<p>I'm a junior in high school and I live in Vermont. I was wondering if living in an underrepresented state increases my chances of admission to colleges. (only about 626,000 people in the entire state). Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Without a doubt. The admissions director in a top 20 school told me himself. They look for geographical diversity. Now this is assuming that you measure up in every other way. </p>
<p>It depends on the school.</p>
<p>Just did some research and Vermont is actually the second least populated state, last being Wyoming. Washington D.C. is more populated. </p>
<p>To paraphrase a former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth: Geographic diversity is calculated AFTER acceptances have been sent out so colleges don’t actively recruit someone from a particular state. You hold up to the rest of the applicant pool, especially since geographic diversity isn’t nearly as compelling as racial or cultural diversity.</p>
<p>Dartmouth doesn’t need to worry about geographical diversity - it’s an Ivy that has more than enough top applicants from every state. </p>
<p>Geographical diversity might come into play for smaller schools, and maybe even a few national ones once you get fairly far from the state - South or West would be your best bet, but it would likely be a small advantage. Unfortunately, most of the top schools are located in close proximity to Vermont, so no bonus.</p>