Some of the colleges D has applied to are the opposite with up to 70/30 men/women due to being STEM focused. The joke I’ve heard on more than one college specific thread, “Where the odds are good, but the goods are odd.” Luckily, after 17 plus years in her odd family, that could be considered a plus. 
@kittymom1102 Your son has some amazing stats! I’m sure that no one need speculate if he got in ANYWHERE due to some ethnic bump. It was all him. BTDT with our D’s acceptance into a gifted program…I’m from New England and NEU was and remains a popular choice there. The co-op program is fantastic. A good friend’s D is deciding right now whether to make it her choice over UW.
D’s college is very heavily female-70/30%. Since she has a very specific type of guy in mind, chances are there isn’t one there or anywhere else. =))
My D16 has committed to a college that switched from single-sex (all women) to “co-ed” (for want of a better term) and is around 60 percent or higher female (not clear if that’s just undergrads or includes the grad students). Of course, the school now has put a greater emphasis on sports teams like soccer (and there’s talk of lax) to appeal (and capture?) more undergrad guys. As a booster for women’s colleges, I’m seeing it this way: D16’s academic and social experience will be dominated by women (woot!), but she’ll have a easy access to guy friends too. At least I’m hoping the school has retained its storied “strong-woman” zeitgeist. Ironically, at the same time, I’m worried about her heading into a female-dominated field and workplace (her goal is to be a school social worker).
And let me put this here: In consultation with D16, I just bought her dorm bedspread, and, oh, is that a relief to my Nesting 2.0 Syndrome! Why? Color scheme. It all comes from the bedspread (an Indian print quilt in spice colors). Now I feel I can keep my eye out for good prices for the other things she’ll need for school. She already has most of what she’ll need, which is nice.
Also nice: D16 just bought her outfit for the high school dance (they don’t call it a prom at this tiny school). Wow, is she growing up, is all I can say. I loved what she picked: a rough silk magenta ball skirt; a narrow, sparkly beaded belt; an on-trend cropped top – a black long-sleeved, close-fitting knit mock turtleneck; and (shock to ol’ mom’s system) black patent leather stilletos. Sunrise, Sunset…eh? Again, it’s a welcome respite from the college search slog, now that she’s signed up for freshman orientation.
To all still slogging: It’ll be over in a matter of weeks! Cue Chariots of Fire theme music.
Still slogging here (and expected to continue slogging to the bitter end), but up for any inspirational music that may help us get through the next few weeks. Such a wonderful term…“slogging”! Thanks @dyiu13!
@kittymom1102 - Your S sounds like an amazing young man, and it will be exciting to hear/read, which route he ultimately chooses. Let me know if he is leaning toward Northeastern and maybe I can hook him up with my friends S15, who is there. I’m sure a lot of questions will be answered by your visit.
@4kids2graduate, @GoodGrief16 & @AsleepAtTheWheel - Thanks much for your nice comments about Grinnell. It was the overnight visit, meeting a lot of students and attending a few classes that really sealed the deal for my S16. He admits that his host, an African American student from Oklahoma, who went to prep high school on a scholarship, (very different than S16’s upscale public school experience in MN) was amazing guy, and really made his visit fun. Since he applied EDII S still had to get a bunch of RD applications in too, and said he’d be happy to attend any of the schools, if he didn’t get into Grinnell. He’s very smart and inquisitive, but, not so great with getting all his homework turned in, so his GPA does not really match his ACT/SAT/PSAT/AP test scores. His “star” on any admissions scatter-gram was always way out to the right, away from, and below all those other dots! Anyway, he applied ED II to increase his chances a bit, and it worked. Yeah!
Also, @AsleepAtTheWheel, I checked Grinnell Common Data Set, and it looks the ratio of guys to girls is steady at 45/55. So, to my calculations, accounting for what appears to be a pretty strong contingency of GLBT kids at Grinnell, my S16 has more of a chance at 1.229 of a girl. And .229 of a girl sounds even less appealing than 1/2 a girl! The two young women we met on our family tour were both very impressive, but down to earth. My S16 likes strong, independent girls, but is also very shy, so the 45/55 advantage was not a factor for him. However, he said he may finally ask a girl on a “date” for the first time this spring, as he is determined to go to prom! :D/
Thanks to all the rest of the posters on the thread for their nice wishes. I certainly feel welcome, and at home already!
PS. My DH went to an engineering school in the early 1980s, which was probably 80/20, guys to girls, but he still managed to find a girlfriend! (Not me, though - I came along much later!)
@palm715 – Point well-taken. At one of those 70/30 male to female ratio STEM schools (?RPI, RIT) one of the student reviewers wrote something like, “If you’re a guy you have a better chance of getting your laptop repaired on a Saturday night than you have of getting a date.”
@dyiu13 - Your D’s outfit sounds really interesting and fun. With 2 sons, it makes me sad to think there is no prom or wedding dress shopping in my future, but I am pretty glad that I never have to buy a pair of stilettos! They’re scary! Hope your D has a blast at her senior dance!
@morningside95 I got your husband beat. When I studied Engineering in India, my department had a total of 8 girls and 310 boys. 
Oh, @4kids2graduate, I meant to wish your son, "Congratulations! " on being the first at his school to be a NM Finalist. Well done!
@dyiu13 D and I went pre-college shopping today-as in, just looking since we have to travel so far and will likely “ship to store” most things. She has a color scheme picked out, of course. I reminded her that it needs to stay on HER side of the dorm room and not to get visions of a perfectly matched roommate in her head…but I teared up bad looking at stickers for her senior year scrapbook and the “moving away” ones she showed me. Btw, your D’s prom outfit sounds amazing. D is waiting to see what the theme is before ordering her dress.
For inspirational music I suggest the “Rocky” theme-when they get the final decision sent in, WE can all be jogging around the top step with out hands in the air!
My mom went to an all-girls’ college and met my dad on a blind date at a nearby coed school. Maybe with D’s proximity to Vandy she will meet @kittymom1102 's S there if he chooses it! If he meets her exceedingly long list of what makes the perfect guy, that is.
Thanks for the noble version of slogging à la Chariots of Fire @dyiu13 but personally, I’m feeling more like the Mr. Bean version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzjlmBLfrQ
@seamom my D’s perfect fella is such a long list of attributes he may not exist, but I’m holding out hope.
@texaspg - So did you get to date any one of the 8?
Maybe at least it kept distractions to a minimum. We all know how much work you engineering students put in!
With the amount of princess treatment they were getting, the return on investment of time would have been zero. I did know math!
@kittymom1102, I knew your S and the other kids invited had to be top notch kids. Like I said, I am surprised they didn’t invite more. Did Vandy give you any idea about an aid package? I don’t remember if you mentioned it, but has has he been to Boston? Btw, I had typed a post earlier but got distracted and didn’t hit the submit button, so if I hadn’t said it before, congratulations to your S on the full ride at NEU and a bigger congratulations on being the first from his school to get into Vandy. Hopefully (or maybe not) he picks up the Boston accent.
I’m really enjoying all the stories of these great kids and their preferences!
@texaspg, all this time I have pictured you looking like my grandmother, a heavy-set white woman with a thick Southern accent, big personality, and bigger hair. Now I know I was completely off in my assessment, lol!!
@kittymom1102 Congrats to your son for all of his choices. There’s no question why he has so many acceptances and invitations for scholarships. It’s crystal clear that his biggest “hook” is his enormous brain and intellect. I’ll be curious to see who he chooses . Any school will be lucky to get him.
@Mysonsdad We didn’t get any idea about the financial part, which keep us cautiously happy about the acceptance. NEU released financial together with the decision, that probably helped to make him see himself there.
My S has never been in Boston. His desire to be in Boston has more to do with him growing up hearing his dad’s stories about his time in Boston when he was a student. I guess, that made S think of Boston as the place to go for college. I’m sure he’ll freeze his tail off 
Thanks @sseamom
Congratulations @4kids2graduate My S is the second in his school’s history. The GC is over the moon, although she made mistakes with school’s part of the application due to lack of knowledge. Thankfully NM let us know, allowed her to fix it, and did not penalize S for it.
@carolinamom2boys Thank you.
I can only imagine the face of Vandy’s admissions officer who first reviewed his application. I would think that at Vandy a kid with S’s academic profile and life story is not that common.
However, more prestigious schools come across with wider variety of applicants, so that will be tougher for sure. I’m sure he’ll win some and lose some, but that’s part of this journey.
He’ll do well wherever he goes. I know.
@kittymom1102, if he decides to go to Boston he is going to love it.
@palm715 Such a hilarious clip! What a great clown.