The Rural and Diverse Student Scholars Program at George Mason University is a strategic initiative to recruit and retain rural and diverse Virginia students in STEM majors. A grant facilitated a partnership between an academic college and the Office of Admissions, enabling new recruiting methods to be tested. In this article we describe these recruitment efforts, summarize the outcomes, and share lessons learned. We observed themes of family involvement, finances, and perceived opportunity as relevant to this population's decision to enroll. Our experience recruiting for this program may inform other institutions that desire to diversify their student body in STEM.