<p>Does the location from where you are applying matter a lot? At most colleges in the top 100, they boast a "diverse student body" with "students from around the nation." I saw a map for students of the incoming class at UPENN or some other Ivy and it showed that a majority of students come from highly populated states like California, New York, and Pennsylvania (state of university). Each of them had students for the incoming class well over a hundred.</p>
<p>Yet, from my state, North Carolina, there were only 21 accepted/enrolled. Does that mean if I apply from North Carolina I have a higher chance of getting in since there is less competition. Or does that mean I have a lesser chance because they just generally take a lower amount of applicants?</p>
<p>It depends.</p>
<p>Location matters a whole lot when you're applying to a public university. Public universities usually have to admit a certain amount of in-state students because they are supported by state tax revenue. Generally in-state students have a better chance of getting into their public flagship universities than out-of-state students.</p>
<p>For private universities, I wouldn't say so much. Yes, they do want a geographically diverse student body, but it's going to be a secondary consideration. I wouldn't go so far to say that you have better chances being from NC than from someone from CA or NY -- because look at it this way, it's UPenn. They're going to get many applicants from all 50 states, because it's a well-known, high-ranked university. College students tend to go to school close to home, so PA and NY are going to have larger numbers every year than states in the southeast and midwest. (And CA is just huge.)</p>
<p>There's not any less competition -- you're still competing with the national pool, and if you're not qualified, they're not going to say "Oh, well she's from NC so she'll round out the class." If you're REALLY on that borderline and there's someone else on the borderline from CA and CA is really overrepresented in that year's pool, maybe they'll admit you over them, but more likely they will consider ECs, essays, and other factors first. Also remember that universities, even private ones, typically feel that they have a duty to their home state and immediate geographic area, which is why students from the home state of a university are often overrepresented.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I kind of guessed the situation with public universities. I agree that the private schools probably rate everything else first.</p>