Where are the students at the top schools coming from?

College Search & Selection
41

<p>When you expand the concept of "top schools" to include the top 100 universities and the top 100 LACs, and you include public universities that fall in the top 100, you get a different picture. California, for example, rises to the top by a wide margin because of their excellent state university system.</p>

<p>school, number of freshmen, percent of freshmen (out of 243,955)
California 40204 16.48%
Illinois 16764 6.87%
New York 16705 6.85%
Michigan 12630 5.18%
Ohio 11373 4.66%
Florida 10826 4.44%
Pennsylvania 10425 4.27%
Virginia 9822 4.03%
Foreign countries 8418 3.45%
Texas 8396 3.44%
Georgia 7704 3.16%
Massachusetts 7436 3.05%
Indiana 6298 2.58%
Connecticut 6244 2.56%
Washington 5781 2.37%
Missouri 5737 2.35%
Wisconsin 5684 2.33%
Iowa 5625 2.31%
Tennessee 5345 2.19%
Colorado 5324 2.18%
Minnesota 4809 1.97%
Maryland 4704 1.93%
Alabama 3279 1.34%
South Carolina 3094 1.27%
North Carolina 1929 0.79%
Delaware 1806 0.74%
Utah 1541 0.63%
New Jersey 1475 0.60%
Oregon 1471 0.60%
New Hampshire 1063 0.44%
Arizona 1040 0.43%
Maine 973 0.40%
State unknown 958 0.39%
Kentucky 853 0.35%
Hawaii 741 0.30%
Rhode Island 673 0.28%
Louisiana 645 0.26%
Kansas 627 0.26%
Vermont 585 0.24%
Nevada 524 0.21%
District of Columbia 520 0.21%
Idaho 472 0.19%
Arkansas 467 0.19%
New Mexico 446 0.18%
Nebraska 406 0.17%
Oklahoma 405 0.17%
Mississippi 306 0.13%
West Virginia 284 0.12%
Montana 275 0.11%
Outlying areas total 274 0.11%
Alaska 257 0.11%
South Dakota 118 0.05%
North Dakota 101 0.04%
Wyoming 93 0.04%</p>

42

<p>I would like to see a comparison of regional location and total college undergraduate enrollment, vrs general population location. To make it more meaningfull, the ideal comparison would be for all colleges undergraduate enrollment, not just the top 100.</p>

43

<p>Thought it might be interesting to note that there was an article in the Hartford Courant recently that said that the largest segment of Connecticut residents attending undergraduate colleges go to out-of-state four-year private institutions, though they are not the majority. For students living in Connecticut while undergraduates, almost 50% are in the community college system.</p>

44

<p>I wouldn't put Virginia in the Mid Atlantic region.
I think there is a double reason for the "overpopulation" of New England and Mid Atlantic region kids in the top private schools. First is the large number of schools in close proximity. These places are just familiar to locals, and many parents are alums. The second is the lack of prestige of the in-state publics in the region. This is not true in Virginia, North Carolina, the Midwest, Texas, Florida, etc.
Even schools in these other regions without much academic prestige (Ohio State, Alabama, etc.) have copious amounts of school spirit, high visibility in their states, and enthusiastic alums. Pride in going to these places. Not so the University of Rhode Island, University of New Hampshire, etc.</p>

45

<p>Most colleges don't actively promote the idea of having a national student body, but this is commonly done at the top privates and that was a major factor behind the decision to create this thread and test that hypotheses. </p>

<p>While all of the data is not yet in, the facts so far indicate these schools have a much more regional flavor than one might expect. This effect likely increases as you move down the rankings list and obviously even more so when you include the public universities. Still, the lesson that I have learned is how the reputations of some of America's most elite institutions are somewhat inflated as being national universities. They may have national placement for postgraduate work and/or grad school, but the reality seems to be that the regional impact is quite large in matriculation decisions.<br>
I recognize that this conclusion was probably obvious to most readers, but it is nice to have some data that actually supports that opinion. </p>

<p>Following is the data that I have been able to collect so far from the websites of the various colleges. In most cases, I used the classifications that each school provided so there may not be unanimity in regional labeling. I did some manual classifications for a few schools so there may be a few discrepancies, but I think that this is pretty close. I still need data for Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Caltech, Wash U, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown. </p>

<p>MID-ATLANTIC
U Penn: 19% IS from Pennsylvania. 20% International. Regional Summary: 21% Northeast, 26% Mid-Atlantic, 8% South, 8% Midwest, 1% Central, 2% Mountain, 4% Southwest, 11% West.</p>

<p>School with lacking data:
Johns Hopkins: 14% IS from Maryland. </p>

<p>SOUTH
Duke: 15% IS from North Carolina. 8% International. Regional Summary: 14% Northeast, 19% Mid-Atlantic, 24% South, 10% Midwest, 11% West.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt: 16% IS from Tennessee. 9% International. Regional Summary: 13% Northeast, 4% New England, 46% South/Mid-Atlantic, 14% Midwest, 8% Southwest, 6% West. </p>

<p>Emory: 29% IS from Georgia. 9% International. Regional Summary: 17% Northeast/New England, 46% South, 14% Midwest, 8% Southwest, 6% West.</p>

<p>SOUTHWEST
Rice: 46% IS from Texas. 10% International. Regional Summary: 11% New England, 3% Mid-Atlantic, 10% South, 8% Midwest, 1% Central, 1% Mountain, 48% Southwest, 8% West</p>

<p>WEST
Schools with lacking data:
Stanford: 44% IS from California. 6% International.
Caltech: 325 IS from California</p>

<p>MIDWEST
U Chicago: 22% IS from Illinois. 10% International. Regional Summary: 9% New England, 20% Mid-Atlantic, 9% South, 33% Midwest, 5% Southwest, 12% West. </p>

<p>Northwestern: 23% IS from Illinois. 7% International. Regional Summary: 6% New England, 16% Mid-Atlantic, 10% South, 42% Midwest, 5% Southwest, 14% West.</p>

<p>Notre Dame: 7% IS from Indiana. 4% International. Regional Summary: 24% Northeast, 12% South, 37% Midwest, 12% Southwest, 11% West. </p>

<p>School with lacking data:
Wash U: 9% IS from Missouri</p>

<p>NORTHEAST
Harvard: 14% IS from Massachusetts. 9% International. Regional Summary: 17% New England, 25% Mid-Atlantic, 16% South, 10% Midwest, 2% Central, 3% Mountain, 18% West/Pacific.</p>

<p>MIT: 9% IS from Massachusetts. 10% International. Regional Summary: 13% New England, 17% Mid-Atlantic, 16% South, 17% Mid-Atlantic, 14% Midwest, 11% Southwest, 19% West. </p>

<p>Dartmouth: 3% IS from New Hampshire. 7% International. Regional Summary: 21% New England, 31% Mid-Atlantic, 15% South, 10% Midwest, 15% West.</p>

<p>Cornell: 34% IS from New York. 15% International. Regional Summary: 42% Northeast, 17% Mid-Atlantic, 6% South, 7% Midwest, 3% Southwest, 10% West.</p>

<p>Schools with lacking data:
Princeton: 16% IS from New Jersey. 9% International
Yale: 7% IS from Connecticut.
Columbia: 26% IS from New York, 14% International.
Brown: 8% International</p>

46

<p>danas, I would tend to agree with you. Just to take my own state as an example, we have the University of Connecticut as our flagship, and it is a genuinely wonderful university with strong programs, a gorgeous campus, and a terrific honors program. But when you live within 100 miles of both Boston and New York, not to mention have Yale, Trinity, Wesleyan, Conn, and others within your own boundaries, it's to be expected that you will not limit your search just to your in-state publics (or even privates).</p>

<p>Just to name some of the "top" colleges, I live within an hour's drive of Smith, Mount Holyoke, Brown, Amherst, Holy Cross, Clark, and so forth, and two hours of Vassar, RPI, Bard, and the entirety of metro Boston and New York.</p>

<p>So to me, all of those (especially the first group) /are/ local colleges, even though they're technically out-of-state. I would have no reason to rule them out based on location; in fact, I'd be crazy to. And for students in the southwest corner of the state, they could also count New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Small states = big-range thinking.</p>

47

<p>"While all of the data is not yet in, the facts so far indicate these schools have a much more regional flavor than one might expect. "
Agreed, and a major factor that is being overlooked here is traditionally most freshman decide to matriculate or end up at a college within a few hours of home, for multiple reasons. The quote below is taken from the Chronicle of Higher Learning report <a href="http://chronicle.com/weekly/almanac/2006/nation/nation.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chronicle.com/weekly/almanac/2006/nation/nation.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Residence of new students:
81% of all freshmen in the fall of 2004 who had graduated from high school in the previous year attended colleges in their home states.</p>

48

<p>menloparkmom,
Thanks for the link. Your closing quote is perhaps the most powerful as the tendency to stay in-state or close to home likely increases as you go down the rankings list and you get into the less competitive state universities and the smaller less known privates. While the numbers at the top privates are no where near the 81% level, nor are they that close to the national population numbers (by region or state). Regionalism is a powerful force. </p>

<p>I have a separate theory about postgraduate placement as I believe that employment trends most strongly favor the regional schools even against all but the most recognized national universities (HYPSM are exception). I don't think that this is very appreciated and unfortunately adds to the feeding frenzy known today as college admissions.</p>

49

<p>Well, another way to look at this..</p>

<p>Perhaps our definition of "national" has to change a little when it comes to higher ed institutions. </p>

<p>That is, if nearly every institution--even the best, most universally recognized and appealing institution--has a sizable contingent from its own region, maybe we take that as a given. We might still consider a school "national" when its regional population isn't too dominant, and when the rest of the student body reflects a pretty good representation from the other regions.</p>

50

<p>selected top schools - percent from their own region
"region" consists of states within roughly 500 miles</p>

<p>note: Cornell has state-supported units which are particularly appealing to NYS residents</p>

<p>school, total freshmen, freshmen from region, percent from region</p>

<p>Brown University 1438 755 53%
California Institute of Technology 234 86 37%
Cornell University 3075 2054 67%
Dartmouth College 1075 595 55%
Duke University 1494 479 32%
Emory University 1637 834 51%
Georgetown University 1551 856 55%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 996 400 40%
Northwestern University 1952 866 44%
Princeton University 1221 594 49%
Rice University 711 358 50%
Stanford University 1596 849 53%
University of Chicago 1203 415 34%
University of Notre Dame 1966 803 41%
University of Pennsylvania 2541 1444 57%
Vanderbilt University 1620 791 49%
Yale University 1321 579 44%</p>

51

<p>Duke 589 39%
correction</p>

52

<p>collegehelp, are those the stats for matriculating students? or accepted?</p>

53

<p>menloparkmom, those are matriculating students (freshman class from 2005)</p>

54

<p>So, for these 17 top colleges/universities, 50% of all new freshman come from within 500 miles of campus. Pretty regional I'd say.</p>

55

<p>top feeder states</p>

<p>school, state, number of freshmen 2005</p>

<p>Brown NY 207
Brown MA 183
Brown CA 169
Brown NJ 107
Brown RI 61
Brown FL 59
Brown PA 58
Brown CT 54
Brown CT 54
Brown IL 37</p>

<p>Caltech CA 73
Caltech WA 11
Caltech IL 10
Caltech TX 10
Caltech FL 8
Caltech MD 8
Caltech MI 8
Caltech NY 8
Caltech AZ 8
Caltech NJ 7
Caltech PA 7
Caltech MA 6</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon PA 272
Carnegie Mellon NY 159
Carnegie Mellon NJ 144
Carnegie Mellon CA 93
Carnegie Mellon VA 59
Carnegie Mellon MA 58
Carnegie Mellon MD 55
Carnegie Mellon OH 54
Carnegie Mellon TX 49
Carnegie Mellon CT 29
Carnegie Mellon FL 27</p>

<p>Chicago IL 186
Chicago IN 135
Chicago NY 122
Chicago CA 87
Chicago PA 60
Chicago MA 46
Chicago NJ 45
Chicago OH 43
Chicago FL 42
Chicago MI 38
Chicago WI 38
Chicago MD 37
Chicago TX 35</p>

<p>Columbia NY 326
Columbia NJ 184
Columbia CA 167
Columbia MA 78
Columbia PA 54
Columbia CT 43
Columbia MD 39
Columbia FL 38
Columbia OH 37
Columbia TX 31
Columbia VA 30</p>

<p>Cornell NY 1030
Cornell NJ 294
Cornell CA 219
Cornell PA 198
Cornell MA 150
Cornell MD 106
Cornell FL 93
Cornell TX 88
Cornell CT 86
Cornell VA 64
Cornell IL 61</p>

<p>Dartmouth NY 165
Dartmouth CA 92
Dartmouth MA 78
Dartmouth NJ 67
Dartmouth CT 61
Dartmouth PA 46
Dartmouth FL 38
Dartmouth VA 36
Dartmouth MD 30
Dartmouth GA 29
Dartmouth WA 25
Dartmouth IL 23
Dartmouth ME 22</p>

<p>Duke FL 161
Duke NY 135
Duke TX 116
Duke CA 96
Duke VA 86
Duke MD 76
Duke NJ 74
Duke IL 67
Duke PA 54
Duke GA 51
Duke CT 50
Duke MA 46
Duke OH 46
Duke SC 40</p>

<p>Emory GA 441
Emory FL 147
Emory NY 140
Emory TX 77
Emory NJ 71
Emory MD 65
Emory CA 61
Emory MA 52
Emory NC 39
Emory PA 39
Emory IL 38
Emory VA 32
Emory CT 32
Emory AL 29
Emory OH 28
Emory SC 28
Emory TN 24</p>

<p>Georgetown NJ 172
Georgetown CA 151
Georgetown PA 122
Georgetown MD 114
Georgetown MA 90
Georgetown CT 70
Georgetown FL 65
Georgetown TX 62
Georgetown IL 53
Georgetown VA 43
Georgetown OH 38
Georgetown GA 33</p>

<p>Harvard NY 221
Harvard MA 208
Harvard CA 205
Harvard NJ 100
Harvard TX 80
Harvard FL 72
Harvard PA 55
Harvard IL 51
Harvard CT 43
Harvard MD 40
Harvard OH 36</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins NY 221
Johns Hopkins MA 208
Johns Hopkins CA 205
Johns Hopkins NJ 100
Johns Hopkins TX 80
Johns Hopkins PA 55
Johns Hopkins CT 43
Johns Hopkins MD 40
Johns Hopkins VA 37
Johns Hopkins OH 36
Johns Hopkins FL 28
Johns Hopkins MN 25
Johns Hopkins MI 24</p>

<p>MIT CA 117
MIT NY 97
MIT MA 90
MIT TX 62
MIT FL 55
MIT NJ 53
MIT PA 40
MIT MD 32
MIT VA 30
MIT IL 28
MIT CT 20</p>

<p>Northwestern IL 461
Northwestern CA 173
Northwestern NY 111
Northwestern OH 91
Northwestern NJ 88
Northwestern FL 85
Northwestern MN 72
Northwestern TX 70
Northwestern WI 65
Northwestern PA 59
Northwestern MA 56
Northwestern MI 50
Northwestern MD 42
Northwestern IN 39
Northwestern MO 37
Northwestern GA 34
Northwestern WA 32
Northwestern CT 32
Northwestern IA 23</p>

<p>Notre Dame IL 208
Notre Dame IN 158
Notre Dame TX 137
Notre Dame CA 131
Notre Dame PA 117
Notre Dame NY 114
Notre Dame OH 106
Notre Dame MI 105
Notre Dame NJ 76
Notre Dame MN 65
Notre Dame FL 63
Notre Dame MD 48
Notre Dame MA 45
Notre Dame WI 42
Notre Dame CT 41
Notre Dame MO 38
Notre Dame WA 33
Notre Dame VA 32
Notre Dame GA 30</p>

<p>Princeton NJ 173
Princeton CA 161
Princeton NY 137
Princeton TX 67
Princeton MD 64
Princeton PA 60
Princeton VA 45
Princeton FL 44
Princeton IL 37
Princeton CT 34
Princeton GA 31
Princeton MA 28</p>

<p>Rice TX 338
Rice CA 36
Rice FL 34
Rice NY 25
Rice NJ 17
Rice VA 15
Rice PA 15
Rice GA 14
Rice MD 14
Rice OK 14
Rice NC 11
Rice OH 11
Rice IL 10</p>

<p>Stanford CA 612
Stanford TX 92
Stanford NY 83
Stanford WA 80
Stanford IL 52
Stanford MA 40
Stanford MD 38
Stanford CO 38
Stanford OR 34
Stanford FL 32
Stanford VA 27
Stanford PA 22</p>

<p>U Penn PA 446
U Penn NJ 300
U Penn CA 201
U Penn MD 103
U Penn FL 85
U Penn MA 85
U Penn TX 66
U Penn CT 57
U Penn IL 53
U Penn OH 45
U Penn VA 39</p>

<p>Vanderbilt TN 267
Vanderbilt TX 137
Vanderbilt GA 129
Vanderbilt NY 111
Vanderbilt FL 103
Vanderbilt AL 70
Vanderbilt MD 65
Vanderbilt OH 64
Vanderbilt IL 63
Vanderbilt NJ 61
Vanderbilt KY 54
Vanderbilt MA 47
Vanderbilt CA 44
Vanderbilt CT 40
Vanderbilt IN 30</p>

<p>Washington U MO 169
Washington U IL 165
Washington U NY 131
Washington U TX 91
Washington U CA 72
Washington U MD 71
Washington U NJ 70
Washington U FL 68
Washington U OH 50
Washington U CT 43
Washington U MA 39
Washington U PA 38
Washington U TN 36
Washington U IN 30
Washington U GA 22</p>

<p>Yale CA 211
Yale NY 161
Yale CT 80
Yale MA 78
Yale IL 64
Yale NJ 64
Yale TX 62
Yale PA 51
Yale OH 35
Yale MD 33
Yale FL 31</p>

56

<p>It will be interesting to see if the Yale and Stanford %'s change much in the next couple of years, since Yale's Admissions director is now at Stanford.</p>

57

<p>I'm quite surprised to see Connecticut listed there for Vanderbilt. We never heard anything about them in high school. To a lesser extent, that was also true of Emory, though that's changing a lot now.</p>

58

<p>By its charter, Duke takes 13% of its students from NC, yet no mention of NC on Duke's list here? From my daughter's high school alone, 25 students went there in 2005. Where are you getting these numbers? Even in Fall 2006, 15% of the incoming class are from NC.
<a href="http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/resources/quickfacts.html#students%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/resources/quickfacts.html#students&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

59

<p>jack-
I checked the data for Duke. Duke left blank the North Carolina data for the 2005 freshmen but, in 2004, Duke enrolled 245 freshmen from NC which would make NC the #1 feeder state for Duke by far.</p>

60

<p>And, as stated above, 15% are from NC in the Fall class 2006 (out of an enrolled class of 1683). Odd that this data was left blank for 2005. From where are you getting this information again?</p>

<p>
[quote]
which would make NC the #1 feeder state for Duke by far.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So maybe the info for Duke should be corrected to reflect that?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>