Sometimes, it's poor versus not poor. Notes Academygirl from a report in Newsweek that a top student from a poor rural family is having great trouble getting into school. Is it poverty, or ruralness?

Many schools say diversity�racial, economic and geographic�is key to maintaining intellectually vital campuses. But Richard Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation says that even though colleges claim they want poor kids, �they don�t try very hard to find them.� As for rural students like Spangenburger, many colleges don�t try at all. �Unfortunately, we go where we can generate a sizable number of potential applicants,� says Tulane admissions chief Richard Whiteside, who recruits aggressively�and in person�from metropolitan areas. Kids in rural areas get a glossy brochure in the mail.