<p>I think I'd read somewhere (perhaps on the Stanford site?) that a LOT of the admits at Stanford are from California. Does anyone have numbers on this? Does it really make a difference if you're from East Coast (as I am) or west?</p>
<p>About 41% of the Class of 2008 is from California (that's enrollees, not admits). Does it make a diference in terms of what? I'm not sure what you mean.... in terms of admission, I don't think so. I've heard that the admit rate for Californian students is lower, since so many ppl from California apply. It may be a benefit to be from out of the state, since they love to have diversity. Ultimately, though, I don't think geograhpical location makes much difference in anything.</p>
<p>Thanks jmstnfrd08. Essentially, I was wondering why there are so many people from CA at Stanford...whether it was more applicants or a preference in part of Stanford. I doubt it'll help much to be out of state, since I'm from central NJ, which is pretty damn competitive :(</p>
<p>I seriously doubt that Stanford has a preference for CA applicants. The large numbers of Californians at Stanford probably stems from 3 things...</p>
<ol>
<li>Everyone who lives in CA applies, even kids with absolutely NO chance. (Okay, not everyone. But an awful lot.)</li>
<li>CA is a gigantic state with a TON of people living in it. About 34% of Harvard students in the class of 2001 came from an addition of all the "new england" states and half of the enrollment from the "mid-atlantic" states (which looks to be about the same size as CA just by eyeballing it). It's not quite as much (and the data's old, so it might have changed), but it's close-ish.</li>
<li>Lots of people who grew up in CA end up just not wanting to leave -- because of the wonderful weather, the friendly, relaxed atmosphere, etc. etc. So there's probably a high yield of Californians, even those who got into Harvard, Princeton, etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you are applying from NJ/NY admissions to any elite college will be very competitive.</p>