Parchment, a company that enables the electronic submission of grade transcripts and other college admission materials, compiled college choices from 104,119 students who have applied for admission since the 2012-2013 academic year. The data show what economists call “revealed preference” — how students chose when admitted to two or more schools.

When interpreting these results, keep in mind that students don’t apply to colleges randomly. For a variety of reasons, including geographical proximity and in-state tuition discounts, students might favor a nearby school over a distant one. Parchment’s service is also used more widely in some states than others, which means the preferences here wouldn’t match a random sample of students nationwide. Still, the numbers for most colleges — including those that tend to draw applicants nationally — are broadly consistent with other data on students’ choices.