The Role of Place in Selective College Admissions

Kerstin Gentsch, Princeton University

Empirical studies of factors that influence who is admitted to academically selective colleges and universities have identified academic, extracurricular, and personal determinants, but have ignored the neighborhood in which an applicant lives. I hypothesize that admissions officers who practice holistic review view favorably candidates from disadvantaged neighborhoods who present a credible candidacy despite the disadvantages they faced. Using applicant data from seven elite institutions in the National Study of College Experience and zip-code level Census data, this study examines whether a given applicant’s chances of admission to an elite institution are influenced by the SES of her place of residence. I find that low median household income in an applicant’s zip code area is associated with a higher likelihood of being admitted, all else equal. This finding demonstrates one of the ways in which the nation’s elite colleges and universities can increase socioeconomic diversity in their student bodies.