Most (and least) popular Ivies, by state

College Search & Selection
1

<p>As inferred from # of students in each of the nation's most populous states (and a few more in some regions) sending one or more SAT score reports (SAT I and/or SAT II) to each school. Not all score reports end in completed applications, but the proportional fall-off should be more or less constant across schools. Data will be most accurate for colleges requiring all applicants to submit SAT II scores even if ACT is sent in lieu of SAT I (here, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT). For colleges not requiring SAT II for applicants submitting ACT (Yale, Brown), the data probably underestimate the school’s popularity as some applicants will submit only ACT scores. Columbia's position may be understated as available data are for Columbia College, apparently excluding Columbia's College of Engineering.</p>

<p>Conclusion: no surprise, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton (in that order) have the strongest following nationwide, but Princeton edges out Yale in parts of the South and Cornell edges out Princeton in the West. Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, and Columbia are quite consistently the least popular Ivies outside the Northeast. In the Ivies' home region in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, loyalties are strongly local/regional: Princeton, Penn, and Cornell dominate in the Mid-Atlantic, while Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell dominate in New England. Yale and Harvard are popular in their home states but neither is popular in the other's home state. </p>

<p>Listed by 3 most popular in rank order (3 least popular in rank order). Rank order not always available for least popular if they do not rank in top 45 in state. </p>

<p>Midwest:
Illinois: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Penn, Dartmouth, Columbia)
Indiana: none in top 45 (all)
Iowa: Harvard, Princeton, Yale (Penn, Dartmouth, Brown)
Michigan: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Dartmouth, Brown, Penn)
Minnesota: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Penn, Brown, Columbia
Missouri: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia)
Ohio: Cornell, Harvard, Yale (Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn)
Wisconsin: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Penn, Dartmouth, Brown)</p>

<p>Mid-Atlantic:
District of Columbia: Brown, Penn, Princeton (Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia)
Maryland: Cornell, Penn, Harvard (Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Yale)
New Jersey: Cornell, Princeton, Penn (Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale)
New York: Cornell, Columbia, Brown (all the rest)
Pennsylvania: Penn, Cornell, Princeton (all the rest)
Virginia: Princeton, Cornell, Harvard (all the rest)</p>

<p>New England:
Connecticut: Yale, Brown, Cornell (Princeton, Columbia, Penn)
Maine: Dartmouth, Harvard, Cornell (Brown, Columbia, Penn, Princeton)
Massachusetts: Brown, Harvard, Cornell (Columbia, Penn, Princeton, Yale)
New Hampshire: Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell (Columbia, Penn, Princeton)
Rhode Island: Brown, Harvard, Cornell (Columbia, Penn, Princeton)
Vermont: Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown (Penn Princeton, Columbia)</p>

<p>Southeast:
Alabama: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Dartmouth, Penn, Brown)
Florida: Harvard, Cornell, Yale (Brown, Dartmouth, Penn)
Georgia: none in top 45 (all)
Kentucky: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Dartmouth, Penn, Brown)
North Carolina: Harvard (all the rest)
South Carolina: none in top 45 (all)
Tennessee: Harvard, Princeton, Yale (Dartmouth, Columbia, Penn)</p>

<p>South Central:
Arkansas: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell)
Mississippi: Harvard, Princeton, Yale (Dartmouth, Columbia, Penn)
Louisiana: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia)
Oklahoma: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Dartmouth, Brown, Penn)
Texas: Harvard (all the rest)</p>

<p>West:
Arizona: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Penn, Dartmouth, Columbia)
California: Harvard, Yale, Cornell (Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton)
Colorado: Cornell, Harvard, Yale (Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth)
Oregon: Harvard, Yale, Cornell (all the rest)
Washington: Harvard, Yale, Brown (Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton)</p>

2

<p>Hey! What happened to Delaware, Hawaii and Alaska?</p>

3

<p>Sample of one - growing up in Philly, Penn and Princeton were it.</p>

4

<p>Sad how Cornell is more popular than Princeton in NJ and Brown is more popular than Harvard in MA. Are these stats even credible?</p>

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<p>Well, the stats come straight from the College Board which I presume keeps pretty good records on where they send SAT score reports. One hypothesis is that a certain number of people calculate they can’t get into HYP and won’t bother to apply, but figure they have a chance at schools like Cornell and Brown. Probably less true at Brown in 2010 than in 2009 as applications were way up and admit rate way down.</p>

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<p>I didn’t have time to do all states so I left off a lot of low-population states including DE, AK, HI, ID, MT, WY, UT, SD, ND, NE, KS, NM, WV. But since you asked specifically:</p>

<p>Delaware: Penn, Cornell, Princeton (all the rest)
Alaska: Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth (all the rest)
Hawaii: Harvard (all the rest)</p>

<p>Pretty consistent with regional patterns except for Dartmouth’s strong showing in Alaska. The circumpolar route, perhaps?</p>