Is it true that it’s easier for girls to get accepted into engineering programs than for boys to because less girls apply? Is it possible to major in some sort of engineering like BME or Aerospace engineering and still go to med school?
<p>You should major in engineering because it is something that you are definitely interested in not because it may be easier for you go get into a school for engineering. Yes, you can go to med school with an engineering degree however engineers trend to have a lower gpa because of the rigor of their curriculums (which at many schools us not taken into consideration</p>
<p>Well aerospace engineering and engineering based on the biological sciences do interest me.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, rankings take into account undergraduate GPA, so I suspect graduate schools will not be too forgiving for engineers.</p>
<p>"Is it true that it's easier for girls to get accepted into engineering programs than for boys to because less girls apply?"
I suspect it, but have not seen colleges publish data that break down the data by gender. But, I suspect they must be a little more accepting to some degree because for instance, for every girl that scored 750+ on the math portion of the SAT, there are 2+ guys. (But, most engineering schools have 2:1 ratios or worse, which means that they may be keeping a uniform standard, but I still doubt that, as girls are less interested in engineering anyway.)
source: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/pdf/2003CBSMath.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/pdf/2003CBSMath.pdf</a>
(Don't flame about bias or anything else. I'm not interested.)</p>
<p>Many schools have diversity initiatives around increasing the number of females in math, science and engineering. Females still have to be highly qualified though, especially with prestigious, high ranking, highly selective schools. Just being female is not enough!</p>
<p>I think it used to be more, but I'm sure it is still out there. The main organization is the Society of Women Engineers at <a href="http://www.swe.org%5B/url%5D">www.swe.org</a>. A little less than 20% of entering freshman engineers are women.</p>
<p>At large majority of colleges which have engineering programs, women are essentially treated as under-represented minorities for engineering and thus receive a plus factor for consideration in admission. How much that plus factor helps is often difficult to pinpoint. Note also that it often takes higher test scores and GPA to get into a university's engineering program than any other programs and thus you will still need high grades and scores even with that plus factor. An example: at MIT, the plus factor is about the same as getting an extra 20 points on the SAT but average SAT (old test) for admittees was about 1500 or more so the plus factor helps a little but not a huge amount.</p>
<p>You can go to med school with essentially any major but the key is you need to complete all the pre-med courses (chem, bio, others) required for admission regardless of what your major is. It would be easier to meet those requirements while doing BME rather than aerospace simply because your BME course requirements will themselves include more of those usually required for entry into med school. Also, it is more difficult at many colleges to get a high overall GPA when majoring in engineering rather than something from liberal arts & sciences and a high GPA should be considered a necessity for admission to med school.</p>
<p>Assuming you genuinely want to study engineering and you're not just doing it for an admissions bump, yes, it can help.</p>
<p>Gender breakdowns at some schools in New England/New York/New Jersey, since those are the stats in the PR book sitting right in front of me:</p>
<p>Worcester Polytechnic Institute: 77/23 (M/F)
University of Rochester: 54/46
Trinity College: 48/52 <-- one of the best LAC programs in the country
Stevens Institute of Technology: 75/25
Rochester Institute of Technology: 69/31
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: 75/25
Polytechnic University: 80/20
New Jersey Institute of Technology: 79/21
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 57/43
Cornell University: n/a
Cooper Union: 66/34
Clarkson University: 75/25</p>
<p>It obviously won't matter at Smith, but their program is considered to be excellent. I'm pretty sure they're the first and only women's college to offer engineering.</p>
<p>UConn has one of the best BME programs in New England. Although the university as a whole is fairly balanced (48/52), putting that down as your intended major might help -- if you're really interested. You can also get NEBHE tuition if you're from one of the other NE states, but it looks like you're a Texan.</p>
<p>During freshman year in most majors, the faculty is trying to nurture the students and help them succeed. In engineering, the faculty is typically trying to thin the herd and move the less motivated students into other majors. Being a freshman engineering major is a very intense experience. From the OP, it sounded as if you might just be looking for path into med school.</p>
<p>Do males get the same boost if they want to enter a humanities/writing field?</p>
<p>Depends on the school, but it can help. At schools like Clark, Geneseo, Conn College, Assumption, Bennington, Drew, Emerson, and others that have large female majorities, qualified male applicants can be quite coveted. Look to LACs more than universities, especially public schools, since those are often are more male-dominated.</p>
<p>I'm really referring to HYPMS...</p>
<p>There is no shortage of male humanities majors at HYPMS.</p>
<p>For those schools, no. Look to more female-dominated LACs if your stats aren't enough for the others. Sarah Lawrence has a terrific writing program and has a 26/74 breakdown. Also, NYU is 60% female, so you might consider them. Conn's English/writing program is terrific. I believe Hamilton's writing program is quite noted, but I'm not sure about the breakdown there.</p>