Common Data Set · Section C7
Of the 143 colleges with Common Data Set filings in Trajecta's dataset, 2 rate geographic diversity very important in their admissions decisions, 6 rate it important, 106 considered, and 28 say it is not considered — as self-reported in each school's CDS section C7 ("Geographical residence").
No schools on this page match that search — browse the full college list instead.
Geographical residence means where you live and apply from. Colleges that consider it are usually building a geographically diverse class, which can modestly favor applicants from underrepresented regions or rural areas — and make the most over-represented metro areas more competitive. It is distinct from state residency, which is about in-state versus out-of-state tuition status at public universities.
Princeton University#1
Stanford University#2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology#3
California Institute of Technology#4
Harvard University#5
University of Chicago#6
Rice University#7
Yale University#8
Johns Hopkins University#9
Vanderbilt University#10
University of Pennsylvania#11
Brown University#12
Williams College#13
Columbia University in the City of New York#14
Duke University#15
University of California-Los Angeles#17
Cornell University#18
Bowdoin College#19
Pomona College#20
Claremont McKenna College#21
Dartmouth College#22
Northwestern University#23
Washington University in St Louis#24
Amherst College#25
University of Notre Dame#26
Wellesley College#27
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus#28
Colby College#29
Swarthmore College#30
Washington and Lee University#32
Emory University#33
University of Virginia-Main Campus#34
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor#36
Carnegie Mellon University#37
Georgetown University#38
University of Florida#40
Harvey Mudd College#42
Colgate University#43
Haverford College#44
University of California-San Diego#45
Northeastern University#46
Barnard College#47
Boston University#48
University of California-Irvine#49
Boston College#50
Hamilton College#51
Babson College#52
Middlebury College#53
New York University#54
Tufts University#55
Wesleyan University#58
University of Maryland-College Park#59
Grinnell College#60
Carleton College#61
The University of Texas at Austin#62
University of California-Davis#64
Wake Forest University#65
Lehigh University#66
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign#67
William & Mary#69
Smith College#70
University of California-Santa Barbara#71
University of Wisconsin-Madison#74
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo#75
Villanova University#76
University of Miami#78
University of Richmond#79
College of the Holy Cross#82
Vassar College#83
Stony Brook University#85
Purdue University-Main Campus#86
Santa Clara University#89
University of Rochester#90
George Washington University#91
Colorado College#96
Tulane University of Louisiana#97
Clemson University#103
Rutgers University-New Brunswick#106
Skidmore College#108
Brandeis University#110
University of Connecticut#114
San Diego State University#118
Ohio State University-Main Campus#120
University of Central Florida#125
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities#133
Texas Christian University#134
Syracuse University#138
Denison University#147
Fordham University#156
University of Delaware#157
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus#164
Indiana University-Bloomington#170
Worcester Polytechnic Institute#176
American University#181
University of Colorado Boulder#185
Baylor University#199
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus#207
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus#211
University of California-Merced#264
University of Oregon#304
Towson University#328
Texas Tech University#336
The University of Alabama#339
University of Kentucky#371
Temple University#513
United States Naval Academy
University of California-Berkeley#16
Davidson College#35
University of Southern California#39
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill#41
University of Washington-Seattle Campus#73
University of Georgia#81
Brigham Young University#84
Case Western Reserve University#94
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute#117
Southern Methodist University#131
University of Massachusetts-Amherst#135
Loyola Marymount University#144
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville#145
University of Maryland-Baltimore County#158
University of California-Riverside#174
University of South Carolina-Columbia#187
Michigan State University#193
University of Houston#201
Drexel University#208
University of Missouri-Columbia#227
Pepperdine University#229
University of Arizona#269
University of Iowa#270
Howard University#289
University of Kansas#329
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University#345
Arizona State University Campus Immersion#380
United States Military Academy1 college in the dataset did not report this factor in their CDS filing.
At colleges that consider geographical residence, modestly, yes: applying from an underrepresented state or a rural area can be a small plus because the school wants students from everywhere. It is context, not a major factor — the rest of the application still decides.
Geographical residence is about class diversity — which regions students come from — and is considered by private and public colleges alike. State residency is the in-state/out-of-state distinction that mainly affects public universities with mandates to serve their own state’s students.
Of the 143 colleges with Common Data Set filings in Trajecta's dataset, 2 rate geographic diversity very important in admissions, 6 rate it important, 106 considered, and 28 say it is not considered. Colleges rating it very important include Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States Air Force Academy.
Ratings are self-reported by each college in its Common Data Set, section C7. Every school links to its full data page. Explore the college rankings →
