Correct. There are some high schools that may have good relationships with certain colleges, and very often it is because of the proximity. However, there is also another saying that it may be easier for a student to get into a certain college if they go to a school in a US State that doesn’t have a lot of population, and so not a lot of students would apply out of the state. Since colleges want to have a well-diversified community, they will often take some less competitive students.
