<p>We seriously toy with the idea of moving from NJ to NC. If son could get into UNC as an instate it would save us so much money and would be a better school than any he’d probably get into from here. It’s also cheaper to live there.</p>
<p>The NYT education section once had data on how many kids from each state got into a few really good colleges vs. how many applied. Their thesis was that New York, etc. actually had greater percentages of kids accepted to the Ivies but the flaw was that they didn’t compare the kids. Like what were the stats of the kids accepted from Wyoming vs. Connecticut. That article isn’t in the Times online and I didn’t save it.</p>
<p>This is just a theory, but it seems as though the states that require the highest scores to qualify for National Merit Scholar might parallel the best and worst states categories. The Mid-Atlantic region seems like a tough area to be from: lots of money, lots of prep schools, high percentage of college educated people.</p>
<p>So many stay local in NC-I believe it has the highest stay at home rate-that it is nearly impossible to get in to any of the state schools. You have to be cream of the cream of the crop.</p>
<p>to the extent of my knowledge, as long as the school has students from all 50 states, they are more concerned with international students what countries they are from.</p>
<p>I assumed from your name that you were from Ohio… that’s kind of rare to see someone from Ohio rooting for Michigan, especially since we just had the big game a couple of weeks ago, lol. (I live in Ann Arbor.) </p>
<p>But yeah, that’s what I thought - at the Ivies, there isn’t so much representation from MI. Most graduates from my high school just go on to attend the U of M.</p>
<p>Excuse me, the CT public college system is NOT horrible. UConn is a good university and the CSU system isn’t that bad. And to say CA’s system is bad is hilarious. They are known to have some of the best public colleges in the country. And I just think the whole list is a little ridiculous, honestly. Being in any state can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Being from a state like South Dakota and applying to a school that wants geographic diversity is a good thing, and living in CA and being able to go to one of the UCs is a good thing.</p>
<p>It is true that you might have more applicants from certain states, but it depends on the college and the college’s philosophy.</p>
<p>The financing has surely gone bad; a minority in the legislature is forcing the transfer of cost from taxpayers to students. I suppose the quality has to suffer as well as funding is cut, but I, for one, haven’t yet heard that the quality has become bad.</p>
<p>I called UNC and they said instate you should have half a’s and half bs, 6 or 7 APs and 1300 out of 1600 SATs. In New Jersey that wouldn’t get you into anywhere half as good.</p>
<p>I am confident that as an applicant from Mississippi that I have a slight advantage (relative, of course, but still tangible) at the colleges where I have applied. Mississippi is consistently ranked as one of the worst states in terms of poverty and education.</p>
<p>My question is: does being an underrepresented state actually help you? What if that school actually doesn’t like your state? Because Michigan is roughly the 10th most pupulous state but it doesn’t send many to top schools (besides UM) from what I’ve seen. Any links to show one way or the other?</p>
<p>It’s a very big advantage. We lived in Ohio and New Jersey and know lots of people in New York. The valedictorian from my nieces college in New York is going to the same excellent (not Ivy) college as my slacker friend’s daughter. Kids in Ohio got into good schools with good grades and good SATs but they didn’t have to work nearly as hard and had mediocre extracurriculars.</p>
<p>To whomever was considering moving to NC–although UNC does have lower standards for in-staters, it’s become more competitive in the past few years. There’s no guarantee–I know one poster called in and asked for specific requirements, but I know kids from my school who have been accepted with lower stats and rejected with lower stats. Now, if your son’s in the top, say, 1% of their school (talking from experience at my 500 person school) with, say, a 2200 and not completely pathetic ECs, you’re probably guaranteed to get in. </p>
<p>However, if you’re moving because you don’t think he can get into good schools from NJ, I’m wondering what his stats are like. Because UNC is only a lock for the most competitive students. The middling students are less predictable, especially as more Ivy-capable students opt to stay home for money reasons.</p>
<p>Right now he’s a freshman. He’s taking 4 honors and 1 non-honors class and getting b’s in the honors and an A in the non-honors class. I wouldn’t say he’s a “middling” student, just not stellar at our super-competitive high school. My daughter got a 2200 on her SAT and he’s probably about the same as she was IQ-wise. I really think it would probably be easier to get an A in NC although I can’t say for sure. But you disagree with what UNC told me - half A’s half B’s and 1300 SAT?</p>
<p>Even if he didn’t get in there he’d definitely have a better shot at going somewhere else than from NJ I would think.</p>
<p>A given state or geographical area can be a category or hook for some schools (the Common Data Set is an indicator), and if the category is already filled by applicants the school wants more, additional applicants in the category can be moved to the general pool where their chances are lower. So only in this narrow sense, and only temporally, a school might like a state not quite as much as it did before the category was filled.</p>
</p>