Massachusetts is home to some of the most world-renowned higher educational institutions. From the Greater Boston Area’s plethora of prestigious universities to the Knowledge Corridor in the Western half of the Commonwealth, the amount of choices for a prospective collegiate student to explore can be daunting.

But which college or university did people apply to the most?

eCollegeFinder pulled enrollment data from both the National Center for Education Statistics & College Prowler to determine which school in each state is the most “desirable.” Statistics were limited to schools offering four-year degrees with housing for the fall 2013 semester only.

They then charted each school to create a fun, engaging map of America’s most applied-to colleges and universities.

As it turns out, one Massachusetts university recorded the fourth highest rate of applications in the entire nation, let alone the Bay State.

Following the University of California Los Angeles’s (UCLA, duh) 72,676 applications, New York University’s 57,552 applications and Penn State’s 47,552 applications is …

… drum roll please …

Northeastern University!

NU pulled in an eye-popping 47,364 applications, just ahead of the University of Michigan’s 46,813. If you’re like me, you suspected the answer might be the nation’s oldest institute of higher learning, Harvard. Unlike in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, where Ivy Leaguers Yale, Dartmouth and Brown are most desired, Harvard fell short behind Northeastern by 12,341 applications.

According to the Harvard Gazette, the Cambridge school garnered just 35,023 applications. How do you like them apples, Harvard?

But what about the least applied-to schools? They’re either located deep in America’s heartland or at its most extreme corners.

The University of Alaska at Anchorage saw 3,062 applications; South Dakota State, 4,852; North Dakota State, 5,812; and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, 6,091.

Image via eCollegeFinder