It’s commonly known that underrepresented minorities and first-generation college students are sought after groups for America’s elite universities. Less commonly known is that these same universities seek to admit another underrepresented group, students from rural areas. Depending on the institution, some refer to these students as rural applicants, while others refer to them as students from sparse country (a term brought to light to the general public during the Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard University lawsuit). Whatever the particular school happens to call them, you can bet that every highly selective university in America wants these students as geographic diversity matters greatly in admissions. Just as elite universities love to boast that 50% of an incoming class is comprised of underrepresented minorities, they also love to boast that they have admitted students from each of the 50 states in our union — and often not just from the cities within these states but from the farmlands, too. And they love their international rural applicants, too!

Brown University is a case in point. As Jack Walker reports for The Brown Daily Herald in a piece entitled “Rural students reflect on their journey to Brown,” “Recently, the University has sought to increase the presence of students from rural areas on its campus. Rural students are among the groups that the Office of Admissions currently prioritizes in its recruitment efforts, Dean of Admission Logan Powell explained in a Nov. 10 Undergraduate Council of Students meeting. Between application cycles for the class of 2024 and the class of 2025, the University saw a 23% increase in applications from students residing in locations defined as rural areas or small towns by the U.S. Census Bureau, The Herald previously reported.”

Are you a rural applicant hoping to earn admission to an elite university like Brown? At Ivy Coach, we work with students from across the country and around the world, from cities large and small, from the prairies to the oceans and every farm and beach town in between. So fill out our free consult form and we’ll then be in touch to discuss our services.