<p>LOL - if I hear about one more girl who plays the flute becoming an engineer, I’ll scream. They really should make room for more talent-free white guys in that profession.</p>
<p>cartera45, LOL! I’ve got a talent-free white boy engineer in the family also! Thanks for the advice, we’ll have a long talk about diversity and that she does add diversity, as a girl. I keep telling her that at a techie type school, she might have more opportunity to play her flute but that doesn’t seem to be swaying her. She’d like to have a few more girls.</p>
<p>There’s another idea for an essay “How to get more girl engineers.” That could be hysterical. Mechanical pencils with little pink feathers on top. Hard hats by Prada. Bunsen burners that give off the odor of Chanel #5. Adding chocolate to the periodic table.</p>
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<p>So would the boys.</p>
<p>I recently suggested the following to a relative.</p>
<p>Pick a beautiful area of the campus but one that can be made more convenient by an engineering feat. Discuss what can be done and the benefits. Then reflect on why the feat should not be done (for which the adcom will undoubtedly agree) and reflect on how too often such feats have been done and why you think it is important to reverse the trend.</p>
<p>Daughter, Daughter-in-Law, Sister, Sister-in-Law, and Mother of (Two) Engineer(s) here. If my sons have their way, someday I’ll be Grandmother of Engineer; she’s not even 1 and already they’re buying her science/nature books and construction toys. She’s very clever about sidestepping folding gates and putting them back in place after she’s crawled through–just like her father did at her age. Can’t wait 'til she starts disassembling all the clocks in the house–like my brother did at age 5.</p>
<p>LOL Peggy! Were our sons separated at birth? Mine had a similar essay for a grad school app. Diversity? Um… what’s not diverse about a geeky white boy… mostly raised in the South… not applying to schools in the South… okay, grab the “regional” short straw and go with it. Worked for him.</p>
<p>My D went through this two years ago. I specifically remember one of the essay questions for the engineering school at U Mich… “Where will your field of study be in ten years and how will you fit into it.” My H, who is a computer engineer said to her “If I knew where my field of study would be in ten years and where I would fit into that field, I’d be a very rich man.” It’s pretty silly, really but no less frustrating and time consuming. My D is now studying computer science at U Maryland. She loves it by the way.</p>
<p>Oh, and she says that it’s kind of nice being a girl surrounded by smart guys at college!</p>
<p>My son, an engineering student, also had to answer an essay question that after explaining the school’s interest in diversity of talents, experiences and backgrounds, asked “what would you bring to the school?” My son identified his diverse interests in such and such, his enthusiasm for this and his dedication to that. He mentioned ec’s that he wanted to continue while at college, his work ethic, his desire to be a dedicated fan for the college sports teams. I think he was right to answer it this way because the school wants to find out whether the applicant would be an involved student once at college. The question isn’t limited to racial or socioeconomic or cultural diversity.</p>
<p>No actual essays written this weekend but more brainstorming. She had a friend over Saturday who helped her with the prompt that was giving her difficulty. I think that she has an idea and if she ever has any time she’ll work on her essays.</p>