<p>I know colleges love to boast about having kids from all 50 states, but is Alabama an area that this applies to? I can’t imagine too many kids apply to ivies. I go to a Tuscaloosa school that barely sends any kids to Ivies, particularly Columbia. It’s really close to UAlabama, so almost everyone goes there. </p>
<p>So yeh, does it help me?</p>
<p>Alabama isn’t one of the top states represented, so it definitely won’t hurt you.</p>
<p>Purely anecdotal, but when we visited our first-year Columbia student for parents’ weekend, two of his friends we met at the football game tailgate party were from Alabama. I agree, however, with raychacha.</p>
<p>Yes, it helps you in the sense that a kid from Alabama in roughly the same stat/ability range as someone from NJ might be favored over the NJ kid.</p>
<p>It doesn’t help you in that you won’t get picked over someone else who has “better” stats/abilities/essays (keeping in mind that this is all incredibly subjective.)</p>
<p>I’m from Wisconsin, and I think geographical representation does play a certain role; for example, I got into Columbia and was waitlisted at Chicago. Make of that what you will.</p>