<p>Is it true that Stanford admits less east coast students because they assume top students in the east coast are also applying to HYP and would more likely go there? If I am an east coast applicant applying REA, would that increase my chances? I am not applying to HYP.</p>
<p>Your basic premise is off. Stanford wins lots of head-to-head contests with HYP, and I haven’t seen any indication that it is less likely to accept an East Coast candidate because he or she might choose HYP. In fact, thinking about it, I don’t remember a single person I know in my East Coast real life who was accepted at H or Y but rejected at Stanford (I am sure they exist, of course), and I know a number of people who were accepted at Stanford and either or both of H and Y. About half of them chose Stanford.</p>
<p>Stanford admissions people said in the past that East Coast applicants have a slightly easier time, because there are fewer of them. I took that with a grain of salt at the time (6-7 years ago), and I would be even more skeptical now. But it really doesn’t make much of a difference. Stanford admissions is intensely competitive no matter where you are applying from, and a few tenths of a percent of admissions rate one way or another has no perceptible effect on any individual.</p>
<p>I think that it is all about “fit”. You never know what Stanford wants. Your concern is certainly there, but it should not be a deciding factor to affect your decision of applying.</p>
<p>OP. The “fear” you have about Stanford is similar to how top California students feel about applying to east coast schools…that H, M, Y, and P understand that Stanford is the top/dream choice for most of the top California/west coast students (California’s size and population alone dwarfs the northeast states combined as well as having the highest concentration of top performing Asian students in the country)…remember…no matter how prestigious any school is…by and large…they are regional in nature…most students want to stay within their home region…it’s human nature…and the schools on both coasts KNOW it…</p>
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<p>Wrong on both counts, unless you limit “the northeast states” to New England. If (as most people do) you include the Middle Atlantic “Northeast Corridor” states, Washington DC to New York, too, the Northeast is considerably larger in both population and surface area than California.</p>
<p>According to that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, based on census estimates as of July 2012, California had a population of 38 million, the Middle Atlantic states (NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, plus DC) had 48.6 million, and the New England states (MA, CT, VT, NH, RI, ME) had 14.5 million. In surface area, California had 163.7K sq. mi., the Middle Atlantic had 124.4K sq. mi., and New England 72K sq. mi. (about half of which is Maine). San Diego to Eureka is about 600 miles, Washington DC to Presque Isle Maine is about 550 miles.</p>
<p>^ I guess the population may be much larger if they count all the illegal immigrants. Just kidding.</p>
<p>touche JHS!</p>