<p>I think that the admissions reps at the selective schools know the HS in their region and they do use zip codes for getting a sense of what type of economic “barriers” a student may be facing. I get this from reading those admissions books and NYT "the envelope"type articles.</p>
<p>Our HS has lots of kids applying to very selective schools but we are also a 60% minority (mainly hispanic) school with 35% free/reduced lunch. HOWEVER, most of the kids applying to the very selective schools come from the neighborhoods that are high income in the district so I am quite sure that what the rep looks at to distinguish the really economically challenged kids from our neighborhood is 1) parent’s level of education 2) zip code. </p>
<p>Now a true and live-time annecdote. So…my son is URM, all IB/AP schedule, parents both with graduate degrees, in a zip code that is very affluent will apply to the same college as his friend in his native speaker IB spanish class…BUT she comes from single parent household, is in a much lower income zip code and parent didn’t finish high school. Will she get a very different bump at a very selective school? I like to think so; I also hope they both get into the school of their choice but I know that girl faced zero academic help at home in her calc class and babysits little brother every afternoon and most nights as her mother works two jobs. Same high school, same schedule, similar grades, both hispanic…totally different socio-economic background…who do you think the selective college degree will impact more on long term future? Do I see the girl as my S’s competition? No, he is competing with the white kids from the same zipcode in the same school. The URM designation, I think, is only a circumstance-blind bump for much less competitive public and private schools in need of improving their stats on diversity.</p>