"Reach" for males is not the same as "Reach" for females

<p>I spent some time reviewing this website:
U.S</a>. University Directory - State Universities, Online University Degree Search and College Rankings</p>

<p>This is the only website where I find detailed information on the actual number of male applicants vs. female applicants along with acceptance numbers for each. I am probably stating the obvious but wow, the acceptance rates for males is MUCH better than for females. I think if you're a guy, it's not so much of a "reach" for a not-so-stellar application to be accepted by some good schools. </p>

<p>I'd love to see average GPA's and SAT scores of males vs. females, accepted and denied. It would be interesting to see how low schools have to stoop to increase the male to female ratio. I noticed last year at American University in Washington D.C., they had 923 females enroll compared to only 445 males!</p>

<p>Sorry girls!</p>

<p>At the College of William and Mary, which is considered one of the best schools in Virginia (some would say it rivals UVA), the acceptance rate for males is 45%, while for females it's a mere 25%!</p>

<p>I posted something similar at BC forum last month. It is tougher for girl to get into college these days. There are more girls applying to college, they score better than the boys, and they are more involved in activities. I don't understand why college is so afraid of gender-imbalanced. Affirmative Action was designed to help groups who have been traditionally discriminated against, but at what point in our history did boys get discriminated against for being boys?</p>

<p>If girls continue to go to college at this astounding rate, within 10-20 years the corporate image, the political landscape, and society overall would look very different.</p>

<p>^ Not necessarily. A good portion of college-educated females are still opting to become stay-at-home moms. I think there will still be more men than women overall in the workplace, unless we undergo some huge cultural shift.</p>

<p>The problem is that our schools have become "feminized." Girls are better at test-taking. It does not mean they are smarter, it just means they are better at taking tests. Meanwhile our educational system rewards people who are good at taking tests (multiple choice tests at that).</p>

<p>Those who are working today did not come from this era. The 30-50 something went to college when women were still the minority in college or were much smaller than they are today. Even if a good chunk of today female students decide to be home-maker, that would still leave a huge chunk of women advancing their career further. Furthermore, the census has pointed out to a decline in fertility in middle-class to upper-middle class women. They are having children a lot later and having few of them. As much as the old-boy network wants to keep the level of testosterones in the room high, they won't find enough qualified male employees if the rate of male students in college continues to decline.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The problem is that our schools have become "feminized."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Wow. How old are you and where did you think this line up?
I am pretty sure that test were given - 50 years ago, even 100 years ago.</p>

<p>It is not tougher for girls to "get into college" - it may be more competitive to get into some colleges but not all.
It is simply the law of supply and demand at work - most colleges - that are co-ed want to keep a balance of gender.
If you are a high school senior girl, looking at a co-ed school - most do not want to attend a school that is 75% females and 25% male. Likewise with guys - most guys who are applying to a LAC don't want the school to be 75% males and 25% female. The applicants actually drive the market here.</p>

<p>I think it's not a far claim to say schools have become "feminized". Studies have shown females learn differently from males and thus the prepondorance of teachers who happen to be female will be more likely to teach in a way (inadvertently) that favors girls over guys. I'm not saying this is the sole reason but I think it's part of the reason between the divide.</p>

<p>Question -- do you think it depends on the area of study? I think that it might be easier for a girl to get into school majoring in engineering than arts and sciences? Any thoughts?</p>

<p>It is tougher for girls to get into college except when it comes to male-dominated fields like engineering and physics.</p>

<p>It has always been tougher for girls to get into college. Even back when I applied to college, for instance, most of the top colleges that were single sex were male only, and those that were co-ed had admission standards that were tougher for women than men. That's why, for instance, Harvard used to admit one in 3 men, and one in 4 women. The whole campus knew that on the whole, the female students were smarter, yet had fewer opportunities when it came to graduate and professional schools.</p>

<p>Article</a> | The feminized American classroom - and how it hurts boys</p>

<p>This is a good article from the Manhattan Institute about why boys are disadvanted in today's schools. I think it's very true. My friends and I are expected to behave like girls in school. We're treated like sissies and not like men. Then they want us to go off to war!</p>

<p>You have a dangerous perception of what a man is or is supposed to be. What are "sissies"?</p>

<p>Justin:</p>

<p>such data is also available on each college's Common data Set, if they publish it. But, of course, it's easier for a girl to be accepted to an engineering/science school, like MIT. :)</p>

<p>Northstarmom is correct. </p>

<p>Justin1234 - I gotcha - so this "good" article is the basis for your opinion.</p>

<p>The preponderance of female teachers is not new - back in the "dark ages" when I was in school I had all female teachers. I never had a male teacher until I reached high school.
I have not seen any evidence of boys being disadvantaged in the public school system that my children have attended for the past 20 years.
Since fewer boys are choosing to excel scholastically perhaps you should be thankful that you have less competition from your own gender.</p>

<p>Maybe if boys were less set on conforming to gender stereotypes (and society was less set on expecting them to conform), the so-called "feminization" of classrooms would be less of an issue.</p>

<p>I am deeply skeptical of anything that makes blanket statements about how girls and boys learn, or what environments are better for them. Even if it is true for the average (disregarding whether this is caused more by biology or socialization for the sake of simplicity here), there is so much variance within the population of girls and boys, and so much overlap between the two sets, that blanket statements are something of a distortion.</p>

<p>two years ago when my d applied it was written about on this site that it was harder for girls to get in than boys. one school even wrote that there are so many accomplished girls that they had to turn away many very good candidates.</p>

<p>One problem is this, schools want male athletes more than female. People watch the girls games but they go to the boys games. I know that for a fact since I have a d that is an athlete. The crowd for a boys games is sold out but the girls rarely are more than 1/2 full. it is a shame because the girls team is better than the boys!</p>

<p>Girls tend to do better on the written part of tests. So the SAT puts the written part of the exam on there, my d scores 800 but the schools don't even use it! sorry but it is still a man's world.</p>

<p>But isn't that like saying "I am deeply skeptical of anything that makes blanket statements about how girls throw baseballs compared to how boys throw baseballs." There ARE differences between boys and girls that CAN be explained with blanket statements. And there is nothing inherently wrong with that. My opinion is that our educational system has become more girl-oriented, which is causing boys to experience less "success" according to the way the way our educational system defines "success."</p>

<p>the gender gap is just another way for society to maintain the sexist male advantage. many years ago, girls werent given as many opportunities for education so colleges didnt take them b/c they were supposedly dumber. now, colleges are discriminating against girls b/c they're "too smart."</p>

<p>college admissions don't just disadvantage the 'traditionally disadvantaged' group of girls, they're also biased against asians with affirmative action policies that were designed to help traditionally disadvantaged/discriminated-against groups.</p>

<p>i think colleges shouldnt judge applicants on factors beyond our control like gender + race...they should judge ppl based on merit. college admissions is like the only place where racial+sexual discrimination is allowed (but disguised behind subjective admissions policies).</p>

<p>You say: "Now, colleges are discriminating against girls b/c they're "too smart." But wait! The problem is that at many colleges, they receive nearly TWICE as many female applicants as they do male applicants. I cited above the College of William and Mary where nearly 7,000 girls applied and only 3,000 boys. So in their defense, if they didn't have a male bias then the student population would be like 70% girl and 30% boy. And pretty soon it would be like 80-20 or 90-10 because boys would no longer want to attend that sort of school.</p>

<p>^^ and whats wrong with having a gender imbalance? sure it may cut into their profit a little, but ethically who said colleges should keep a 50-50 gender ratio?</p>