Geographical Diversity Forum

[Hjones33]

I am curious if anyone has found a geographical diversity bump to be evident? At a few law school fairs I have been to, some good t-25 schools across the country (east coast, south-east; I am from the Pacific Northwest) have said they are looking for more geographic diversity. Is that a thing where if two candidates are tied then it could be a tie breaker? Or is there a bigger bump?

I don't want to sound like I am desperately searching for any "bumps", but I just am curious and wondered if anyone knew anything about it or is it something that only one can know being an adcomm.

Thanks!

[vulpixie]

If you are from a super underrepresented state like Mississippi, then it's probably akin to a good DS or 6 months of work experience. More of a tie-breaker than anything else. I really doubt it would give you an advantage over someone with (even slightly) better numbers.

[john1990]

I dont think Geo diversity counts for anything, if anything it might help to be an in-state resident (see UVA)

[minnbills]

I dont think Geo diversity counts for anything, if anything it might help to be an in-state resident (see UVA)

I'm not so sure, I've heard it might help a bit.

Schools do want diverse classes, though not at the expense of credentials.

[vulpixie]

Of course it helps to be an in-state resident if you're applying to a public school. Duh. The issue here is whether or not, say, a Stanford applicant from Alabama stands a noticeably better chance of being accepted than an applicant from California with identical numbers.

[JamMasterJ]

All other things exactly equal, yeah, it might help you. But only in a coinflip

[Hjones33]

Thanks guys for the responses. I wasn't trying to look for any bump I could get, or to think I will be looked at as a better candidate to schools that are far away from my state. I was more just curious if anyone knew anything about this. Because the Vanderbilt representative told me that the school was looking for more students from areas of the country that they typically get little from.

[Cmarchan]

Thanks guys for the responses. I wasn't trying to look for any bump I could get, or to think I will be looked at as a better candidate to schools that are far away from my state. I was more just curious if anyone knew anything about this. Because the Vanderbilt representative told me that the school was looking for more students from areas of the country that they typically get little from.

Do you know where they typically get applicants from? Obviously besides Tennessee. It said this years graduating class had a lot of students from Asian countries.