mean, what are these bumps in my chest? FAT! I'm only gaining weight, I really need to get into the gym and start a 's that about a river in Egypt?"

And the school wold be more interested in how they answered than what they ostensibly ansered, looking for telltale signs. There's probably a few innocuous-looking question a few items below that are designed to draw some significant clues. There are probably other carefully-designed questions to reveal other noteworthy traits, such as latent Diedricks, hints of sociopathic behavior, stuff like that.

EDIT - I had to go back and rewrite the message. I don't know exactly what happened, (perhaps I used some sort of code I'm used from the old forums that causes problems here?) but whole sentences went to the bit bucket.

Two things come to mind:
1. Given the level of (usually justified) paranoia and distrust found in some applicants, I'm sure the people who process the applications are use to some hinky answers on them.
2. The Whateley stories tend to focus on the edge cases, the students who defy categorization in way or another. I'm sure the other 90% of the school applications are filled out by the numbers with little prevarication.

did a rewrite, changed it to my pov character honestly just jumping over question 41 by mistake. The several drafts I tried with other reasons for her skipping it just felt wrong.