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Can it be an advantage to come from a state (such as Wisconsin, my state) that typically has less than 10 students per class at top Universities? Does it work like URM status, where applicants can get by with a slightly lower standard for the sake of diversity? Any stats, opinions, anecdotes would be appreciated.

By Godis (Godis) on Thursday, May 13, 2004 - 09:19 pm: Edit

you wouldn't get much benefit from coming from wisconsin. wyoming/idaho, perhaps.

By Edmoney (Edmoney) on Thursday, May 13, 2004 - 11:46 pm: Edit

Coming from WI will help you out, if only a bit.

By Dsh (Dsh) on Friday, May 14, 2004 - 08:16 am: Edit

I think it helps quite a lot because all the schools are interested in geographic diversity.

By Runningwolf (Runningwolf) on Friday, May 14, 2004 - 10:46 am: Edit

I am from Alabama, and I don't think it helps much. There is probably some advantage in being from Montana instead of Massachusetts, but the difference between, for example, IL (probably well represented) and WI is probably basically none.

By Macbeth04 (Macbeth04) on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 02:55 pm: Edit

I think the advantage would lie in the fact that the admissions officers are split up into different areas. So if the admissions officer is reading Wisconsin, you are competition against the other people in Wisconsin to get that admissions officer to fight for you in front of the committee. If you come from somewhere with more people, you have more competition. However, admissions officers who are assigned to under represented states are often assigned to more states, so possibly you'll be competing against four other states worth of people.

By Edmoney (Edmoney) on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 02:09 am: Edit

It will certainly help you out. FYI: IL versus WI is noteworthy because of Chicago. And even if the same admissions officer is reading a BUNCH of hillbilly applications, you're still considered in the context of the midwest, and let's face it, adcoms expect less out of a midwest resume, than say, an east coast or CA resume because the focus on college, etc. is less severe here in po-dunk USA. SO, to sum up, adcoms know that a midwest 3.5 could easily be an east-coast 3.8. SO, everything save geography being equal, the midwesterner has one foot up on the east-coaster. Being from the midwest is like an automatic extra five points in the application pool, it might set you over, but it might not. I am from WI, this is all speculation, and I have a flagrant affinity for run-on sentences.