Are you getting contacted by colleges from unexpected places? You may be on their geographic diversity radar!

You probably know that college admissions is a two-way street: you pick colleges and they pick you. When you fill out a college search survey or build your profile, one of the sections is devoted to states where you would like to attend college. When colleges search for students, they are often actively seeking students in a certain state, city, or even high school. Why? Because most colleges put a lot of thought into their campus diversity! One way of achieving a great, representative student body is to recruit from a variety of schools, cities, and states.

"Geographic diversity" is fancy college admissions shop talk for branching out and exploring new territories. Basically, colleges have recruiting radars that detect group and individual student characteristics that they think will help them achieve their future enrollment and institutional goals. One of the things that set off their recruiting radar is where you are from. Most colleges genuinely want variety in their applicant pool and try to attract students from different places who will participate in their programs and enrich the campus environment. If the college has determined that they want more students to represent your area, it's a big leg up for you in the admissions process!

So here is a very simple but powerful tip: Explore colleges beyond your home base or your high school's most commonly attended colleges. You may be a stronger candidate than you think because of where you're from.