<p>Looking at the admittance stats from US News, it appears that about 2900 boys applied and over 4000 girls applied. Anyone know if the acceptance stats are different for the boys and the girls?? It would appear to be much more difficult for the girls to get in than the boys.</p>
<p>With few exceptions, the admit rate for females at selective LACs is lower than that for males, even at schools that are willing to accept some gender imbalance. At Wesleyan, for the latest year, the admit rates were 33%(M) vs. 24%(F). With girls outperforming boys in HS to begin with, it makes for some stiff competition for female applicants.</p>
<p>As a parent of a girl, I thought it was important to share these types of stats with her when she was applying to colleges. It helpt put things in perspective. Schools that her male friends got into, gave DD a waitlist status, and she was the valedictorian! I encourage other parents of girls to let their daughters know that they may meet or exceed the avg stats for a college will not be a true 'safety' because of their gender.The good news is that my DD had great choices, and loves the college she is now attending!</p>
<p>That the hardest workers, the girls, have a harder time getting in, but what would schools do about the gender imbalance if they didn't do this??</p>
<p>I know some colleges such as Conn College and Wheaton still have a gender imbalance even though the stats are tougher for girls.</p>
<p>A recent news [url=<a href="http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-7-9-katz-column%5Dcolumn%5B/url">http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-7-9-katz-column]column[/url</a>] listed Wesleyan, along with William & Mary, Pomona, Tufts, Boston College, Kenyon College, and the University of Richmond, as prominent schools that are particularly affected by this issue.</p>
<p>According to the conventional wisdom, female applicants are less likely to face discrimination at more rural schools (e.g. Williams, Dartmouth), or at schools known for science and engineering (e.g. Johns Hopkins, MIT). </p>
<p>You can determine the acceptance rates for men vs. women by looking at the numbers in a school's "Common Data Set" (CDS), which is usually posted online. Based on the latest CDS, Williams, Dartmouth, and MIT all have higher (not lower) acceptance rates for women. In the case of MIT, the acceptance rate for women is more than double the rate for men. JHU doesn't post its CDS online, but its enrollment is predominantly male, so there should be no need to discriminate against female applicants in this case either.</p>
<p>Corbett: Hopkins student body is not predominantly male. Sometimes it is equal, 50-50. The class of 2006 the male female ratio is 53/47...more men, but certainly not predominantly so.</p>
<p><a href="http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/facts.html%5B/url%5D">http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/facts.html</a></p>
<p>A 53/47 ratio may not sound like a huge difference, but it means that men outnumber women by nearly 13%.</p>
<p>The point is simply that JHU is probably not one of the schools that gets many more female applicants than male applicants, and is probably not one of the schools that discriminates against female applicants. However, this can't be confirmed conclusively, since JHU does not appear to release its CDS or other relevant data.</p>
<p>A recent News-Letter [url=<a href="http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2007/04/05/News/Selectivity.Intensifies.With.Record.Increase.In.Applications-2827584.shtml%5Darticle%5B/url">http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2007/04/05/News/Selectivity.Intensifies.With.Record.Increase.In.Applications-2827584.shtml]article[/url</a>] about the Class of 2011 noted the following:
[quote]
This year's accepted pool is composed of 48 percent women and 52 percent men. Traditionally, Hopkins' student population has had a gender imbalance -- 10 years ago, Latting [the director of Undergraduate Admissions] says, an incoming freshman class would contain only 40 percent women. Over the past few years, however, the gender gap has closed, and the 48/52 divide has remained steady over the past few years.
[/quote]
At 48/52, there are about 8% more men than women. If JHU practices gender discrimination in admission, they most likely discriminate against male applicants, in order to reduce the traditional imbalance mentioned in the article.</p>
<p>Corbett: Again, in terms of Hopkins, I reiterate-a few more men, but not predominantly so. </p>
<p>NYU and Vassar both have the sorts of larger imbalances in favor of women that you speak of, with ratios of approximately 60/40.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Again, in terms of Hopkins, I reiterate-a few more men, but not predominantly so.
[/quote]
OK, substitute "more than 50%" if you don't like the term "predominantly". The point is that top schools with more than 50% men -- even if it's only by a small amount, like 51% or 53% -- are increasingly rare. JHU is unusual in this respect (though there are other examples, such as Cornell or Princeton).
[quote]
NYU and Vassar both have the sorts of larger imbalances in favor of women that you speak of, with ratios of approximately 60/40.
[/quote]
No, that's not the kind of imbalance that we're discussing in this thread. You're listing F/M ratios for enrolled students. This thread is about F/M ratios among the applicant pool. Many schools now have significant imbalances in their applicant pools, so they discriminate against female applicants to get the enrolled ratio closer to 50/50.</p>
<p>Here's an example. According to the Brown University CDS, Brown enrolled 725 men and 744 women last year. Sounds pretty balanced. But the catch is that Brown had 11,083 female applicants, and only 7,233 male applicants. The competition for a slot at Brown was clearly tougher if you were female.</p>
<p>I think this phenomenon is especially prevalent at liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>Once again, it seems like the curse of being a woman will never end!</p>
<p>The stats are skewed in favor of males at many LACs, but there are some strategies girls can follow to help their case. Here's a recent story about it from US News: <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/print/cbboys_print.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/print/cbboys_print.htm</a></p>
<p>I love this topic. It turns all the conventional thinking about the academic competitiveness of women and girls on its head. There is, in a VERY real sense, affirmative action for boys these days. It just makes me giggle to think about it. That said, as someone who valued having a good mix of gender, I think its nessesary. </p>
<p>And it gives the boys a chance to catch up . . . ;-)</p>