<p>The proportion of women to men at other tech schools has improved, particularly at the top schools (MIT, OLIN RPI etc) But has remained stubbornly low at MO S&T. Why?</p>
<p>What's the whisper on this school? Problems with professors? safety? hazing?</p>
<p>The last I heard I think it was 23% female population at Missouri S & T. This does not thrill my son but at the same time he says at least he is more focused on his studies! I think the school is working at getting more women there by offering scholarships and focusing on women more. There does not seem to be any problems there (no buzz really) it just is a field here in the mid-west that women are not choosing as often as the men and when they do choose it they go somewhere else I guess. I am just guessing but some women may just not want to choose Rolla because there aren't as many other women...just a comfort thing. But really I have no idea...it is a great school! I think the numbers are increasing...just takes a bit of time I suppose.</p>
<p>From MaMoose, posted with permission, edited for personal references</p>
<p>Hey, Toadstool,</p>
<p>I grew up in Missouri, but my knowledge of the social dynamics at their universities is pretty out-of-date.</p>
<p>Way back then, MO S&T was University of Missouri, Rolla. Even then it was recognized as better than U of Mo, Columbia for engineering and hard sciences. In those days, the M:F ratio was like 9:1, and the undergrad women felt like they were under constant scrutiny... the profs (almost entirely male) wondered what the heck they were doing there, the male students wondered how they could score with them, and (to top things off) the soldiers from nearby Fort Leonard Wood were wondering, well, pretty much what the male students were wondering.</p>
<p>I don't know what the current dynamic is. Sorry. I would imagine (hope) things are somewhat better nowadays; the M:F ratio was actually under 4:1 in last year's entering class! And the Army is less male-dominated as well.</p>
<p>I do think MO S&T is a good deal for students in Missouri (Cost of Attendance < $19K) or in the Midwest Student Exchange (~$22K). Otherwise, its ~$30K COA isn't horrible, but there are other good schools in that range to consider.</p>
<p>And I can honestly say that the guys I knew from my high school who went to Rolla were both smart and nice.</p>
<p>I think I have the answer to your question toadstool. Generally, females are not too interested in engineering; the few women that are interested in engineering typically apply to top engineering schools like MIT.
The lack of women on the campus actually makes most male students quite desperate :P.</p>
<p>from Dontpanic1
Posted with Permission; edited by topic</p>
<p>No issues with hazing, safety, etc. S&T doesn’t have a lot of women because, unlike Purdue, and that ilk, engineering /comp sci really are the only major majors. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about a ’raft of less qualified students’, but D says she thinks the other majors only exist so that the students who flunk out of engineering have somewhere to go (<em>sigh</em>).</p>
<p>From ArkansasMom with permission</p>
<p>Hi,
At first I was confused, but I googled Missouri S&T to see that it has changed names! When my daughter and I visited, it was the U. of MO at Rolla. Anyway, to answer your question, my daughter chose another college and is not even majoring in engineering now! (Although I sure wish she was! I'm not sure what kind of job opportunities will await an anthropology major!)</p>
<p>At the time we visited, she definitely was put off by the very ugly campus and rural location. I remember that the people were very friendly and welcoming (both staff and students). The dorm rooms we saw were not bad at all. But the campus buildings themselves are quite ugly. The student guide we had was female, although as you say, the school is disproportionately male... which may not be such a bad thing when it comes to socializing! If I am remembering correctly, the student tour guide told us that there are lots of outdoor-type activities close by - maybe a lake/river or state park? It's hard to remember because it was 2 years ago that we visited.</p>
<p>Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you. Good luck in the college search process!</p>
<p>From a current Female Missouri Science and Technology Student:</p>
<p>Is the rolla airport really an airport, or do students fly to St. Louis and then drive the two hours?
Mostly students fly to St. Louis and then drive to Rolla. I have never heard of anyone flying into the Rolla airport. A lot of students will carpool back and forth from the St. Louis airport during breaks.</p>
<p>% of women with cars?
I think a large percentage of all students have cars. However, Rolla is a small community and you can walk to most places that you need to go. There are always students willing to carpool. I brought my car with me when I was a new student at Rolla and I use it maybe once every other day just as a convenience. It was convenient for me to have my car here so I could drive home when I wanted.</p>
<p>Do Engineering women live in the residential colleges or is that more for the liberal arts women. Or is major irrelevant.
Major is irrelevant in the dormitories. The Residential Colleges (RC) are the newest dormitories and are very nice. I lived in the RC when I first moved to campus. The RC has suite style rooms, which means that two bedrooms are connected by a common foyer and share a divided bathroom. The divided bathroom has a sink and a shower in one room and a toilet and a sink in the other. Thomas Jefferson Hall and the Quad both have community style living, so there is a common bathroom used by the entire floor.
I had a fantastic experience living in the RC my first year on campus. There were always activities going on outside on the lawn or in our floor's living room. The suite style rooms also provided a nice escape if I had a big test or final to study for.
When living in the RC, you take a 1/2 hour development course. I participated in the Women As Global Leaders course as a freshman and through this course I met a lot of the other women who lived in the RC. This course centered around leadership development for women. Through this course, I even had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala for a service project. This RC course also gave me an opportunity to meet other Missouri S&T students that provided me with a good support group as a new collegiate student.</p>
<p>The following link has information about a lock-in that the Missouri S&T chapter of the Society of Women Engineers hosts each semester for high school juniors and seniors.
Missouri</a> University of Science and Technology, Women in Science and Engineering
I attended two of these lock-ins before I came to Missouri S&T and they provided me a good introduction to the different types of engineering available on campus. The lock-ins also gave me the opportunity to experience campus life and to decide if Missouri S&T would be a good fit for me. I would highly recommend that she attend one of these lock-ins if she gets the chance.
Another opportunity that SWE members from Missouri S&T help with is a program called "Girl Meets Missouri S&T". This program is for women who have applied and been accepted into Missouri S&T, but who have not registered for a PRO day (where she would sign up for classes, etc.). In this program, each woman student would get matched with a current woman student on campus to spend two days with. The link for this program is as follows:
Missouri</a> University of Science and Technology, Women in Science and Engineering</p>
<p>bump 10 char</p>