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<p>This really is a silly line of thinking.
Are you aware that people apply to schools outside of their area?
You are implying that since Princeton and Yale are there that there are a lot of people who don’t even apply to Harvard.
Where would all these extra applicants come from if Yale didn’t exist?</p>
<p>The majority of students apply to the schools which are the most difficult to get into. Basically trying to capture the golden ring. I am not missing anything. We are talking about 18 year old kids not adults.</p>
<p>East coast students do not apply to every school. They may choose two, three, or sometimes just one of the schools. </p>
<p>@roundup49789. I’m sorry but you sound like a typical provincial nor’easterner who thinks the world revolves around the northeast along with it’s staid schools (my K1 goes to one (mistakingly) and can’t wait to get the hell out)…I’m sorry to tell you the train has left the station…have you heard about the RISE of the PACIFIC POWERS…this is the era of the Pacific Rim…and guess what? Stanford and Silicon Valley and the Bay area is part of the Pacific Rim and because of its history have become the hub of world’s leading top technology companies and research…it is where the young people from around the world want to be and live and study…is that not too hard to understand? And it doesn’t hurt to be located in one of the world’s most beautiful scenic areas either…</p>
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<p>LOL!!!
Oh please.
You have to be kidding!</p>
<p>LOL!!</p>
<p><a href=“He's all-Ivy — accepted to all 8 Ivy League colleges”>http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/31/ivy-league-admissions-college-university/7119531/</a></p>
<p>go read the threads about RD results and come back and say that with a straight face.</p>
<p>My older kid summed it up by saying, “Harvard is prestigious. Stanford is prestigious and cool.” 
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<p>Some of this reminds me of European friends, who would tell me things like no one in the US wears coats in winter or that we don’t have sidewalks-- all because someone who lived, say, in S AZ didn’t. You cannot lump all those kids in the NE as all having the Ivy fixation, Some do, some don’t. And the Ivies get apps from all over the country (and the world.) That makes sense, right? </p>
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<p>What’s cool can be a very YMMV depending on student. I’ve known of some who feel Stanford’s supposed “Taco Bell Architecture” and big sports/laid back atmosphere is “lame”. </p>
<p>Also, I know many Californians who feel Berkeley is cooler…including one relative who finds it’s very effective in riling up her Stanford alum brother during family gatherings. :)</p>
<p>^Don’t fuel the freaking fire. The whole problem with this thread is incidental and anecdotal views. </p>
<p>My friend got a full ride here just yesterday. I’m jealous haha.</p>
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<p>Really? A subjective assessment can vary from person to person? No way. </p>
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<p>That relative sounds mean-spirited to attack her brother on something that he values with something as stupid as Berkeley is cooler. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be something if the yield were, say, only 13% (LOL)</p>
<p>"There are two tiers of ivy league colleges because the portion of the upper middle class that cares about status has determined that there are two tiers of ivy league colleges.</p>
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<p>Not an attack. More of a younger sister jokingly annoying older brother sibling dynamic with him happily returning the favor. A dynamic common among many close siblings/friends. </p>
<p>I have a similar dynamic with an older Boston area friend over our somewhat conflicting musical tastes…he loves annoying me with cheesy disco and I sometimes return the favor by playing punk/pop-punk music he hates. </p>
<p>Cobrat, is this relevant? </p>
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<p>The MAJORITY of students apply to non-selective state schools within commuting distance of home. The CC bubble isn’t representative of most of America – thank God. </p>
<p>I don’t recall a similar compulsion to explain away Harvard’s selectivity index when it was the lowest for all those years. It was accepted as Harvard’s due, because Harvard is well, HARVARD! The level of unhappiness on H’s campus is notorious, and we probably all know students who decided to apply and then attend H based on its prestige more than fit or appeal. There’s no telling how many of their applications are due to the brand, not the school atmosphere itself. In contrast, S tends to score very high on all the happy student surveys. </p>
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<p>It sounds like they enrolled fewer people based on last two years’ over enrollment and none taken off the waitlist. However, I suspect 90% of SCEA admits already enrolled resulting in the lower number from RD.</p>
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<p>Yes, but generally, people are more likely to apply and go to schools in their area than outside of their area. Percentage-wise, I think something like twice as many Stanford students are from California as Harvard students.</p>
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<p>Is there a source for this assertion?</p>
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<p>That is a silly comparison.
California is a really big State. In fact, if someone from San Diego decides to go to Stanford it is just as geographically close as RIchmond, VA is to Harvard. So the relevant comparison is how many people at Harvard come from a similarly geographic size and volume around the Cambridge area.</p>