<p>Hi! I went to undergrad at Purdue, obviously a larger school, but I studied aero, which is a pretty male dominated major. And the truth is: you get all kinds. Yes, there’s the traditional masculine, frat guy type, but I’d say general geekiness prevails. </p>
<p>I don’t know all your reasons for wanting to go to a small school, but it might be worth it to think about what you have against a big school. At my school, people were often insulated by major (and aeros were probably the worst for this), so even though there were lots of people and a large campus, I didn’t get that “lost in the crowds” feeling. Also, there’s a lot more activities to chose from. And a larger school typically means wider variety of majors, so the gender ratio thing tends to be a little less obvious.</p>
<p>When my sister was in senior year of HS, she swore up and down she wanted a small LAC in the city. She’d make fun of me for my “in the middle of a cornfield” school (not an unfair description I suppose). Not a month after she started attending a small school in Chicago, she started complaining. She’d come to visit me every weekend pretty much and she loved being at my school.</p>
<p>The point of my anecdote really is just to say that it’s important to to a.) get a feel for each of the schools you’re interested in and b.) not make assumptions about what you won’t like.</p>
<p>That being said, if you’ve looked at large schools and didn’t like the atmosphere, I think the suggestions on this thread (Harvey Mudd, Rice, etc.) are excellent.</p>