<p>Hi, like everybody else on this discussion forum I've been researching colleges like mad .. </p>
<p>and I can't really seem to figure out if race or geography really effects your admission chances (for stanford specifically and all colleges in general)?</p>
<p>For example, I am an asian female living in GA .. for stanford, would my race significantly hurt my chances .. and would my location actually help a little?</p>
<p>Yes, being Asian will hurt your chances. I don't know how many people apply from GA but Asians apply from all over the place so I can't imagine that it would help you much.</p>
<p>um...no, it will not hurt your chances. It just won't help you. It's true that there might be some AA, but in reality very very few people get in because they are an URM, so in the end, race doesnt matter much.</p>
<p>geography, however, does matter. I would think that being from GA would increase your chances because they try not to get too many kids from one region (ie: too many CA kids)</p>
<p>lamdun, are you sure regarding the importance of geography vs. that of race? because ive heard otherwise...</p>
<p>But because URMs get "help" from their racial status and all applicants are competing over a small number of spots, the fact that "it won't help you" still hurts your chances if you are an ORM when compared to a URM (and this is assuming all else being equal). So, to answer the poster's question, both race and geography do affect admissions chances. As to what degree, I don't think anyone on this board is qualified to answer that.</p>
<p>well, I might have made geography sound too important, but it does have some sway in the application process.</p>
<p>But the fact is, the difference that race and geography make are neglible really considering how seemingly random top college acceptances are anyways.</p>
<p>Race definitely helps, no one from my school got into Stanford this year except this minority, (who had subpar grades and test scores). Last year we had 5 get in, I don't know what happened this year.</p>
<p>"Race definitely helps, no one from my school got into Stanford this year except this minority"</p>
<p>Correlation doesnt equal causation man.</p>
<p>Out of the 5 that got in from my school, 1 was white and 4 were asian and both groups are definitely not URMs.</p>
<p>hehehe, post hoc falllacy...
(english AP monday! yay!)</p>
<p>I think that minority status and geography really probably depend on intangibles. If they just selected 2 people with slightly higher stats from your same state or of your same race, they might not select you. Or at least, it would seem that way to me...
(note: I am making this up, I haven't heard this anywhere, it just makes sense: they say that your admission will often rely on things like what time of day your application is read, etc...)</p>
<p>from my school</p>
<p>6 got in; 4 asians 1 hispanic 1 asian-hispanic mix</p>
<p>of the asians, SAT ranged about 2200-2400</p>
<p>the asian-hispanic mix, 2270</p>
<p>the hispanic, 1900</p>
<p>Los angeles area btw</p>
<p>ahhh .. how confusing</p>
<p>sometimes i really don't want to go through this whole admission process thing
I definately don't understand it .. =P</p>
<p>o well I guess I'll just have to have great essays and recs to make me stand out more?</p>
<p>will being iranian increase chances ?</p>
<p>sorry, no....</p>
<p>I am hunderd percent sure it does--certain geographical regions like southeast region is part of the lower end public schooling system, so students are recruited from the southeast US much less than they are in other parts. Moreover, affirmative action is in place at many schools, so of course bring a URM helps--of course, being an Asian sucks because I am over-represented and there are way too many smart Indian people, which kills my chances a lot (personal rant).</p>
<p>Asian kids from CA definitely do get the shaft. They have to either be really special or legacy or something to stand out in the applicant pool. There are just... so many. (speaking from experience)</p>
<p>true dat. but i also wanted to add that it's not impossible--which is why there are so many asians out there in the first place</p>