<p>this isn’t based on any statistics and is purely testimonial evidence, but it seems to me like it’s harder to get into stanford if you live outside of california than if you live in the state. most of the kids i know who got into harvard who live near me or who i met at prefrosh weekend and aren’t california natives didn’t get into stanford (it was almost always the only place they didn’t get into). i got waitlisted. i’ve also read that nearly half of stanford students hail from california. they try to attribute that statistic to the size of the state and quality of its applicants, but i don’t buy it.</p>