I think SCU has figured out that their future lies with out-of-state students. The Class of 2021 was 49% out-of-state. It wouldn’t surprise me if out-of-staters outnumber in-staters for the first time in school history in the Class of 2022.
SCU may or may not give big points for geographic diversity. But even if they don’t, they won’t penalize out-of-staters like the UCs do. The UCs cap OOS enrollment slots, require higher stats from OOS applicants, charge higher OOS tuition, and offer no OOS financial aid. From an OOS perspective, private universities like SCU – which don’t do any of these things – are increasingly attractive alternatives.