<p>Is being female a underlying advantage to MIT?</p>
<p>Yes…</p>
<p>This topic, not that you could know this, is like kicking over an anthill.</p>
<p>Women get in at a higher rate than men, but according to conversations I’ve had with people in Admissions, female applicants as a group are also somewhat stronger than male applicants as a group. This is not because of a lack of outstanding male applicants, but because male no-hopers are <em>much</em> more likely to apply than female no-hopers, and it drags the male acceptance rate down.</p>
<p>Either way, females have a better chance statistically regardless of why it is happening.</p>
<p>^A randomly-selected female applicant will, according to the numbers, be more likely to get in than a randomly-selected male applicant. </p>
<p>But a randomly-selected female person is not more likely to get in than a randomly-selected male person, so whether the female rate is higher is not germane to a decision to apply to MIT or not. The self-selection of the pool matters quite a bit.</p>
<p>Correlation is <em>not</em> causation. Everyone who thinks that girls have an easier time getting into MIT than boys would do well to remember this fact. I think blondes have a higher admission rate than brunettes, going off of who I see around campus. Does this mean you should curse your genetics for being born with dark hair?</p>
<p>^Mootmom and I have a running joke about affirmative action for curly-haired boys, because both her son and my husband are WHITE MALES with CURLY HAIR and NO HOOKS.</p>
<p>Coincidence? I THINK NOT.</p>
<p>You married Mootmom’s son?</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>admit rates:</p>
<p>9% for males
19% for females</p>
<p>males ~9k applicants
females ~3k applicants</p>
<p>If you’re applying, you should know that analyzing this data should lead to similar conclusions as above. ;-)</p>
<p>The statistics can be misleading. Rather like the Early Decision statistics at some of the liberal arts colleges, which seem to suggest that students have a better shot of admission if they apply early. The admission rate for Early Decision at many liberal arts colleges is higher because of all the recruited athletes, children of faculty, and legacies in the pool.</p>
<p>Self-selection has been cited as the primary explanation for the higher admit rate for female applicants.</p>
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<p>A thread I clicked on with some dread…thank you for still making it worth it :)</p>
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<p>Wow, post 7 and 8 triggered some 20-year-old flashbacks of mindbenders.</p>
<p>I did not marry mootmom’s son – he’s a little too young for me. 
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<p>But mootmom was at my wedding!</p>