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<p>Flowers123, it seems to me that many of the posters on this site who are urging others to look beyond the Ivy League (+MIT, Stanford, etc.) are themselves Ivy+ alumni. I heard on NPR the other day that the highest concentrations of Ivy League alumni (could’ve been HYP) are found 1) in the suburbs west of Cambridge, 2) in the area around Princeton, NJ, and 3) near D.C. As the elite colleges strive for geographic and socioeconomic diversity, there are many disappointed alumni each year. </p>
<p>It sounds as if you live in one of the 3 areas with concentrations of Ivy+ alumni families. The competition in those areas is intense. </p>
<p>The studies which claim an advantage for legacy applicants don’t take into account the degree of family self-selection. If a student doesn’t break 640 on the SAT math or verbal reasoning tests, I think many alumni parents guide their children to apply to other colleges. If you look at this list of average scores for the Ivy League, you can see why: [Average</a> SAT Scores for Ivy League Schools - Ivy League Schools Average SAT Scores](<a href=“http://testprep.about.com/od/sat/a/Average_SAT_IvyLeagues.htm]Average”>Ivy League SAT Score Comparison for Admission).</p>