<p>Here I've confined the search to US News top 25 universities and US News top 25 LACs, listing the top 4 in rank order of popularity among students in a given state, based again on the # of students sending one or more SAT score reports (SAT I and/or SAT II) to the colleges/universities in question. Where a top 25 public university appears on the list, I've also listed the top 4 most popular private colleges/universities among students in that state. Finally, I've listed the total number of students in the state sending SAT score reports to the most popular college/university and, as a comparative benchmark, the number of students sending SAT score reports to Harvard, the one school that appears among the top 45 most popular in almost every state. (In a few states Harvard is not among the top 45, consequently Harvard data are not available; those I've listed as "Harvard n/a but < X" where X represents the number of students sending SAT scores to the 45th-most popular school, a figure that represents an upper bound on the # sending SAT scores to Harvard but possibly well in excess of the actual number)</p>
<p>Observations: Even at the super-elite level, localism/regionalism triumphs. The Ivies are far more popular in the Northeast than in the rest of the country, but generally New Englanders prefer New England Ivies and Mid-Atlantic residents prefer Mid-Atlantic Ivies. Harvard has a following almost everywhere but usually is less popular than some other top 25 school closer to home. Stanford dominates the West but also does well in the Midwest; less so in the northeast and South. Northwestern leads the Midwest but by a narrower margin over Harvard and Stanford, with the rest of the Ivies generally lagging. Duke and Vanderbilt dominate the South but are pretty much no-shows elsewhere. Wash U garners more attention in the South than in the Midwest and perhaps should be considered a Southern rather than a Midwestern school (but Missouri has always been in that awkward in-between space). Bottom line, contrary to what a lot of people on CC seem to think, even at the super-elite level the appeal of most schools is strongly local and/or regional---with the singular exception of Harvard.</p>
<p>Most popular super-elite (US News top 25) colleges/universities by state</p>
<p>Midwest
Illinois: Northwestern (1,860), U Chicago, Harvard (971), Stanford
Indiana: Notre Dame (558), Northwestern, U Chicago, Harvard n/a but <227
Iowa: Stanford (128), Northwestern, Wash U, Harvard (91)
Michigan: Northwestern (668), Harvard (639), Stanford, Yale
Minnesota: Northwestern (480), Stanford, Harvard (347), Carleton
Missouri: Wash U (486), Harvard (233), Stanford, Yale
Ohio: Northwestern (1,121), Cornell, Notre Dame, Harvard (781)
Wisconsin: Northwestern (421), Harvard (297), Yale, Stanford</p>
<p>Mid-Atlantic
Delaware: Penn (191), UVA, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard n/a but < 109
District of Columbia: UVA (275), Georgetown (270), Brown , Penn, Princeton, Harvard (154)
Maryland: Johns Hopkins (2,939), UVA, Georgetown, Cornell, Penn, Harvard (985)
New Jersey: Cornell (3,699), Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Harvard n/a but < 1,966
New York: Cornell (9,618), Columbia, Brown, Harvard n/a but < 3,037
Pennsylvania: Penn (3,894), Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard n/a but < 1,492
Virginia: UVA (12,169), Duke (1,482), Georgetown, Princeton, Cornell, Harvard (1,007)</p>
<p>New England
Connecticut: Yale (1,444), Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard (774)
Maine: Colby (609), Bowdoin, Bates, Dartmouth, Harvard (235)
Massachusetts: Brown (2,793), Harvard (2,565), Cornell, Dartmouth
New Hampshire: Dartmouth (650), Brown, Cornell, Harvard (362)
Rhode Island: Brown (745), Harvard (193), Cornell, Dartmouth
Vermont: Dartmouth (276), Middlebury , Cornell, Brown, Harvard (117)</p>
<p>Southeast
Alabama: Vanderbilt (424), Duke, Emory, Harvard (171)
Florida: Duke (2,233), Harvard (1,940), Emory, Cornell
Georgia: Emory (4,632), Vanderbilt, Duke, Harvard n/a but < 985
Kentucky: Vanderbilt (322), Wash U, Harvard (156), Northwestern
North Carolina: Duke (4,205), Davidson, UVA, Harvard (716)
South Carolina: Duke (945), Vanderbilt, Harvard n/a but < 341
Tennessee: Vanderbilt (1,157), Wash U, Duke, Emory, UVA, Harvard (258)</p>
<p>South Central
Arkansas: Vanderbilt (121), Wash U, Harvard (92), Yale
Louisiana: Rice (161), Vanderbilt, Harvard (139), Wash U
Mississippi: Vanderbilt (103), Harvard (82), Emory, Princeton
Oklahoma: Harvard (153), Wash U (123), Stanford, Yale
Texas: Rice (9,225), Stanford, Harvard (2,503)</p>
<p>West
Alaska: Stanford (104), Harvard (77), Yale, Dartmouth
Arizona: Stanford (1,008), UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard (476), Yale Princeton
Colorado: Stanford (683), Colorado College, UC Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard (305), Northwestern
California: UCLA (54,242), UC Berkeley (43,903), Stanford (17,836), Harvard (5,767), Yale, Cornell
Hawaii: UCLA (453), Stanford (386), UC Berkeley, Harvard (156)
Oregon: Stanford (871), UC Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard (286), Yale, Cornell
Washington: Stanford (1,732), UC Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard (623), Yale, Brown</p>
<p>Midwest
Illinois: Northwestern (1,860), U Chicago, Harvard (971), Stanford
Indiana: Notre Dame (558), Northwestern, U Chicago, Harvard n/a but <227
Iowa: Stanford (128), Northwestern, Wash U, Harvard (91)
Michigan: Northwestern (668), Harvard (639), Stanford, Yale
Minnesota: Northwestern (480), Stanford, Harvard (347), Carleton
Missouri: Wash U (486), Harvard (233), Stanford, Yale
Ohio: Northwestern (1,121), Cornell, Notre Dame, Harvard (781)
Wisconsin: Northwestern (421), Harvard (297), Yale, Stanford</p>
<p>Mid-Atlantic
Delaware: Penn (191), UVA, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard n/a but < 109
District of Columbia: UVA (275), Georgetown (270), Brown , Penn, Princeton, Harvard (154)
Maryland: Johns Hopkins (2,939), UVA, Georgetown, Cornell, Penn, Harvard (985)
New Jersey: Cornell (3,699), Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Harvard n/a but < 1,966
New York: Cornell (9,618), Columbia, Brown, Harvard n/a but < 3,037
Pennsylvania: Penn (3,894), Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard n/a but < 1,492
Virginia: UVA (12,169), Duke (1,482), Georgetown, Princeton, Cornell, Harvard (1,007)</p>
<p>New England
Connecticut: Yale (1,444), Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard (774)
Maine: Colby (609), Bowdoin, Bates, Dartmouth, Harvard (235)
Massachusetts: Brown (2,793), Harvard (2,565), Cornell, Dartmouth
New Hampshire: Dartmouth (650), Brown, Cornell, Harvard (362)
Rhode Island: Brown (745), Harvard (193), Cornell, Dartmouth
Vermont: Dartmouth (276), Middlebury , Cornell, Brown, Harvard (117)</p>
<p>Southeast
Alabama: Vanderbilt (424), Duke, Emory, Harvard (171)
Florida: Duke (2,233), Harvard (1,940), Emory, Cornell
Georgia: Emory (4,632), Vanderbilt, Duke, Harvard n/a but < 985
Kentucky: Vanderbilt (322), Wash U, Harvard (156), Northwestern
North Carolina: Duke (4,205), Davidson, UVA, Harvard (716)
South Carolina: Duke (945), Vanderbilt, Harvard n/a but < 341
Tennessee: Vanderbilt (1,157), Wash U, Duke, Emory, UVA, Harvard (258)</p>
<p>South Central
Arkansas: Vanderbilt (121), Wash U, Harvard (92), Yale
Louisiana: Rice (161), Vanderbilt, Harvard (139), Wash U
Mississippi: Vanderbilt (103), Harvard (82), Emory, Princeton
Oklahoma: Harvard (153), Wash U (123), Stanford, Yale
Texas: Rice (9,225), Stanford, Harvard (2,503)</p>
<p>West
Alaska: Stanford (104), Harvard (77), Yale, Dartmouth
Arizona: Stanford (1,008), UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard (476), Yale Princeton
Colorado: Stanford (683), Colorado College, UC Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard (305), Northwestern
California: UCLA (54,242), UC Berkeley (43,903), Stanford (17,836), Harvard (5,767), Yale, Cornell
Hawaii: UCLA (453), Stanford (386), UC Berkeley, Harvard (156)
Oregon: Stanford (871), UC Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard (286), Yale, Cornell
Washington: Stanford (1,732), UC Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard (623), Yale, Brown</p>