Hi! I’m a high school senior from South Carolina applying to a good many top colleges.
I was looking at these top colleges and where matriculating students come from and saw that VERY few students from SC are represented at these schools. Is that indicative of the following?
Not many SC students apply to these schools or…
Do colleges not want many applicants from SC?
And is it a big advantage to be applying from South Carolina?
Thanks!
It could help but I don’t think it would get you into a school you are not academically qualified for.
@happy1 what if one is academically well-qualified and well-rounded but not as impressive as some kids from the big feeder states such as ones in NE, California, or Texas?
Nobody can predict.
Kids from SC apply all over the place. Perhaps the question is, why don’t they go?
You MAY have some advantage at smaller schools with fewer applications. But, if you are talking about TOP schools, they get applications from all over the world.
SC isn’t under represented. Geographic diversity means WYor SD or maybe even MS
Oh okay, so SC isn’t underrepresented?
What about Williams or Amherst? I saw that they don’t get many accepted applicants from SC. Or is that sort of an exception for LACs since they don’t get many applications in the first place?
Nope.
If I was going to guess, I would guess that SC is a bit like KY: a lot of students want to stay local.
Oh. Well that’s unfortunate. 
Looks like plenty go to Duke for your state size.
If there is a reach school you are interested in, look at their admitted numbers by state. If there are schools that admit fewer than 20 from SC, that is usually a good sign especially if you can show interest indicating you will attend.
Is is better to be from SC than NY or California but being from ND is probably better.
@SeekingPam Ah I see. I know what you’re talking about. What launched this question was I was looking at Williams’ admissions geographic diversity and only FIVE students were matriculated from there last year.
So I was wondering if that gave me a boost or an advantage since it’s so small compared to other states.
By the way, does that imply that Williams doesn’t favor applicants from South Carolina or that there just aren’t that many SC applicants applying?
SC is not under-represented at Williams. With a population of 4.8 million, we would expect roughly 8 students in the Williams class of 550 students (unrealistically assuming even distribution across all states), so 5 isn’t that low at all.
@goldennbear2020 Sorry. I just made that assumption because of this:
http://admission.williams.edu/files/student-profile.pdf
I saw that there were only 5 students from SC and that seemed quite small compared to the other “big” states.
In general the answer to your question is that yes, there is a small nudge in favor of geographic diversity if you apply to colleges on the opposite side of the country that don’t receive as many applications from students in your general region. This may be particularly true for private LACs that look for an interesting and diverse mix of students. But you still need to have the basic qualifications for admission.
@profparent Okay. I feel like I’m academically qualified and have a lot going for me. I just hear a lot about geographic diversity and how a lot of colleges value it, especially since I’m coming from South Carolina.
“What launched this question was I was looking at Williams’ admissions geographic diversity and only FIVE students were matriculated from there last year.”
Actually, looking at Williams’ profile, they enroll a total of 5 students from SC across *all 4 yearsi, so it seems that SC is indeed under-represented. For example, CA has 8 times the population but more than 50 times the number of enrolled students.
There are nine states with 2 or fewer students. Those states are underrepresented.
Yes, if your state is under-represented, it increases your odds. But that’s especially true for national LACs/universities ranked 30+.
@MYOS1634 Oh OK. I actually posted a link to Williams’ geographic diversity by the numbers. Its good to know considering I’m applying to both Amherst and Williams.