<p>aibarr: have you considered talking to hollywood? im sure they can turn your story into an inspirational crapfest</p>
<p>AA happens in undergrad but you'd have a lot of convincing to do to get me to believe it happens for grad school.</p>
<p>Assuming one meets the physical and academic requirements, I would suggest that women looking for strong engineering programs consider attending one of the US Sevice Academies. </p>
<p>The Aerospace / Aeronautical / Astronomical Engineering programs at USAFA and USNA are ranked 2 and 3 respectively and the Civil Engineering Program at West Point is ranked #2. While a niche that isn't formally ranked, the Marine Engineering Program at USMMA, Kings Point is considered the best in the country.</p>
<p>The women I know that attend Kings Point with my son are all tremendous people any of whom I would want my daughters to emulate. </p>
<p>When the Class of 2010 begins at Kings Point on Thursday, it will mark the 32nd Anniversary of the first women attending a US Service Academy -- two years before the other four academies. Much has changed for the better over the years and while there aren't isolated incidents of abhorrent behavior, the meritocracies at these schools make them very good places for women leaders to excel.</p>
<p>Sadly I'll agree with everything Aibarr said. </p>
<p>I've seen most things she's said. I've experanced alot of them. I've been told I got into a school because of my extra X choromosome. I've been told that I was "just a girl" and they didnt need to worry, they would easily beat me. </p>
<p>Yeah. Its just a bundle of daisies. </p>
<p>This is why I go to the engineering school I could find with the closest thing to a 50/50 balance I've seen. (45% Female) We have people realizing these problems exisit and I know many professors who would raise a firestorm if a person got in due to gender. There are discussions about gender and its a topic everyone is aware of, we are all working to make this a place of equality, since we realize we're still not perfect, no where is.</p>
<p>
[quote]
while there aren't isolated incidents of abhorrent behavior
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Meant to say, "while there ARE isolated incidents of abhorret behavior"</p>
<p>my bad</p>
<p>My daughter will be a senior in MechE next year.</p>
<p>She says she is sick to death of people she meets saying to her "OH, you're a girl in ENGINEERING? It must be SO hard! Why are you doing that?" She's said this attitude is even worse when she's travelled in Europe. </p>
<p>In this day, any interviewer who asks a job candidate if they're "going to run off and get married and have a bunch of children" can and should be SUED. </p>
<p>It seems like engineering is the last backwater for accepting female colleagues. Remember the thread on here sometime ago by the prospective engineering student looking for schools w/ "hot" girls in engineering. . . . ? Speaks volumes doesn't it?</p>
<p>heh, here at harvey mudd we have a saying...</p>
<p>"Smart girls are sexy."</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>REMOVED.....</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sigh. I need a vacation. Luckily, I leave tomorrow for a week of backpacking in Montana, so if anybody feels the need to tell me what a waste of carbon I am, PM me, because I'm not gonna be checking the forums for a week. Happy fourth, y'all.
[/quote]
We still need to get together sometime for drinks. :)</p>
<p>I've gotten tired of hearing it, too. Had someone tell me that girls are inherently worse at math than men. I've seen professors who outright favour male students, who will recommend them, regardless of GPA, for grad programmes, while putting down the girls. I've had someone ask me if my grades were bad because I didn't know how to "think" properly... of course, it must be the fact that my brain is inferiour, not the fact that I was in and out of hospitals. </p>
<p>I got sick of it. Sure, there are tons of engineers who respect women and even think that, in order for them to get through, they are probably better than their male colleagues. Ultimately, though, it sucks when you're a woman first and an engineer second, so you spend all your time proving that you're an engineer instead of demonstrating that you are a good engineer.</p>
<p>Pebbles, how does it feel to be wrong:
<a href="http://www.engr.uconn.edu/%7Eedpweb/bridge/detail.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~edpweb/bridge/detail.html</a>
(NEVER call anyone a liar if you haven't heard of something in the real world, it WILL come to bite you in the behind, trust me)
And for aibarr, in my situation I was on deans list first sem with a 3.7, a girl that received a scholarship from my major that me an other male BMEs were eligible for was not on the deans list, and was squeeking by grade wise, with about a 3.0-3.2. She got it, my and the other males didn't. Lots of other guys in my major were also on the deans list. There are abour 30 or so males in my engineering discipline in my program and about the same number of the females. About 10 females got scholarships, and only 2 males did. Fair? But I know what your saying about females who do deserve to be there. For the ones who do I'm friends with a lot of them and they are awesome. I have nothing but respect for them. But ones who barely passed the SATs, and other classes and are still getting pumped money, well, why are they getting anything if they didn't earn it.</p>
<p>Bignude, I am a computer engineering major who went to a bridge program before entering my first semester. I was prevented from taking calculus in HS so this program helped me. I got some credit for calculus, chemistry lab, and writing and then I was in the Dean's List my first semester. The women in bridge were even better. They were the top scorers in most of the classes. One of them discovered an error on a midterm that five math professors missed. Another got a higher grade than me in physics and I have taken the most difficult physics classes in HS. </p>
<p>I think you were a bit off by saying that WOMEN were ones given preferential treatment with summer programs. This year's bridge does have white males in their ranks. Maybe we are just impartial at UVA, but bringing up bridge programs doesn't really help your case.</p>
<p>Your bridge program is most likely different than our program. If you read up on the link its for underrepresented people in the field. No way they would take white men at my school. And like I said before, I know and am friends with tons of good female engineering students. I know lots of them are smarter then lots of the guys. But at the same time for those who aren't and don't put any time into the major, or really care because its all paid for. They don't deserve it. They do nothing to deserve more money and better treatment, and at the same time many aren't greatful for it. They act as if they deserve it, even if they do nothing. Those type of people male female black or white do not deserve scholarships. If you are given an opportunity, you use it to its maximum. If you act like its coming to you and you do nothing to back it, you have no reason to get anything.</p>