<p>I think the question should not be only where women can have positive experiences (that could be virtually everywhere), but where resources will be specifically dedicated to them as women going into STEM-related fields (other than nursing).</p>
<p>Collegiate CENTCOM recommends that you assemble a dossier on Grinnell. Great science facilities for an LAC, largely new and funded by the founder of Intel. Outperforms nearly every college in the country in producing STEM PhDs per capita. Huge per capita endowment, thanks to 40 years of oversight by Warren Buffett, and a reputation for generous aid. Midwestern friendly and likely a good environment for all types of students, regardless of gender. </p>
<p>However . . . Grinnell is “conveniently” located midway between Des Moines and Iowa City and may not be visible except from aerial surveillance once the corn crop is up. Students report entering the “Grinnell bubble” and remaining there for upwards of four years. </p>
<p>Action item: Try scheduling a visit to Grinnell, even though it’s not easy to get to. With some legwork you could visit Carleton (another good choice for STEM amongst LACs) and maybe Macalester on the same trip (although Mac is not as well known for sciences).</p>
<p>Thanks for the information on Grinnell, SomeOldGuy. It’s getting more and more difficult to convince the kid that she needs to cast a wider net, beyond the west coast. Iowa might be a hard sell, but I’m always up for a travel adventure.</p>
<p>What about University of Chicago? Haven’t done any research, but I’m thinking it’s highly selective, yes? Spygirl loves, loves Chicago and might consider spending 4 years there.</p>
<p>Try strategic annoyance: The more I pestered my kid about this stuff, the farther away from home he wanted to move. His final list contained only one school within a seven-hour drive of our house.</p>
<p>Hahaha-- S.O.G! Unfortunately I don’t think that will work. Maxwell is mortified that DD is 17, much less wants to attend college outside of Oregon, so he’d freak if I mentioned Iowa. He’s slowly coming around though :)</p>
<p>Some of the Midwestern LACs might be a nice compromise. The ones we visited really do have a “family” feel to them, and the townies more or less adopt the kids for four years. I would have felt very comfortable with my son at one of them – even half a continent away.</p>
<p>Spygirl has had her fill of rural areas as we live in one. She commutes into the city for high school and is very happy in an urban area. It would have to be a fantastic fit to convince her. We could start in Chicago and head … which way is Iowa? Southeast?</p>
<p>Oops that Northwest.</p>
<p>West. On Interstate 80. Until you start seeing more pigs than people. And then for about another three hours. I think I’m starting to see the issue.</p>
<p>Now, I want to send you to Macalester, but I don’t think it has quite the depth in STEM that you’re looking for. What it does have is a lovely, traditional LAC campus and community – but right in the middle of the Twin Cities in a beautiful residential neighborhood in St. Paul. There aren’t that many great LACs in urban settings. </p>
<p>Carleton may be a better fit academically and is only 45 minutes south of Minneapolis.</p>
<p>I know you said “no women’s colleges”. But you might see if you can get her to set foot on ONE if you go to the east coast. There are more threads out here than I can count with girls who swore no all girl schools for them, then figured out when they visited one that there are some real advantages to them. Smith & Mt. Holyoke are in the five college consortium with U Mass-Amherst that gives them some muscle in terms of course options, too. U of Chicago could be good, but is a VERY tough admit these days (over 30,000 applications recieved this year, probably less than a 10% acceptance rate).</p>
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<p>Yes, this would be a huge issue, lol. </p>
<p>Good plan, Intparent. Doesn’t hurt to look, right? BTW: what are they advantages of an all woman college?</p>
<p>DD’06 went to Carleton - though she ended up a psych major, she had many friends in the basic sciences. They had amazing opportunities for research as undergrads there and elsewhere. Can’t imagine Carleton is not a wonderful place for women in STEM, but don’t know for sure. I can’t imagine a professor who is in any way less than helpful to women students staying at Carleton very long - it’s a very progressive place. DD enjoyed the corn fields just outside of town, but didn’t get into the Cities often. Some kids did, though - there are shuttles on weekends going to Mall of America, downtown St. Paul, and downtown Minneapolis. Carleton is a wonderful place to nurture one’s mind!</p>
<p>I’ve always wanted to go to Minneapolis. Any excuse to travel, right? Just how rural is Carleton? And how cold?</p>
<p>I was rather surprised by this thread. In my 1980s engineering classes at Clarkson, I felt no gender discrimination. (The only minor issue I can remember is my advisor suggesting “getting ready for a date” as a possible topic for the mandatory writing test… and perhaps he used the same example for guys too.) </p>
<p>In my extensive research of engineering schools in recent years for my daughter and son, I have not noticed feedback about lack of opportunity for girls. (There has sometimes been complaints from guys about girls having higher acceptance rates, but methinks the ones that apply are self-filtered and highly qualified.) I’ve heard that at Olin (approx 50% female) the profs go to special pains to make sure that both genders take a variety of team roles on group projects . I have nothing against women’s colleges, but personally I have no regrets attending a college with gender dynamics similar to the real workplace. </p>
<p>Of course there very well may be issues out there. Just wanted to add a my sample data point.</p>
<p>AgentNinetyNine - Northfield, the town in which Carleton is located, has about 20,000 residents - not sure if that includes the students at Carleton and St. Olaf, which is a slightly larger (3000 vs.2000) school than Carleton. And St. Olaf, by the way, probably merits a look if you go. While renowned for its music programs, it is also strong in math and has some lovely science facilities. Merit aid may be easier to come by at St. Olaf than at Carleton. I will say that Northfield is largely surrounded by farmland, but has many cultural opportunities with 2 colleges there, so it doesn’t seem primarily rural, just small-town friendly.<br>
It does get cold - 30 below is not unknown, but the kids are gone several weeks for Christmas break, missing some of the cold. They flood the center area of campus (aka The Bald Spot) for an ice rink when it’s cold enough - lots of skating and broomball! Cafeteria trays are sometimes appropriated for sleds when the snow is deep enough - there are some nice sledding hills! And the campus security folks were kind enough to give the girls in their strappy dresses and shoes a ride from their dorms to the mid-winter ball the year it was 30 below that night!
We LOVED going to Mpls./St.Paul when we visited - so many, many wonderful opportunites (e.g., ice cream!) there. It’s about a 45 minute drive from Northfield; Mall of America, about half an hour. I would definitely add a trip to MN if you can!!</p>
<p>[Making</a> Good on Our Commitment to Needy Students - Do Your Job Better - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“Making Good on Our Commitment to Needy Students”>Making Good on Our Commitment to Needy Students)</p>
<p>D1 went to Caltech, D2 is at UChicago, both did physical science. Caltech was a little more quirky with what looked like it really did not matter male/female/color/national origin, etc all techers. UChicago is a little more mainstream but still nerdy and life of the mind types. Still I do not see a female issue, all nerds. I was very concerned about D1 several years ago when there was so little women at Caltech. We went there twice and had her stay over night, etc. We got the help of the women organization which i think is not there now to arrange it before she decided between it and Harvey Mudd. At UChicago I was not so concerned, by that time I was used to it all as was D2 from staying at Caltech with her sister for visits. By college time you find your niche and acceptance is easier.</p>
<p>Grinnell won a White House award for the “Grinnell Science Project” which “is committed to developing the talents of all students interested in science and mathematics, especially those from groups underrepresented in the sciences – students of color, first-generation college students, and women in physics, mathematics and computer science.”</p>
<p>[Grinnell</a> Science Project - Divisions | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/divisions/science/gsp]Grinnell”>http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/divisions/science/gsp)</p>
<p>Along with top-notch facilities, small classes and close faculty interaction (hallmarks of many LACs) Grinnell offers wonderful opportunities for research, including a “Mentored Advanced Project” (MAP)</p>
<p>[Mentored</a> Advanced Projects - Academic Affairs and Dean of the College | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/dean/map]Mentored”>http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/dean/map)</p>
<p>I just realized she’s not interested in rural, but I hope she’ll take a look at Grinnell. They bring in so much to do on campus, including a very active concert board that brings in a ton of musicians from all genre of music – these kids are really up on the hot / the indie / the cool / musicians from every nook and cranny of today’s music world. Not sure if she is into music, but just gives you an indication of the student body – that it is involved in what’s going on in the world. (on many levels, not just music).</p>
<p>The college is also about two blocks away from a town – not a booming metropolis, but it is not as isolated as some other schools we visited where students need a car to do anything off campus.</p>
<p>Northfield is pretty rural and not really any colder than Chicago or the NE part of the US. The town of Northfield, however, has a lot to do with Carleton and St. Olaf there. She could also look at St. Thomas, Hamline, Macalaster in St. Paul. All of those are very urban campuses. Creighton in Omaha would also be worth invesitgating. Yes, it’s Nebraska but Omaha has about 800,000 people in the metro and the campus is pretty much in downtown Omaha. It’s a very “female” friendly campus–good merit aid as well.</p>
<p>Grinnell is VERY, VERY rural—probably not an option.</p>
<p>I don’t think that Grinnell feels that much more rural than Carleton. Visited both, and S attends Grinnell. Both are an hour from a city. Carleton does share the town with another college, that is correct, so perhaps that adds to more of a college town feel than Grinnell. IMO, the school that felt the most isolated of any we visited was Kenyon, and that was because it was just one tiny street connected to the campus, and any other shopping or eating required transportation.</p>
<p>Another factor to consider is the student body – here’s an interesting site that shows geographic distribution, which can help with the feeling that the student is part of a broader, less parochial world.</p>
<p>Getting students who feel they want an urban environment to understand the wonderful sense of community and engagement that can come from being part of a small college in a more isolated setting is tough. My D never wanted to look at a rural school, and yet now after she has visited her brother at Grinnell, she can see how much fun it would be to go there – since so much of life at that age is hanging out with your friends…(she attends a big city school and loves it, but now can see that she would also have liked a Grinnell – but couldn’t visualize it at application time…)</p>
<p>[Where</a> Does Your Freshman Class Come From? - Facts & Figures - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=130794]Where”>http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=130794)</p>
<p>one thing I would NOT recommend in terms of visiting LACS in the midwest or east coast is to do it in the summer. You really want her to see these schools in action with students. Otherwise, then, yes, she may very well run away from the concept if she is not amenable to a school that is not urban…</p>