Hello there! Let me see if I can help you out here.
1. The birth year is not required on the application but it's a good idea to keep in mind what year your character was born (I always put the birth year on my character's apps because apps are a quick reference guide if I forget). Since time on the site moves so quickly it's sometimes hard to remember exactly how old your character currently is (especially if you add more characters in the future). If you do choose to put it in the application I would recommend that it be accurate with your first choice of the years you are requesting. If the admins are unable to put your character in your first choice year you can always just adjust their birth year according to what year they are sorted into. You'd want the year to be accurate to the character's year because you wouldn't want an eleven year old fourth year or something like that!
2. Generally, because the site tries to keep things as realistic as possible, players usually choose a real hometown (or real in the Potterverse). If making up a hometown is really something you're interested in doing I would recommend sending a Private Message to an administrator to get their opinion on the idea.
3. The application asks for two different year choices just in case your first choice year is full. The administrators cannot guarantee a placement in your first choice year (though they do try and most characters are placed in their first choice) so they ask for an alternative. Usually it's just a year below or above your first choice.
Hopefully this answered your questions!
