<p>On saturday, I went to a guided tour of Olin. The school itself seemed really good, however, when we met with the Dean of admission, he was really rude to me. We were in a group of four, me (a female) and three guys. He introduced himself to the boys but ignored me. I had to get his attention before he even noticed me. After that, we went around the room to say something about ourselves, and again, he didnt allow me to talk. One of the mothers pointed out that he skipped me, and he allowed me to talk, but both times he didnt apologize for ignoring me. I got a clear message from him that he didnt want me there. The school seems awsome, but if all the staff is like that, I dont see how anyone could make it there. As a side note, the also didnt send me the e-mail they sent the other students in the group (one of whom is my friend) for the students to write a reviee of the placr. Thats three times they left me out.</p>
<p>That seems unusual. Typically the entire Olin staff is gracious and accommodating to all. Perhaps you somehow hit a bad day. If you loved everything else, then consider applying and making further decision when/if invited to Candidate Weekend.</p>
<p>I don’t know what to tell you. Charlie Nolan is awesome! I have never heard of him ignoring girls or anyone else. Maybe you misinterpreted what happened? I’m a girl. I know he’s always been amazing to me. He attended my wedding. I’m sorry your experience was bad. I can only guess either he didn’t realize you were a potential student or maybe his eyesight is going lol??</p>
<p>Especially given that you didn’t receive a survey my only guess is that they thought you were the younger sister or something of a visiting student???</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Olin and loving the experience. It’s definitely NOT a place where girls are overlooked or ignored.</p>
<p>This is Charlie Nolan, Dean of Admission at Olin College of Engineering. I apologize for any misunderstanding that the young woman who visited campus and wrote below about her less than positive experience at Olin on Saturday, November 3. As you remember, you were part of group that arrived late for our information session, while the video was playing, and I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself to you. I mistakenly thought you were a younger sister of one of the students who registered for the information session. I thought I apolgized, once the adult you were traveling with pointed out I did not ask you to introduce yourself. I can assure you that it was inadvertent, as I, along with everyone in the Admission Office, take great pride in making everyone feel welcome and comfortable. </p>
<p>It certainly was not the case that I was not pleased that you were there–quite the opposite. I remember that you had several excellent questions and I was favorably impressed with them and you. Be that as it may, the most important thing is that I want acknowledge your disappointment in your visit to Olin and invite you to contact me via phone or email. Olin College is a very friendly and welcoming place, and I am sorry that you didn’t experience that feeling from me. </p>
<p>I checked our records and we sent you an email at on November 5 at 2:44 PM EST with a link to our capus visit experience survey. Did you not receive it?</p>
<p>Again, please contact me, if I can assist you with learning more about Olin and our special living and learning environment.</p>
<p>Charles aka “Charlie” Nolan, Dean of Admission</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that you had an issue. My daughter is a freshman and she is very happy at Olin. We have found the Olin staff to be superior in almost every respect. If you have the opportunity, I suggest you get in touch with some of the students. They will give you a true picture of what campus life is all about.</p>
<p>Wow, way to step up Mr. Nolan and use CC effectively to clear up a misunderstanding!</p>
<p>Another parent of a freshman female here, and my daughter, like the others above, is LOVING Olin. Far from being inhospitable to women, Olin is exceptional among engineering schools in creating a positive and welcoming atmosphere for women. It was a key factor in my daughter deciding to attend.</p>
<p>My daughter shared an anecdote with me that really impressed her. There’s a lot of teamwork at Olin, and within teams, there are a number of different roles that people tend to occupy: The leader/driver, the organizer, the specialist, the planner, etc. Olin, through student surveys and other means, has made an effort to identify patterns in the roles males and females tend to fall into within these team structures. They’ve found that females have a tendency to gravitate toward the organizer, team-player sorts of roles, rather than the leader/planner sorts of roles and they are actively seeking ways to break those patterns. My daughter was super impressed that the school was paying that level of attention to gender roles and stereotypes, and proactively seeking ways to build every student’s skills and abilities to their fullest.</p>
<p>I’ll bet you’ll be hard pressed to find another tech-oriented school that’s trying harder to be inclusive and nurturing to women than Olin.</p>
<p>Digit - as a mom of a very happy Olin sophomore, I can confidently say that your experience was not typical. I have come to know and admire many people in the Olin community including the staff, volunteers, parents, students and founders. Without exception, they are friendly, open, caring, giving, helpful, hard-working, intelligent and great to be with. I hope you will accept Charlie’s invitation to re-visit Olin and experience the community that we know and love. Feel free to PM me with any questions you have. Good luck to you and your friends as you continue along your college admissions journey.</p>