<p>I'm applying to Harvard as an engineer. My friend keeps telling me that if I get it in it'll probably be because I'm a girl. I know he's wrong but I just wanted to see what you guys think. I'm just worried that if I get in I'll always feel like maybe I didn't deserve it. Any fellow female engineers out there think my friends a jerk??</p>
<p>It’s really not about who deserves it and who doesn’t deserve it. It’s about what’s good for Harvard. Many, many people who deserve it don’t get in. If you get in, it will be because Harvard believes you had something important to add to the class. They are the experts at making that judgment, so I would trust them.</p>
<p>Does a girl applying for a hard sceince like chemistry have the same advantage as for engineering?</p>
<p>And dont feel like you dont deserve it, many people who get turned away are fully qualified. I agree w/ the person above me</p>
<p>Tell your “friend” to stop being sexist and stupid. If being a girl helps you gain admission, it’s only because it’s harder for women to succeed in a male dominated discipline like engineering. Every candidate admitted to Harvard is a phenomenal student, and will offer something unique to the school. If you get admitted, you clearly fit that description. Good luck; I really hope you get in!</p>
<p>einsteinfan2400 im in the same situation. my parents and my bro keep telling me that as well.</p>
<p>umm so what you still got into harvard…</p>
<p>not to be too blunt, but you definitely do have an unfair advantage. you can probably get away with lower test scores, weaker ec’s, and a whole lot more just so colleges can appear “equal”. </p>
<p>everyone in my family from my grandfather on has attended harvard and interviewed applicants. most of them agree that the best girl applicants are just not as strong compared to the guys. this is probably why so many of them wear low-cut shirts to the interviews…</p>
<p>and btw, is it just me, or is it totally ironic that einstein (your idol or something) is a GUY??</p>
<p>Lolerskaterz girls can’t be engineers</p>
<p>I second that lol. You can’t cut it as a engineer, why don’t you mosey on and go do [pure</a> mathematics](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/670422-harvard-has-best-looking-math-tf-any-college.html]pure”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/670422-harvard-has-best-looking-math-tf-any-college.html) or something easy like that?</p>
<p>OMG THAT GIRL IS FINE!!! If the OP is like corina then I definetly want you to go to Harvard.</p>
<p>This has been discussed extensively already. Since you do not apply directly to the engineering school at Harvard, there is little “boost” or gain from listing “engineering” as one of your potential concentrations. The admissions officers know too well that many students will change their minds about majors once they get to college and they also know how some try to game the system. Tell your “friend” that if you get into Harvard, it will be because the adcom thought Harvard would be a good match, regardless of your sex.</p>
<p>EDIT: You might also want to reconsider why you’re friends with this guy…</p>
<p>HarvardMan–seriously?? While it’s lovely to hear that your entire family from your grandfather on is sexist, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about.</p>
<p>First, it has been confirmed by multiple studies that its actually harder for women to get into college than guys. For over 100 years, girls have been achieving more highly in pre-college education than boys, and women now outnumber men on college campuses—58 percent of college students nation wide are now female. As a result, women are held to a higher standard when applying to college; the rate of admission at a given school is an average of 13 percent lower for women than men. While this probably isn’t the case at Harvard because basically all candidates are excellent students, your biased, anecdotal “evidence” that your family agrees female applicants are less qualified means nothing to me. Do a fact check, please. Women at Harvard do NOT have lower test scores or GPAs. </p>
<p>And “so many of them wear low-cut shirts to the interviews?” Please stop implying that successful female applicants attempt to seduce their interviewers; it’s false and offensive. Again, glad your anecdotal, second hand accounts of these interviews suggest that, but successful female applicants are aware of how to dress appropriately. </p>
<p>If we want to talk about huge unfair advantages, YOU will be able to “get away with a lot” when you apply to Harvard, because you are a super legacy. Congrats.</p>
<p>“and btw, is it just me, or is it totally ironic that einstein (your idol or something) is a GUY??”</p>
<p>Yep; just you. Clearly Einstein was brilliant, and anyone interested in engineering is likely to be impressed by his work. If you were open minded, you would realize that his gender is wholly irrelevant to his accomplishments. And the fact that there are more famous males in science is directly the result of it being a historically male dominated discipline.</p>
<p>“For over 100 years, girls have been achieving more highly in pre-college education than boys”</p>
<p>Maybe when comparing everyone. But let’s face it. The lack of success for our lower-ranked men is clearly caused by female oppression. </p>
<p>That’s right. Don’t act like you people don’t use boobs against us. Women are evil succubi.</p>
<p>(In case you haven’t realized yet… Harvard’s 1 post count tells you he lives under a bridge?)</p>
<p>well said Minnesota Girl</p>
<p>Wow, as a prospective engineer I would definitely want more girls. Qualified or not, as long as they’re hot!</p>
<p>From a math fellow – honestly, the best way for you girls to keep guys from making such remarks is just to be qualified and successful. When you’re really good at what you do, it’ll actually shut up basically all but a few idiotic guys. When I take advanced math courses, often there will only be one girl per class, but if she’s very good, which seems to be the case (these girls self-select) to my experience, nobody makes rude comments around her.</p>
<p>hey
i’m also a girl wanting to be an engineer.
it might be true that it’ll be easier for us to get in because at the moment, there just isn’t enough girls who want to be engineers. but i don’t think it’ll mean we are any less qualified for the spot. If we are fortunate enough to catch the eyes of the admission officer, it won’t be because we are girl who want to do engineering.<br>
engineering will only be one of those things that might make a minor difference. :)</p>
<p>I’m not female, and I’m not going into engineering. (I’m going into proper MATH…neener neener…)</p>
<p>But yeah, your friend is kind of a jerk to say that. Slap’em.</p>
<p>“Diversity admissions” used work like this (I’ve parsed a lot of stats…)</p>
<p>Candidate A ≤ Candidate B</p>
<p>But Candidate A isn’t as well represented. A gets the nod.</p>
<p>Now it’s more like</p>
<p>Candidate A = Candidate B</p>
<p>But Candidate A is underrepresented. Candidate A gets the nod.</p>
<p>A comment I extracted regarding college admissions - this is directed mainly to the ■■■■■.</p>
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<p>^ To the OP: Read what smoda61 posted - that’s some good advice.</p>
<p>You’d best ignore what your friends say. Sadly, coming and asking for help here might not be much use either, as evidenced by some of the more immature posts on this thread. </p>
<p>There are people out there who will act like adults, believe it or not, but they often seem vastly outnumbered by those who have nothing better to do than put others down instead of bettering themself. Most of the latter, unfortunately, are kids around our age or level - our peers, in other words. There are some pre-college students or undergrads who are mature, just as there are some immature postgrads. But I think most parents have a point nowadays when they say that this is the first generation where it’s cool to be rude, cool to act stupidly, and uncool to be polite and considerate.</p>