What constitutes diversity according to the admissions committee?

[whittylin]

I am applying for PhD's in Education Policy as well as to Harvard's EdLd program.  Many of the schools I am applying to mentioned that they are looking for diverse applicants.  I know that this is usually referring to socioeconomic factors.  However, one of the webinars I attended mentioned that they looked forward to seeing applicants from underrepresented U.S. states.  Have any of you seen or heard similar things?  I am just sitting here getting anxious and holding on to a shred of hope that coming from rural Idaho will give me a tiny edge up.  

[peachypie]

I would consider rural to be underrepresented and may constitute as diversity.  At least at my UG diversity would include being raised/living in a very rural, urban environment as one of the qualifications of diversity.  Others include socioeconomic, ethnic/nationality, first generation citizens, first generation college students etc.  

[jujubea]

Programs seem to have their own definitions of diversity, or at least their own interpretations of what it "means" to be or represent diversity. For all three of my programs, I was able to do some researching on their websites (and sometimes the general school website) to find out what they meant by diversity.

[techboy]

I thought they mean international students from unknown countries like Kyrzbekistan