<p>And since there is no a priori reason to believe that they “favor” students from certain parts of the country, the lopsided profiles reflect the lopsided applicant pools. Which gets back to – the appeal of the Ivies is more regional in nature than national in nature, since it draws a VERY disproportionately Northeast applicant pool. Which is reflective of the fact that “Ivy magic” is disproportionately Northeast in nature. (And, of course, the same for all other elite schools, though it’s of note that Chicago, NU, WUSTL, etc. have a better, more representative representation in their pool. IOW, they do a better job of outreach beyond home region than the Ivies do beyond their home region.) </p>
<p>None of this is surprising to anyone who has traveled or lived outside the east. I don’t think some on here truly get that the upper-middle-class professional lifestyle in suburban Chicago or suburban St. Louis or suburban Minnneapolis is pretty much the same darn thing as the similar lifestyle in suburban NY or Boston or Philly or Baltimore.</p>