<p>For schools like Columbia, Cornell, and Duke, are the admission decisions influenced by where the applicant is from? Is it true that it is harder to get into Columbia if you are from the north east?</p>
<p>I am from California and am wondering if I have an advantage/disadvantage for Columbia specifically.</p>
<p>To a certain extent, yes. It’s not like they have a quota of regions or something like that, but it all comes down to the fact that they’re trying to build a diverse class, and let’s face it, someone from Arizona would have had different experiences than someone growing up in New York. California is highly represented (as is New York) at all of the top schools, but I wouldn’t view it as an advantage/disadvantage (clearly they get in!) It’s hard to stop dwelling on this kind of stuff, but there isn’t much you can do about it, so you should focus on the other parts of your app. Good luck!</p>