<p>On</a> College Campuses, a Shortage of Men - NYTimes.com</p>
<p>I'm sooo glad I graduated 30 years ago...</p>
<p>So, the author managed to find a few insecure women on one college campus and has decided to generalize it into some sort of nationwide social crisis? What happened to adults being allowed to make adult decisions? Why is the author generalizing these women as helpless idiots who can’t really be satisfied until they can find a long-term relationship with a college man (as if that was ever super-easy)?</p>
<p>This author should have looked at Women’s colleges… there are literally NO men there, and yet they still have girls clamoring to get in there</p>
<p>so, in short, not all girls are looking for their MRS. degree</p>
<p>I thought this article was overwrought.</p>
<p>Somehow when a little less than 60% of undergraduates are female, a large university suddenly “feels like a women’s college”? A tad sensationalist or what? </p>
<p>If anything I give those schools that aren’t “naturally” 50/50 credit. The top schools have the good fortune of being able get a class where such gender maneuvering isn’t necessary because of such large and superfluous pools. There are just so many excellent applicants. But I feel for the young women who find themselves in situations where being female hinders their opportunities for admission. Anyone remember the old Kenyon admissions dean’s editorial in the NYT a few years back?</p>
<p>A dumb article. I expect more from the NYT. Obviously the reporter just went searching to find quote to prove his pre-determined angle. Of all the more worthy issues to discuss on the imbalance, he took this ridiculous one. I hate faux-sociology by reporters like this.</p>
<p>OK, truth be told, it WAS in the Style section…sorry…</p>
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<p>I agree, Louise.</p>
<p>D is attending a school which is 60% female. She is there to get an education and prepare for a specific career path and this school was the optimum place for her. She was well aware of this when she applied.</p>
<p>“not all girls are looking for their MRS. degree”</p>
<p>^^ Agreed, but I think that many young women (especially those who would never consider a women’s college) expect to date in college and have are surprised to learn that competition for men is far keener than they ever anticipated. Also, while a 60/40 split is pretty much the norm (hard to find a college/uni that’s less than 57% female), there are lots of schools where the ratio is even sweeter for the males. The social dynamic on those campuses is quite different than on the 57/43 campuses, especially those campuses (like Bennington) w/ lop-sided rations and also in small towns or rural communities and w/o neighboring colleges/unis.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s at all silly to think the ratio thing is a problem. None of the very smart and motivated young women I know are looking for husbands in college, but a boyfriend is a good thing, and part of the growing up process is developing healthy relationships. My girls went/go to a girls’ high school, and my junior D is ruling out any women’s college or even schools like Sarah Lawrence that are hugely skewed. She’s not looking for a husband but would like to have a balance of men and women around.</p>
<p>I’ve heard many stories from friends’ kids about the negative side of the gender issue-- sons behaving boorishly toward girls because they can, and girls being aggressively trampy to get attention from the boys.</p>
<p>I asked the president of my older D’s school (Loyola Marymount) about this issue-- LMU has the typical 60-40 ratio-- and he said they are very concerned, because it’s not a healthy thing. But they’re not willing to turn away all those wonderful, qualified young women just to make it 50-50.</p>
<p>Not an easy situation.</p>
<p>I can’t edit my post, but will add that there are also alot of girls who are going to college firstly for an education…I think “finding a boyfriend” should be wayyyy down the list…</p>
<p>It’s silly to eliminate schools that can offer a fantastic education because it’s harder to find a boyfriend…</p>
<p>but maybe that’s just crazy feminist me</p>
<p>D1 is very used to a higher ratio of boys to girls since her classes are largely math/science. Some of the engineering schools she’s applying to are 80/20 men/women so it’s the same scenario from the opposite side. I know her decision though won’t come down to the ratios but it is interesting to note. Then again the running joke about such ratios in the engineering community is the “odds are good but the goods are odd” 
No offense meant of course, D1 is quite certain she’d be accused of being an odd one herself :)</p>
<p>That was an interesting article. Thank you. </p>
<p>I found the following sentence particularly interesting (and perhaps more relevant for me):</p>
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<p>Interesting article. I’m amused they cited UNC Chapel Hill as an example, because I have heard many complaints from female friends there about precisely this issue.</p>
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The percentage of females to males is slightly less lopsided when one considers location. Many (if not most) single-sex colleges were situated in pairs – Radcliffe and Harvard, Barnard and Columbia, Pembroke and Brown, and so on. Although most colleges are now coed, many excellent single-sex colleges are still located near metropolitan areas or large universities.</p>
<p>Wellesley has close ties with MIT and is near Boston, Barnard shares ties with Columbia and is in NYC, Bryn Mawr has ties with the Quaker consortium and is near Philly, Mount Holyoke and Smith are part of the Five Colleges, Scripps is part of the Claremont consortium, and so on. Although men are not exactly in bountiful supply, women’s colleges are not Deep Springs, either.</p>
<p>As an entirely different beast, however, you have Sarah Lawrence. Males make up 25% of the undergraduate population, and a hefty percentage of them are gay. Not exactly favorable odds for females.</p>
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<p>Are there more gay men than lesbian women on co-ed campuses? Even assuming a 1:1 ratio in the general population, you might expect more lesbian women than straight women to choose women’s colleges, and this might skew the distribution on the co-ed campuses.</p>
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<p>High schools ought to consider posting this article, with pictures, to motivate the boys to get working.</p>
<p>Treetopleaf, LOL.</p>
<p>I was struck by the young woman who said that only half of the guys were acceptable, or words to that effect. Their time will come; they might not look like such hot stuff now, but 5 years down the road when they’ve acquired some polish, that young woman might be kicking herself for not investing in a growth stock, so to speak. </p>
<p>When I was in high school, Caltech was very heavily male. The ratio was so unpromising that Caltech males, if they’d attended high school in the SoCal area, would invite female friends still in high school out to the Caltech dances.</p>
<p>I consider myself a feminist and certainly don’t think women go to college for their “Mrs. degree.” But there is more to life than education and a career. Romance, friendships, eventual marriage – these are just as important in life as academics and jobs. So I don’t consider this article overwrought or ridiculous. I do think this is an issue. </p>
<p>I know many single women in their 40s who have satisfying careers and wonderful friendships. So I know it is possible to be happy without a husband. But let’s face it – ideally we parents all want our children to be married with kids one day. </p>
<p>Women don’t go to college to “find a boyfriend.” They go to college to learn. They want a boyfriend because it’s natural to want a relationship, to be close to someone, to be in love. There’s nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>“I was struck by the young woman who said that only half of the guys were acceptable, or words to that effect. Their time will come; they might not look like such hot stuff now, but 5 years down the road when they’ve acquired some polish, that young woman might be kicking herself for not investing in a growth stock, so to speak.”</p>
<p>Men and women alike are stupid about that kind of thing. I guess it just opens up the dating pool to those that are smarter than that. </p>
<p>I started seeing my boyfriend early freshman year, and at the time people laughed at me for dating him. I admit he didn’t look like much on the surface back then, but he had a heart of gold going for him, good enough for me. I will give nearly anyone who is kind to me a chance, one openminded date, because you never know who may surprise you. Now, two short years later, we are still together and the same girls are jealous of me. I could not be more amused!</p>
<p>My D is definitely going to college to get an education, but from the ages of 18 plus I do think that it is part of the developmental experience to have relationships with the opposite sex( if that is your sexual preference!..) I was extremely studious in college, but it was also during college that I had my first real relationship with a man. It was a tremendous growth experience. My D does not date in HS, so I know that she is hoping that things will change a bit in college. I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting that to be part of her life at that time. She is definitely not the the type to dress provocatively to attract male attention, so it looks like she might not be dating until grad school! Her father will be pleased!</p>
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<p>I hate this continuation of the so called “American dream”…I think it’s dumb that parents and society still push kids to get married and procreate. I might get married, I might not…it’s not even in the top 50 things I want to do before I’m 40…and even if I do get married, kids are def. not my thing…</p>
<p>I want to find friends in college, but I am definitely not “looking” for a boyfriend…if I meet someone, great…if not…it’s really not a huge concern.</p>