<p>He has a 3.9+ UW, 4.1 W
He has 2250+ on SAT I
He has 2250+ on SAT IIs
He will have taken 7 APS by his Senior year
He has a leadership position in multiple clubs
He will write amazing essays and will have amazing recs from teachers that absolutely love him... He lives in Arizona.</p>
<p>Meet Jane</p>
<p>She has the same stats as Jimmy, but lives in New England.</p>
<p>Both Jimmy and Jane are applying to HYPMS. </p>
<p>So I ask you: Who has the better chance at HYPMS (ceteris paribus):</p>
<p>Jimmy: 0
Jane: 0</p>
<p>Cast your opinion and state why you voted the way you did...</p>
<p>Ha ha. In my opinion, it depends. If Jimmy lives in Phoenix and Jane lives in upstate Maine, where few people apply to HYPMS, then Jane would probably have more of an advantage for geographic diversity (I’m assuming that’s the point you’re making here, right?). However, if Jimmy and Jane both live in pretty rural areas, then Jimmy would have the advantage; compared to California which is only a state away, Arizona is pretty underrepresented at top schools for being a medium-sized state. If both live in urban areas (Jimmy from Phoenix; Jane from Boston), then the preference probably diminishes. </p>
<p>Keep in mind though… everyone’s different. HYPMS might prefer Jane even though Jimmy would provide more “geographic diversity” because Jane wrote a “different” essay and took more of a risk than Jimmy. More likely than not, other factors will probably come into play- perhaps New England schools may have more AP course offerings than Arizona schools, so then Jimmy’s 7 AP classes are better than Jane’s 7 AP classes. There’s a lot to consider. <em>nods</em></p>
<p>I recognize that! That is why “ceteris paribus” is in parenthesis near the bottom of my post. It is a term that indicates a state where the analyst views “all other things begin equal.” It acknowledges and rules out factors that could override the relationship. </p>
<p>Again, this thread concludes that everything between the two is equal. It sets up a situation in which the only “tiebreaker” is geography and geographic diversity.</p>
<p>atrophic,
Thank you for the list from collegeboard. And may I remind anyone, including those singularly focused on something other than geography, such as race/ethnicity, that the named 15 aspects can all figure into ultimate results. (" College information in College Search is provided by the colleges themselves.") You will find similar lists on the CDS of Princeton & other fine U’s. </p>
<p>One can also have multiple ‘advantages’ in many/most of these 15 categories, but still not be admitted. From a practical standpoint (not from a statistical standpoint), an essay may have more ‘weight’ NOT because it is in itself more important, not at all. Rather, it is one of the few elements that illuminates the other categories, personalizes, and differentiates. Obviously, recommendations can do so, too; however, not all recs are written to differentiate and inform. (Some provide few details.) The person from AZ may geographically be preferred, but the person from NE may be more memorable to the committee & more transparent in his/her profile by the what & the how of the essay.</p>
<p>There’s no one single hook or tip, nor no one single liability/disadvantage. Look at other such lists from multiple sources, and see the confirmation.</p>
<p>I have a friend who works in college admissions and she tells me that being from the Pacific Northwest (we are) works in your favor the farther east you go because it’s so hard to entice kids to move away from here for college. And the schools do want that geographic diversity.</p>
<p>So, hypothetically, do you think a girl from say- oh, I don’t know- Montana has a better chance based just off of geographic location? (assuming, again, that everything else is equal)</p>
<p>Again, refer to my post, and the data from collegeboard, which sourced H itself. No single thing, so you can’t say “just off.” IF everything else were equal, geography could be a tip. Doubtful that in itself it would out-score superior academic excellence in a New England student, for example.</p>
<p>Excellence, achievement, promise: these are always the most important criteria. But even excellence is assessed on a variety of criteria, including GPA, scores, rigor, recs, awards, etc.</p>
<p>It depends…do most girls from Montana attend college out of state? If not, then hypothetically, that girl would have that considered as one positive aspect, hopefully tacked onto a lot of others.</p>