<p>I am a junior this year and starting to look at colleges and have had many people tell me that where you live affects your chances at certain colleges. They said that colleges like diversity and that if you live in certain states where less people apply to selective colleges from it can help you get in. Is there any truth to this? and if so what areas or states make it easier to get in to selective colleges?</p>
<p>For publics, in-state affects admissions a lot. I think you're referring to regional quotas. For all the top schools, there are no regional quotas for the U.S, or at least they say there aren't. It just so happens that the selection comes out to be a good balance. You should just check up on the schools. If there was that kind of quota, the heartland/frontier (SD, ND, KS, MT...) would probably be where you get an advantage since it's the least represented.</p>
<p>I don't want to open up a can of worms or anything, but I guess I have to add something. I think region plays a bigger role in the type of school you go to. I'm not taking anything away from schools in the heartland or underrepresented regions, but generally speaking, schools in New England perform better (if you think about National merits and all that stuff). If you do come from an underperforming school from an underrepresented region, and excel at a high level, then the admissions officers will probably note this (assuming your counselor sends a school profile).</p>