<p>What states are considered "geographic diversity"?</p>
<p>To my mind, it varies by school. Think states that are not well represented in the target school’s current distribution, i.e., are outside of its bulk sending region, whether that be Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, West Coast, etc. Groton and Andover probably would like to have another kid from West Virginia, and certainly from Montana. The candidate has to be qualified, of course, and if the term is operative, the point is that they might choose that kid over yet another one from Massachusetts (or New York or Connecticut) with roughly the same qualifications. Reasoning is that the top ten or so schools, which are less tuition-driven and can turn away many more applicants than most, also have national aspirations for their geographic draw; they want to have 25-30, or more, states represented in the student body. Hence, coming from Alabama or Iowa might help. Remember, “might” means that the gatekeepers have already let the candidate through the door into the maybe pool of applicants due to grades, SSATs, ECs, hooks, etc. After that, financial aid need might offset the geographic diversity plus, or it may not. </p>
<p>Students can potentially be on the wrong side of geographic diversity, as already indicated. Among the most selective schools, if the school takes day students from a densely populated area, that will raise their application count quite a bit and could make it more difficult to get in, as a day student or boarder, from the home state. I think this is true particularly if FA is needed for a day student, and if the boarding applicant is unhooked. Again, schools like Groton, Andover and Lawrenceville come to mind. Maybe this applies to Exeter, Choate and Deerfield as well. </p>
<p>I’m not an admissions officer, so take the above with a grain of salt. While Mississippi, etc., might be helpful on the diversity front for many selective schools, lots of states are potentially “helpful” but you would best figure that out by looking at the state distribution stats and what the school says it values among its student body. </p>
<p>A school will draw the bulk of its students from its home state, from nearby states, and from states w big, affluent populations and/or cities (California, Texas, Chicago, NYC, SF, etc).</p>
<p>The states that are far from the school and/or have small populations will have less resprentation. </p>
<p>There’s that thing about being from a state that starts with a vowel. So, states like Alaska, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, etc.</p>
<p>Look at the state coverage in a list of where the students are from, and you can probably figure out where the most represented student body hails from. For example, Lawrenceville takes lots of students from Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, among others, while Groton has a high concentration of Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, among others. Other states, such as California, often send more children than you would think to boarding schools.</p>
<p>Don’t write yourself off simply because you come from an over-represented area. Plenty of students coming from these areas do get in- that’s why they’re over-represented. It’s extremely difficult to tell what any given school is looking for in any given year, so you might be the right or the wrong fit for a particular school, no matter your home state. It’s important to realize that this only gives you an edge over a similar or almost identical candidate and won’t typically put you in a different pool, unless you live in a very underrepresented state or country.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with all the comments so far, a lot of the states in the south (excluding Florida) are very under represented at most boarding schools. I am from one of those states and while I don’t think it was the only reason I got into schools, it certainly helped.</p>
<p>Is NC too far north to help?</p>
<p>NC will probably help for the NE schools. Probably less so for the mid-Atlantic schools.</p>
<p>FWIW, I took a look at the states represented by the freshman class entering Choate this fall:</p>
<p>CT 74
NY 25
CA 8
IL 4
MA 4
GA 3
KY 3
PA 3
DC 2
MD 2
NJ 2
NM 2
NV 2
VA 2
CO 1
FL 1
IA 1
ID 1
MS 1
NC 1
OR 1
RI 1
UT 1
VT 1
WI 1</p>
<p>Read into it what you will. Next year, ChoatieKid will be the only one left from our state (not listed above).</p>
<p>NC sends a lot to Mid-Atlantic: the SASs, Episcopals of the world…</p>