Kind of a weird question, but:
I was looking at statistics for the colleges I’m interested in, and there was a section on where their students come from. My state, Michigan, had under 10 people coming from it for Vassar, and at Wesleyan, the Midwest only represented about 7%. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is it because not a lot of people from MI apply to these schools, or do they have something against MI or something (ha)? Would being from MI help my chances because they want geographic diversity?
<p>duplicate message</p>
<p>I would say, being from an underrepresented region or state is a big boost assuming all other things (academics, ECs, teacher recs) are equal. If things hold where they are now, Wesleyan will increase its %age of midwesterners by about 20% this year.</p>
<p>I would put it slightly differently than John: adding geographic diversity can be a tipping factor but it is not likely to get you in if you don't have stats in the school's range in the first place. </p>
<p>That said, I personally would not consider 10 people at Vassar or 7% at Wes to be an indication that a state is underrepresented --- if you're talking about coming from a state that has only 1 person -- or no people -- at a particular school, then you're talking about underrepresented.</p>
<p>I don't think it makes any difference, at least it didn't help me at certain schools, but who cares, UVA is the best!</p>