I am from one of the states people love to specifically mock on this and other threads -- Nebraska. The people I know from my hometown who were admitted to the types of schools that DCUM intelligensia would choose themselves have a file that would rival a Whitman kid's file. They too have traveled to China, made the "humanitarian pit stop service trip" to Latin America over spring break. I don't know their SAT scores but I do know they take AP classes in their suburban high schools. Their parents are doctors and business executives (or owners). They play travel _____ sport.

Anyway, my observation is as OP suggests -- the odds of these kids gaining admission are slightly better because there are fewer of them (when compared to their doppelgangers in Bethesda, Bergen County and Boston). It's not that they took regular Science II while your east coast kids took AP Biology. It's that there's 30 of them in Omaha and 300 of them in Montgomery County. This enhances their chance of getting picked.

Sorry for posting that twice.

I do agree, PP. (I am the poster with the rural kids from the post before yours!) My kids had the same anxiety as your husband when they left home and traveled across the country for school. (And yes, there were people in our town who thought it was odd.) I was worried for my kids, I have to say. They had not been exposed to affluence, and that was one of the biggest culture-shocks. In fact, there were a lot of culture shocks! But the colleges know this, and they are very good with helping kids from all walks of life acclimate. It was really important to us that our kids went out of state and saw another part of the world and met people from all over during these formative years.

I know they had classmates in college who assumed they were "backward" and "hicks," etc. They often shared some of the funny comments they got. One of them heard: "I did not know that any people lived in your state!" So, it is not always easy to be the only person from your state. And yes, they were often the only one. But they are well-mannered, kind, generous and bright kids, and they made a ton of lifelong friends in college and everywhere they have gone. I credit them enormously with overcoming a fear of the unknown. It would be as if a kid from DC came and moved to our town, and did not know the local culture. It feels strange for a while. Kind of like going to a foreign country. But then you adapt and enjoy the new experience.

So, yes, it's not easy, no matter where a kid lives. But I do think it did not hurt my kids in college admissions to have applied from our remote area (which is what this thread is about.)

My kids--all of them--- look back and are grateful for having grown up here, and having had the opportunities that they had. They had some incredible experiences as children here, and it formed them into who they are. It was not, in any way, a "less than" experience.

We always told them they could do anything in life, and they did. They are not the only kids from our home town to do this.

I do agree, PP. (I am the poster with the rural kids from the post before yours!) My kids had the same anxiety as your husband when they left home and traveled across the country for school. (And yes, there were people in our town who thought it was odd.) I was worried for my kids, I have to say. They had not been exposed to affluence, and that was one of the biggest culture-shocks. In fact, there were a lot of culture shocks! But the colleges know this, and they are very good with helping kids from all walks of life acclimate. It was really important to us that our kids went out of state and saw another part of the world and met people from all over during these formative years.

I know they had classmates in college who assumed they were "backward" and "hicks," etc. They often shared some of the funny comments they got. One of them heard: "I did not know that any people lived in your state!" So, it is not always easy to be the only person from your state. And yes, they were often the only one. But they are well-mannered, kind, generous and bright kids, and they made a ton of lifelong friends in college and everywhere they have gone. I credit them enormously with overcoming a fear of the unknown. It would be as if a kid from DC came and moved to our town, and did not know the local culture. It feels strange for a while. Kind of like going to a foreign country. But then you adapt and enjoy the new experience.

So, yes, it's not easy, no matter where a kid lives. But I do think it did not hurt my kids in college admissions to have applied from our remote area (which is what this thread is about.)

My kids--all of them--- look back and are grateful for having grown up here, and having had the opportunities that they had. They had some incredible experiences as children here, and it formed them into who they are. It was not, in any way, a "less than" experience.

We always told them they could do anything in life, and they did. They are not the only kids from our home town to do this.

^^I'm just going off of my husband's experience growing up in one of those small towns. His sibling is just graduating college, and he knows a number of people in the community, so not much has changed since he graduated. I don't know if you were the one who guided them to look into places like Bates and Williams (because the parent's attitude has a HUGE impact), but basically he took the ACT, his guidance counselor told him "oh, you'll be ok" and didn't have time to deal with him, nor did he know that financial aid existed at privates, and he basically just applied to an in state school where everyone else in his family went. He filled out the FAFSA at 18 with no help from his parents, and they would have thought "why go to some liberal arts school when you can go a couple hours away in state." He did very well there, went to a great graduate program, and has since moved away, but he feels like your kids experience is not typical. Sure resources exist online, and a very savvy and self-motivated student can find them--but how many 18 year olds are that savvy and motivated, especially with no nudging from an adult mentor? I know my husband is very much a self-starter, but even he had a lot of anxiety about being just a small town rural boy from blue collar roots, and wondered if he couldn't hack it in a competitive environment, and if he even applied he was getting too big for his small town britches. One girl from his hometown wanted to apply to Dartmouth and was discouraged by several faculty for not being smart enough--and attitudes like that are pervasive in his town.

I'm sure an exceptional student with parents (especially who are appropriately encouraging and/or savvy) can figure out how to navigate it all with less guidance/packaging/etc. And I'm sure that many students get a lot out of not having it all handed to them. But I can't help but think that DH's situation is a more common occurrence than what was experienced by your kids. This new york times article from last year says as much: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/opinion/elite-colleges-are-as-foreign-as-mars.html?_r=0

My kids applied to college from one of the disparaged, so-called bumf**k" states that is mentioned in this thread. They applied from a very remote and rural and tiny town with a blue-collar community of a few hundred people. They went to public school. And yes, they got into very good colleges (Williams, Bates, etc).

They did not take SAT/ACT prep classes. They never met with a guidance counselor. Their transcripts were sent from the school office with a note from one of the teachers, acting as the "guidance counselor." Teachers did not proofread their essays or even talk to them about essays or the applications. No one reminded them about deadlines at their school.

Somehow they were able to figure out the Common App and apply without help. They were able to take the ACT test (or the SAT, if an adult was willing to drive a couple hours to a test site). They and their friends took the tests cold. There was no discussion about studying for the tests. Their interviews for colleges were done by Skype.

There was no packaging of their accomplishments for the application. They just listed what they had done. Their scores were high from years of voracious reading and pursuing their intellectual passions outside of school. You learn to develop interests when the nearest mall and movie theatre are 100+ miles away. When you don't have hours of homework, you have time to read and learn other things and become quite good at the thing that you put your heart into. Colleges were interested in those passions and interviewers were impressed that kids their age were as resourceful and motivated to follow these interests without alot of instruction or really good facilities. I think there is something to be said for not having everything handed to you. I never got the impression that the colleges or interviewers wanted anything other than the kid to be 100% themselves in the application process. The stress comes in if the parents or the school is trying to get the kid to be something they aren't during the college process.

I say this because there are some good things about going through the college process from a place like this. Things work out well.

I don't think I would uproot a family and move, ever, to try to gain an advantage in college admissions. That seems ridiculous. But I would
just allow and encourage kids to be 100% themselves, if you live in DC or anywhere else. in my limited experience, it seems colleges are looking for authenticity and spark, no matter where the kid is from.

I know I could be way off base, and I am open to being corrected if that is the case.