<p>I think there's a general consensus that coming from an underrepresented state is a boost in the admissions processs, but I'm curious as to how one might quantify that boost. In The Early Admissions Game, the authors mention how African American applicants enjoy a admissions boost equivalent to 400 SAT points. Any thoughts on what kind of boost a non-URM resident of any of the abovementioned states might enjoy?</p>
<p>not nearly 400 points I'd guess. Maybe 100</p>
<p>Colleges have 3 things they look at as far as location goes.
1.)Your country
2.) Your region.
3.) Your state
4.) Your local area
I was told by a Harvard admin that being from the midwest, living in South dakota, north dakota, or wyoming, and coming from a rural area is the best advantage as far as location goes... However, only probably like 5 people, at most, within the history of this board have those similar conditions. Here's the deal, people in places like wyoming don't have many opportunities (academic or extracurricular) at regional, state, or local levels. They also don't have very good school systems. Therefore, those who apply will be considered mainly on their test scores and gpa. They are given an advantage in the admissions process, no dout for their lack of resources and because so few people apply.</p>
<p>bump other thoughts?</p>
<p>Yeah, I am curious about that too. It might make a difference given the poor quality of most Wyoming high schools...</p>
<p>what about KY?</p>
<p>Anyone have an idea?</p>
<p>Adding geographic diversity is a tip factor at SOME schools -- in other words, if your grades and test scores are within range, it may tip the admissions scales in your favor but if you don't have the grades/test scores it won't get you a huge boost in admissions the way being an under-represented minority might. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that not all schools place the same emphasis on geographic diversity and some schools (like Harvard) already attract a highly qualified applicant pool, with enough applicants from across the country and around the world to easily build geographic diversity.</p>
<p>Additionally, it depends on the location of the school as to what is considered geographic diversity. Someone from South Dakota or North Dakota probably will get no boost if they're applying to schools in the midwest; someone from wyoming will get little boost if they're applying to schools in Colorado or the west coast. Someone from Kentucky will get little boost applying to schools in Indiana, Ohio, or Tennessee. </p>
<p>Again, the bottomline: adding geographic diversity may help a bit if you're already a qualified candidate, but it's not going to get you in anywhere in an of itself. I would hardly consider it the equivalent to the boost under-represented minorities get, nor would I say it is worth the equivalent of 400 or even 100 extra points on SAT scores.</p>
<p>carolyn---
I disagree with you. They have 1000s of qualified "URMS" that apply each year. Whereas only a few people from states like SD, ND, and WY apply . Why would there be less boost? I'd think a black applicant pool would have more qualified applicants than the sd,nd,wy pool. The purpose of AA is to diversify the school's students. In other words, if two students with the exact same application are side-by-side, the kid from wyoming will get in over the kid from MA, or the black kid from the NE will get in over the asian from the NE.</p>
<p>People in places like wyoming don't have many opportunities (academic or extracurricular) at regional, state, or local levels. They also don't have very good school systems. Therefore, those who apply will be considered mainly on their test scores and gpa. They are given an advantage in the admissions process, no dout for their lack of resources and because so few people apply.</p>
<p>My only point is this: Wyoming and New Jersey, for example, are as different as night and day. I know, I've lived in both places. People live differently and applying to any ivy league school when you live even in the largest city of oh, say, wyoming, is almost unheard of.</p>
<p>In outlying areas, the admit rate is from five to nine percentage points higher than the overall rate.</p>