ivyathlete12

I was born in San Francisco but I moved to Las Vegas when I was young and have lived there ever since. I've been looking over the applicant stats at all the schools I've applied to and the southwest always has the least amount of representation in every school's freshman class. This got me thinking.

Is this because there are significantly less applicants from the southwest or because the schools tend to admit kids from the east coast?

And, will my home make me some sort of minority (in a good way)?

RacinReaver

I imagine there's a lot more kids from the east that go to college than from the southwest. I mean, how many times more people are there in the east than southwest?

woohoo!!!!!!

ehh, it will make you a minority, but i really doubt that it will help you that much.

I think geographic diversity can really make you stand out if you live on a farm or in some section 8 housing in a city. But honestly, i don't think that growing up in City A compared to City B or Suburb C compared to Suburb D really makes any applicant stand out.

Colleges want to create a diverse class. That means people with different religions, political backgrounds, skin colors, etc. Geographic diversity can only make you stand out if you truly grew up in an odd setting.

Hindoo

We're from Kentucky. Last year my daughter was one of the 18% of applicants accepted at Pomona. While her grades and scores were outstanding, I really think her geographic location was the biggest plus in her favor, as Pomona has few students from the southeast. (She chose to attend Carleton.)

The Revolution

no one cooks chicken like KFC.

DCforMe

You might be interested in reading

North Dakota? a hook?

Is it possible to see how many kids from my state go to each university?

BunsenBurner

"Geographic diversity" is heavily lobbied for by the airline industry, UPS, FedEx, USPS and any other organization engaged in the business of transporting people and stuff back and forth across the country Imagine how their businesses would suffer if all college students went to in-state schools!

On a serious note, the answer to you quesion is most likely "yes, it is an advantage" even if the schools try to downplay it.

Hindoo

You mean no one "stomps and kicks chickens like KFC." Ewwwww. One of the bad things about being from KY.

SeniorSlacker

I know if you sign up for a certain college guide website with a Ivy-league name, you can look up factors considered for each school, one of which is geographic diversity.

I don't know how accurate it is, but it will often list either

"Geographic diversity: Considered"

or

"Geographic diversity: Not Considered"

I doubt that it will be a huge factor in admissions, but it could be what people on here call a "tip" factor, where if you and Applicant X have exactly equal qualifications (when does this happen anyways?), and Applicant X is from, say, LA or something and you are from Nowheresville, Guam, they will take you.

SeniorSlacker

LA as in Los Angeles, CA

nyc

Even if candidates aren't exactly equal (they never are) geog gets a tip - - way harder for kids from the tri-state area than from most other parts of the country. I had a friend whose father took a sabatical in Nebraska - -he and the kids swear that geog diversity was the tip in their being admitted to top colleges.