Brandeis reputedly has never been known for its beauties, but past summer Becky Farmer (GRAD) helped to reverse this long-ingrained impression. Farmer, 25, earned one of six semifinalist spots during the Boston

auditions for UPN's reality TV competition America's Next Top Model. She then competed for online votes to represent Boston at a try-out with the show's chief casting director in Washington, D.C., as well as be featured in a fall fashion spread in the Boston Herald. Farmer lost out in the end to Madeline Alvarez, 20, a juvenile court employee from Worcester.

A native of North Carolina, Farmer came to Brandeis last fall to study costume design after graduating from Pennsylvania State University. She plans to design contemporary, Italian-themed couture for Brandeis' play Big Love, scheduled to open Oct. 20.

Farmer began pursuing her aspirations of runway stardom as a child, when she modeled at area shopping malls.

Her determination to model intensified in high school after a substantial growth spurt.

"Every couple of months we would have to buy her new shoes and new slacks," her mother Barbara told the Metrowest Daily News. "It's like she burst out into who she is today."

Farmer's parents registered her with a modeling agency that never followed through on their promise to find her work.

Farmer had put aside her catwalk dreams when she saw a commercial on UPN announcing the Top Model tryouts in Boston.

"Friends and family have always encouraged me to [model]," said Farmer on UPN Boston's Web site before the online results had been announced. "So I thought since this show is the end-all-and-be-all of modeling, if I make it here then I know I have what it takes to be a model. If I don't make it here then I can put my whole dream of being a model on the shelf.