<p>Vicariousparent, it is difficult to gauge the value of coming from Idaho. THere are schools that will outright say that geographics do have some part in decision making (the Brown rep has said so numerous times publicly). But how much is the question. And there are times when coming from far away can be a DISADVANTAGE since there may be question of the likelihood of such a candidate actually coming. Certain local schools get as much as 90% of their students locally and know that though some students from farther away will apply, their yield will far, far higher with the local crowd. </p>
<p>However there are certain schools where the geographics can be very important. At CMU in Pittsburgh, the admissions dean admits that there is a “Pennsylvania” stack and elsewhere stack. THe kids who get into CMU from an hour radius tend to be top kids, because so many top kids from that area do apply there and will go there if accepted even over more selective choices. And CMU has no intention of becoming a second Pitt. Getting more national representation is important for them to keep their rep as a national school. I have seen kids turned down from NYU in the greater NYC area, when like kids from the midwest where I used to live get in with merit money! I have seen the same with BC, BU and a number of other schools.</p>