<p>It is absolutely an advantage for boys. Given the UNC article, I think it is not limited to small schools. </p>
<p>Choc, I think the days of Asians being considered UMRs ended years ago. In California’s state schools, alleged overrepresentation of Asians is a very hot issue.</p>
<p>Imagine what it’s like at a women’s college. D is at Bryn Mawr and the only blot on her otherwise perfect life (her words) is the lack of men. Now there are plenty of men who are looking to hook up, but once you get past those, the availability drops precipitously.</p>
<p>"Now there are plenty of men who are looking to hook up, but once you get past those, the availability drops precipitously. "…</p>
<p>from what I hear, the school size/gender imbalance makes no difference in this aspect…unfortunately</p>
<p>Well said, Rodney!</p>
<p>too true, rodney. unfortunately.</p>
<p>really? I’ve been thinking one advantage of RPI (in addition to all the others) is that women won’t have to put up with that sort of thing, if they don’t want to.</p>
<p>The ratios change dramatically based on what courses/ major you chose in just about any school. Years ago, when I was an English major and psychology minor, all of my classes were 85 to 95% female even though the school as a whole had a higher male percentage.</p>
<p>Anyone who is very concerned with the balance should consider that when they chose a major.</p>
<p>Some majors–art history, etc–do have very lopsided gender ratios, but I would not tell a child to pick a major or avoid a major for gender balance, rather than academic interest or career purposes.</p>
<p>DD will be at RPI which is still about 70% male. Arch dept is slightly over 50% female. If there is a rule preventing female archies from dating male electrical engineers, I have not yet heard about it.</p>
<p>What’s that saying: “the odds are good, but the goods are odd”</p>
<p>Article about college “hookup” culture from a developmental standpoint:
[Journal</a> of College and Character](<a href=“http://journals.naspa.org/jcc/vol11/iss4/2]Journal”>http://journals.naspa.org/jcc/vol11/iss4/2)
Author is Jewish; she teaches at BC which is a Catholic college.</p>
<p>I was not literally suggesting that you pick a major or a college based on gender mix. My D is a musical theater major at NYU! But the poster who said that D would not apply to schools that are more than 60% female better pick a major that suits her criteria in order to keep the balance right.</p>
<p>Why should she “better pick a major that suits her criteria in order to keep the balance right” instead of just picking the major she wants, knowing that she will meet boys in reasonable numbers outside the classes in her major? Far more social interaction takes place in dorms, dining rooms, gyms and at parties and other student activities than in classes in your major.</p>
<p>My daughter and I are discussing this very issue; I think there needs to be a 40/60 ratio (m/f) or all female, she doesn’t care. I think once you get an overwhelming number of one sex in the school it wrecks havoc in the congeniality of the school, especially for girls. Her major will most probably be female heavy but the school should not be (unless all female). JMHO</p>
<p>My experience has been that even on campuses with a 40/60 ratio (men to women) you just can’t discern an imbalance walking around campus, in the library, in the cafeteria, etc. You wouldn’t know there is an imbalance unless someone told you the stats. The imbalance may be perceived in certain classes, I guess. And the larger the population , the lower the impact.</p>
<p>uskoolfish - I am the poster who said my D won’t consider schools that cross the 40/60 split. D will actually be in a very unbalanced major (female heavy), which is why the overall split of the school is important to her. Most of her friends also tend to be outside of her main interest area and I expect that to continue in college. So to be in a larger school with kids with other interests and meeting them in dorms, parties and interest clubs seems to fit her better.</p>
<p>I understand totally, as a mother who has a D in musical theatre and one who wants to major in studio art. As it turns out, the kids in D’s major are an extremely tight knit group socially and that has impacted the time she spends in social activities outside this core group of friends. She has friends from her scholars program, friends from her freshman dorm, friends from jewish programming and friends she knows prior to attending NYU. But the majroity of her time is spent with kids that are MT majors across all 4 years.</p>
<p>On the plus side, she has never had so many really close female friendships. Most of her good HS friends were male. : ) Dating is another story, however. : (</p>
<p>Has anyone noticed, though, that the Jewish programming attracts disproportionate numbers of women?
On another topic, here is an article about genetic testing for diseases carried more commonly by Ashkenazi, funded by community sources, that is taking place at Pitt, CMU, and other Pittsburgh colleges; so far it is the largest single-day screening in the US for the 17 identified Jewish genetic diseases but it will also take place for at least two more years:
[The</a> Jewish Chronicle - Students gets tested for 17 varieties of Jewish genetic diseases](<a href=“http://thejewishchronicle.net/view/full_story/9994367/article-Students-gets-tested-for-17-varieties-of-Jewish-genetic-diseases--?instance=home_news_metro_right]The”>http://thejewishchronicle.net/view/full_story/9994367/article-Students-gets-tested-for-17-varieties-of-Jewish-genetic-diseases--?instance=home_news_metro_right)
Just another example of fantastic collaboration between the community and the colleges!</p>
<p>levirm - I have noticed that Hillel seems to attract more females than males. The funniest example I saw of this - I truly don’t remember which college it was - they had photos on their website of a mock wedding - with a chuppah and so forth - but the bride and “groom” were both female. I don’t think they meant it as a lesbian wedding - they just did not have a boy to play the role of the groom. (This bought back memories of Hebrew School - which did a mock wedding in 4th grade - S2 was the Cantor.)</p>
<p>Since this has almost become a forum for Jewish B students, RM I hope you won’t mind if I borrow it for a moment. Our S1 was the stereotypical first born A student. He knew he wanted to go to a school any place in the country that wasn’t too cold and was the best fit for him, that he could get into and could afford. We began our college tours Junior year as many of you are now doing. He also lived on college campuses for summer programs for most of the summers he was in HS. </p>
<p>S2 is probably a very typical younger sibbling for this thread. He’s having a great time in HS and is friendly outgoing and comfortable just about anywhere. He is one of probably less than 5 Jewish students in the whole school and everyone knows he’s Jewish and no one cares. He has a very strong sence of Jewish identity, and that is why everyone knows he’s Jewish. I mention this because I know he is as comfortable being one of few Jews as he is with many Jewish kids. He had the opportunity to take a trip of a lifetime to Israel this summer and therefore didn’t visit any colleges or prep for standardized tests or and has never spent any real time on a college campus. The twist is he tells me he would consider going to school out of the state or to a private school if it is a good fit, but that really isn’t very important to him. We are prepared financially to pay for a state university but a private or most OOS publics will require FA or scholarships. </p>
<p>You have covered several colleges that I think would be good matches for him, I have not even begun to explore the west coast or southwest. The thing is, I know he’s not afraid to leave home but he (like most of his friends at school) are perfectly happy to go to one of the state publics. So here is my dilemma, do I research, and tour the privates and possibly get him excited about these only to find out that he either doesn’t get in or worse that he does and we can’t afford it, or do we just follow his flow and tour the publics and establish an order of priority with these. </p>
<p>With S1 once I had an idea of what he was after I did the research and then told him to look at this or that school. With S2 I know the process is also going to be up to me to get the ball rolling, I just don’t know which way to roll it. By the way we live in Texas. Does any one else have this dilemma?</p>