I know the school professes this in their material and will tell you this if you ask, but in reality a good number of people in my class (UNECOM 2005) are not from New England. The same goes for the class of 2004 as well. We have 4-5 midwesterners, one from Colorado, 7-8 from Jersey, at least 10 from NY, 5-6 from PA, 2 from Texas, so you don't need to be from New England to get an interview or to be accepted. You don't even need "ties" to New England. I had only been to NE twice in my life when I applied, once for a UVM interview and the second time WAS my UNE interview!