http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/02/24/my-glimpse-into-admissions/
I came across this interesting article today.
In the article it states how one’s geographic location is considered especially if someone is from a poor inner city. How much benefit if given to a student who lives in a poor inner city? In my situation, I live in a poor inner city with high crime but I did not attend high school in an “inner city” school and instead went to a public school in the suburbs.
The article specifically states that Yale checks a box indicating whether a student lived in a low income zip code - not the student’s high school zip code. Presumably, you may have gotten that box checked.
The fact that Yale tracks this info, indicates some “boost” in admission chances. Hard to quantify how much of a boost.
The article is from 2015, so still relevant. It’s the first thing I check in this fast paced ever changing world of College Admissions. I think it points to Yale ‘s like all colleges’ interest in diversity. If you come from a poor inner city high school with few resoures, and you’ve still risen above the pack esp on standardized tests, then you have some innate smarts that should be cultivated. Of course, there are so many other factors that drive admissions. This is just one. Good Luck!
Note: living in a poor inner city is not likely to help you if you, yourself, are not poor. This will usually be pretty clear from other elements of your application.