<p>What is the significance of being from an underrepresented state such as Mississippi? I want to GET OUT of the south and go to top tier schools.</p>
<p>tiny. It makes a reader ■■■■ his eyebrow and say “Hmm. Mississippi. We don’t get many apps from there” and then that’s about it. Schools like to say they fill their ranks w/geographic diversity but beyond the slightest nod, a mediocre applicant will still be rejected.</p>
<p>Agree it doesn’t do much at a top tier school. It may matter more at a school where you have high stats AND they are looking for geographical diversity.</p>
<p>The obvious top tier schools will get too many apps from the Deep South to make much of a difference, though it’ll probably be a bit easier to get in from Mississippi than New York given the same test scores and GPA. Where you’ll really gain an advantage is elite schools that are more obscure, things like the elite LACs that don’t get many applications from Mississippi. Go in with strong stats to schools like Bowdoin, Whitman, Colby, Macalester, Haverford, or Bates, and you’ll have a bit more of an advantage, but it’s not a hook.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 Oh, well when I said top-tier schools, I meant like HYPS, USC, UC, etc. What are elite schools? And how do you know so many apply from the deep south? Here, I feel like they expect you to go to school in the south.</p>
<p>Trust me, HPYSM are not lacking in applications from anywhere. Remember, your HS is not the entire South, it’s one teeny tiny little piece of it, so don’t go by what your town thinks and spread that across the whole region.</p>
<p>My city, like most of the cities down in the South, expects us to go to school IN the south. It seems as though we are entitled to enroll in LA, MS, TN, GA, FL, and AL. If that’s the case, why does being from MS is more advantageous than being from NY? Wouldn’t that be considered a hook? What’s a hook anyways while we’re at it? @MrMom62</p>
<p>@TommyD36</p>
<p>It will likely only matter if the school is in danger of not having people from your state (unlikely for Mississippi). This is funny to read, because I am hoping, all things equal, to flee to the South (where much of my family is from and where I feel like there are more people like me).</p>
<p>A hook is something that gives you advantage beyond just test scores and grades in the admissions process. Examples of hooks at the kinds of schools you are talking about:
- Athletes
- Kids of big donors or very famous people (think children of US Presidents or famous actresses like Emma Watson)
- Under represented minorities
- Some amazing accomplishment (starting a very large foundation or business, winning one of the national science contests, etc.)</p>
<p>For the top schools, geography isn’t much of a hook (okay, maybe Alaska…). They do want to say they accept students from all 50 states, but they have no reason to accept more than a couple, and the top schools will get quite a few applicants from every state. You really can’t count on it helping much. Put in a couple of applications to reach schools like that, but focus more of your efforts on finding matches and safeties where you could also be happy. There are a few hundred really great colleges in this country beyond HYPS – spend the time to look beyond the name brand to find them. Have you got a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges? That is a great resource to read about colleges and find some options you probably haven’t heard of (yet).</p>
<p>Now I understand what a hook is. I’m not really aiming for HYPS, maybe Standford. The school that I would like to attend, however, is University of Southern California.</p>
<p>HYPS = Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford. Stanford’s admit rate dipped below Harvard last year…</p>
<p>Yeah, I know Stanford was included in HYPS, that’s why I said “maybe”. </p>