<p>I looked at another, rival site for admissions breakdowns, and saw that most of the LACs my son applied to had nearly identical acceptance rates for male and female students. Considering the female-to-male ratio, it was clear that they were unwilling to compromise on merit in order to establish gender parity. The ones where boys might have a higher acceptance rate appear to be exceedingly selective ones like Pomona, where they have a highly qualified applicant pool to choose from. They will hardly be scraping bottom, by any means.</p>
<p>Zooser, I agree that if you’re going to get some compassion for a bad grad, foreign language is the way to go (and I observed this with children of both genders- none of whom have an ear for languages!)</p>
<p>I think the male “tip” is an open secret at places like Kenyon, and probably operates on a more stealth level at other LAC’s. So- like anyone else- your son should find a range of schools with a range of probabilities, and then wait and see without “banking” on gender to tip the cards. It will likely be a factor- and the smaller the school, the greater the factor- but plenty of men get rejected from Skidmore and Colby and Conn College all the time so it’s not a fool proof factor.</p>
<p>You will let go- I know. And he won’t be gone forever…</p>
<p>Totally understand zooser…middle son was going to be long gone but when he accepted a spot in our state’s flagship med school vs. schools in the northeast I was granted a reprieve! He has decided to do a joint program adding another year to his stay and I am so HAPPY. I have him for 2 more years until his residency and then who knows??? His older bro is on the other side of the country for at least 2 more years so there is the “crap” side of it, one here and one far, far away.</p>
<p>Enjoy this last year, it WILL fly by.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Sorry to say, zooser, some of us still miss our sons after several years away. My oldest is just such a great person, I have to say I miss him most every day and he’s a rising junior in college. I’ve got other children and a great husband and plenty to do in life, but I still miss my oldest much and often. But he’s doing so well and enjoying life so much that I am very thankful and happy for him.</p>
<p>Re. boy/girl ratio-I definitely was trying to find colleges that wanted boys, but LACs aren’t high on the list of schools for my rising senior. Pomona is one to consider since it has a music major. My son will be taking Italian in his senior year for two semesters at the local CC. Now you have me worried! He did fine with Latin in 8th grade but hasn’t taken a foreign language yet. Gulp.</p>
<p>My S got into Kenyon ED in Dec. and I’m pretty sure there is no way in hell he would of gotten in if he was a female. He did have a pretty impressive theater resume, high test scores, and a great interview and essay… they commented on the last two in his acceptance letter. But his GPA was meh. </p>
<p>At many institutions, boys have been getting preference for a long time. See for instance <a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/03/27/admit”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/03/27/admit</a>
What’s interesting is that so few people seem to know about this, especially among those who are outraged when other groups receive preferences.</p>
<p>Well, boys get preference at some schools, and girls get preference at some other schools. The lack of outrage may be due to that and the fact that virtually all of us have both male and female family members (can’t say the same about race/athletes/legacy).</p>
<p>@5boys:</p>
<p>I doubt it was because of his gender. Some schools give a big boost to ED applicants, some schools really weigh essay and recs heavily (in fact, this is something that people on CC seem to overlook: your recs and essays can make or break your application; I would say especially at LACs), some schools really weigh test scores heavily, and some schools want kids with talent (like acting/theatre). That’s 4 positives and 1 negative.</p>
<p>Kenyon isn’t exactly Harvard-like levels of difficulty to get in. All those positives probably easily put him over the top regardless of his gender. Now if he had 2 positives and 3 negatives and still got in to Kenyon, then yeah, I’d say that being male made the difference.</p>
<p>Its Vassar, not Vasser, Purple Titan. Sorry, but thats like nails on a blackboard to me.</p>
<p>During an information session at Wake Forest several years ago, the admissions counselor told us that they purposely try to keep the gender balance at 50/50. They feel that it makes for a healthier student body and said that boys had an edge in the application process.</p>
<p>Marsian,</p>
<p>You bring up a good point about schools that have 50/50 admit rates. The important statistic, I guess, would be how many of each sex applies rather than how many are ultimately selected. Is there a website that has the break down of applicants to all schools? I guess one could google that but surely there’s a website out there with that kind of statistical data? Definitely worth knowing, IMO.</p>
<p>Edited: It looks like Parchment has that statistical data, but it’s not up to date.</p>
<p>I don’t think my Precious will be applying to places like Vassar or Wake, and as I said, I think it will come down to the audition for him, but this is very interesting to me. I don’t think he would apply to serious reaches, but places with clarinet teachers who do what he is interested in and where he could fit in. I would love for him to apply to Muhlenberg, but that may be my own bias coming into play since I just loved it when my D was admitted four years ago. It wasn’t right for her, but I think it could be a great place for him.</p>
<p>Look for the Common Data set for each school - some don’t publish it on line, but when they do, it’s full of just this sort of information. It’s often called “Institutional Research”.</p>
<p>If he is interested in an LAC, definitely send in a music recording. Most LACs will value a strong musician and the music faculty often make recommendations to admissions. Vassar, Williams, Hamilton, Franklin & Marshall are schools that I am familiar that encouraged submitting recordings when we visited (a few years ago). Be aware that at some schools though, the student has to be ‘within the range’ and It won’t matter how good a musician they are - their scores need to within range to be admitted. Encourage him to take the ACT of SAT ‘one more time’ in the fall. My S2 brought his ACT into range at his number one school and applied ED and was admitted - so give it one last try!</p>
<p>He should definitely do a music supplement. And you should find someone who knows how to put one together and what is expected, in terms of piece selection and recording quality.</p>
<p>Is he going to be applying to conservatories at all?</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, I did a quick check on the gender splits for freshman admissions. I found a range of a high of a 14% admissions advantage for boys to an 11% advantage for girls at my un-scientific, quick and dirty survey of about 20 schools.</p>
<p>The take away for me, at least, is to be aware of the splits at schools your S or D is interested in; it could impact where you choose to apply, and your expectations of admission too.</p>
<p>Interesting issue…</p>
<p>@ColdinMinny:</p>
<p>I believe it’s higher for certain schools. Check Olin, for instance.</p>
<p>I am fascinated by different patterns at what logically should be similar colleges. At Vassar, female applicants outnumber males by more than 2-1, and the male admission rate is quite a bit higher than the female admission rate. At Connecticut College, male applicants are about 60% of female applicants, the admission rate is essentially the same for both, and the yield for male admittees (percentage of admitted students who enroll) is meaningfully higher than for women. Both colleges wind up about 60-40 women, but they seem to get there by very different paths.</p>
<p>I don’t really have any sense why there would be such a difference between pretty similar schools, except maybe that Conn College’s NESCAC membership makes it more attractive to men. But Vassar – which is a somewhat better “name” – actually gets more male applicants than Conn College (and many more female applicants, too). So it’s not really a question of Conn College being more attractive to men; it’s more like they do a slightly better job of getting their marketing right.</p>
<p>There is also an achievement difference among boys and girls in HS, especially in freshman year. A 14yo girl is typically much more mature than a 14yo boy. And, again to generalize, girls tend to be better at pleasing teachers, staying organized, and other personality trails schools favor. Some of the “lower stats” may be explained by boys, in general, having slightly lower GPAs than girls, but those boys then do just as well in college. I still recall the National Honor Society induction, which at our HS is based solely on GPA, where the inductees were 2/3 girls and only 1/3 boys. There may be a “tip” for boys at some LACs, but some of the differential may really just reflect that it often takes longer for boys to get with the program. </p>
<p>Our HS gives out about 13 Junior book awards. I have attended the ceremony for many years, since I am a presenter. The most boys I’ve seen get one is 3, and usually it is fewer. I have attended most years from 2004-2014. Many of the boys who are overlooked are accomplished, strong students with excellent ECs who end up going to colleges that are significantly more selective than the female winners. Of course, there are girls who meet that description also, but the different is striking, year after year.</p>