<p>Hello, I recently was told that being female in my designated field is an advantage in college admissions. I am having a hard time believing this. I am planning on majoring in physics & astronomy or majoring in astrophysics. Would being a female in this field substantially increase my chances of getting into a good school for it? Or even at all?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Possibly. It depends on the school, but indicating an interest in an area where females are underrepresented might give you a slight edge, particularly if your high school record indicates you’d be a good candidate for it. By that, I mean you need extraordinary math skills to truly succeed in physics and astronomy, so if you have that, they may tip the scales in your favor.</p>
<p>Could be. This is just an annecdote and speaks to the college rather than the major, but my son has a friend, a girl, who was admitted to Caltech…I don’t know her scores or anything, but she and her parents were somewhat surprised that she got in.</p>
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<p>The short, quick answer: YES! More women are needed in the sciences and all selective colleges are going after women who express an interest in scientific fields.</p>
<p>The more in depth answer: If you are applying to an ultra selective college (HYPSM and the like) your GPA, grades, essays, and teacher recommendations are more important than your expressed interest. That said, see: [Wanted:</a> Women who want a college degree in a STEM field](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/11/02/women-high-tech-degrees/3382175/]Wanted:”>Wanted: Women who want a college degree in a STEM field)</p>
<p>beerme,
While I don’t know here grades or scores, there is some other info that makes me think we’re not talking about humility. Her mother actually inquired after the acceptance as to whether they really thought her daughter would be able to handle the academics (the answer was yes, they wouldn’t admit anyone who couldn’t). Also, there is a Saturday program (Columbia Science Honors) that this girl was rejected by for 10th, 11th, 12th grades…admissions involve a multiple choice test, plus transcript and recommendation. (My son in comparison was rejected for 10th grade but accepted for 11th grade…he is strong but not a superstar in math/science…A in 9th gr science, A- in 10th, A- in math both years, high track courses, 790 math level II subject test, 770M SAT). OTOH, this girl is an athlete, but frankly not very good, even by Caltech standards, so I don’t think that helped much. She is from NY so that may have helped (she was rejected by 1st choice MIT). Anyway, all in all I think women applying to Caltech are advantaged over men. I believe the percentage of women there has increased significantly in recent years and the college says this is due to recruiting efforts rather than bias…but frankly I take that explanation with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>There are differences in acceptance rate between genders in many schools for certain fields (e.g. engineering). Usually, female applicants may have a small average in the area that are male dominant. Some schools like Stanford give little gender preference though.</p>
<p>UPDATED LINK (article begins page 1, lower left):
<a href=“http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/1927/1/2010_05_03_113_22.pdf[/url]”>http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/1927/1/2010_05_03_113_22.pdf</a></p>
<p>"Percentage of Admitted Females Raises Questions
By Sarah Marzen
Copy Editor
The female to male admit ratio at Caltech has risen steadily over the past four years, even though the percentage of applicants that are female has stayed steady at around 25%. </p>
<p>Four years ago, Caltech admitted females and males at roughly the same rates, and the admitted class was 28.5% female. This year, Caltech reached an all-time high: females were admitted at nearly three times the rate of males, and the percentage of admitted females hit 45%.</p>
<p>For many students, the increase in the percentage of admitted females is cause for celebration.</p>
<p>But in lounges, hallways, at Chandler, and behind closed doors, people speculate as to why the ratio of women to men is climbing. Could it be that Caltech’s notoriously meritocratic admissions process is practicing some form of affirmative action?</p>
<p>“No,” said Ray Prado, interim Admissions Director. “It’s all in recruitment.” Caltech’s admissions process, he said, has no favoritism towards women or minorities or anybody else. “Our admissions process ensures that we admit the best prepared applicants.” Caltech students and faculty directly help decide the incoming freshmen class, unlike at any other college. Student and faculty involvement is prized by Admissions staffers, according to Prado, and helps safeguard the meritocracy of the admissions process."</p>
<p>I think we all know crapola when we see it.</p>
<p>if you were applying to an Engineering or business school the answer would be, Yes, plus factor for xx chromosomes.</p>
<p>But there is not much of a bump if any, when applying to a typical undergrad college (‘arts and sciences’), particularly the larger publics. Moreover, many LACs are inundated with female applicants, so there is no help there at all.</p>
<p>Adcoms know that many undergrads change their major 2-3 times so. other than specialized colleges, intended major is not much of a factor in admissions - maybe a feather on the scale.</p>
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<p>Source, please?</p>
<p>^ Yes, the bias usually occur at the school level, but it may also happen for choosing major later on which is after admission anyway.</p>
<p>@bluebayou: Really? It’s been in the news for the last 20 years. A quick google search, yielded the following articles. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html</a></p>
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<p>[Admissions</a> Calls Out to Women in Science | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2005/4/29/admissions-calls-out-to-women-in/]Admissions”>Admissions Calls Out to Women in Science | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~lblum/PAPERS/women_in_computer_science.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~lblum/PAPERS/women_in_computer_science.pdf</a></p>
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<p>It is definitely nothing new.</p>
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<p>Be careful about generalizing about all sciences. While women are still underrepresented in physics, that is not true in some other sciences at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Yes, STEM is often grouped together, but gender representation differs dramatically in different STEM fields. For example, women are overrepresented among biology majors, but underrepresented among engineering majors. The report at <a href=“Page not found”>ASEE.org; mentions just ~10% of degrees are awarded to women in EE, ME, CE, CS, and several others.</p>
<p>Choosing one of these majors doesn’t necessarily increase your chances of admissions. Instead it depends on the college. For example, looking at the Parchment data among members in a particular stat range, at most colleges men and women had a nearly identical acceptance rate. However, at a few colleges, the rate was quite different. For example, female applicants to MIT had an acceptance rate several times higher than males in many stat ranges, which was roughly the same degree of increase as URM vs non-URM. Caltech showed a similar effect, but to a lesser degree. </p>
<p>I’d expect the reverse to happen in some colleges, with fields that are typically dominated by women.</p>