Advantages for Male Applicants in Humanities or Liberal arts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS, some of our males are actually very interested in the humanities.

It's pissing me off that so many pps are trying to game the system by falsely claiming to want to major in them.

It won’t help then unless they have evidence to back it up.

[Anonymous]

I see an idea for a non-profit brewing here…start a nonprofit to encourage boys in the humanities subjects. But that’s for a different thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Joking aside… what are you teaching your kids if you encourage them this way? That their honest effort at being the best of who they are will not generate a result that is good enough to make you proud? That the ends justifies the means? How can they feel safe taking risks when all that matters is the result?

You are teaching them that the system is arbitrary, opaque, and driven by many other things besides merit. All of which is true. You are teaching them that many other people are gaming the system based on their race and gender - also true. And trying to convince them that it's "wrong" to do this themselves won't get much traction. Or at least you will lose credibility if you tell your son this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The “humanities” boys I knew with very strong grades and ECs in debate and model un and as editors of the school paper still had a very hard time breaking into Top 15 schools. Some did, but many didn’t. It’s not a sure path at all.

Not at our private.
Those kids went to:

Yale
Harvard
Duke
Penn
Brown
UChicago
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Rice
Dartmouth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which selective schools offer an advantage to male applicants who are interested in the humanities or liberal arts?

So far, I’ve seen:

Yale
Brown
Emory
Tulane
Pomona
Swarthmore

Vanderbilt?

Pomona being on this list is dizzying

[Anonymous]

I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

I did a similar experiment a few years ago when my son was applying. The vast majority of schools are consistent across the breakdown of applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students. In other words, more girls apply, more girls are accepted, and more girls enroll, often at 60% or higher for each category. There were very few schools that I found where there appeared to be a big advantage to being male.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS, some of our males are actually very interested in the humanities.

It's pissing me off that so many pps are trying to game the system by falsely claiming to want to major in them.

The Admissions team can tell the difference, based on activities over the course of high school. The top ones do not admit by major so it is only a slight boost to have a less-common interest. Being male is a boost itself, in every area but ME CS EE and Physics. Even CS is close to even lately in the app pool at these schools. Females outnumber males at ivies/T20 in the application pool in BME, EnvE chemE, bio, chem, all premed interests, and of course all humanities and arts area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

Interesting Kenyon is on the disadvantage list since there was a NY Times article several years back where a Kenyon AO specifically said boys had a fairly marked advantage in admissions.

Now, I can’t remember if it was two kids with same stats vs accepting boys with lower stats. If it is the former, then two things can be true at once…that a boy with the same stats as a girl has a big advantage and that boys on average don’t have the same stats so fewer continue to be accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS, some of our males are actually very interested in the humanities.

It's pissing me off that so many pps are trying to game the system by falsely claiming to want to major in them.

The Admissions team can tell the difference, based on activities over the course of high school. The top ones do not admit by major so it is only a slight boost to have a less-common interest.

We have heard reps at college fairs say "we are very interested in recruiting [humanities] majors" (various subjects, from foreign language to philosophy). So they don't "admit by major" but it's obvious that some departments in the school think they don't have enough students. How much this helps you is unknown. And the only way to find out what these schools "want" is to ask them. And of course, you'd have to know this freshman year for it to matter - you can't suddenly take four years of French when you're a senior, you have it or you don't - and if you did know what they want as a freshman there would be no guarantee it would still be true when you were a senior.

Basically, go do what interests you, don't bother trying to figure out "what Pomona wants".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

Interesting Kenyon is on the disadvantage list since there was a NY Times article several years back where a Kenyon AO specifically said boys had a fairly marked advantage in admissions.

Now, I can’t remember if it was two kids with same stats vs accepting boys with lower stats. If it is the former, then two things can be true at once…that a boy with the same stats as a girl has a big advantage and that boys on average don’t have the same stats so fewer continue to be accepted.

You have to factor in recruited athletes. Boys who are recruited to schools like Kenyon have lower stats but still get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

Interesting Kenyon is on the disadvantage list since there was a NY Times article several years back where a Kenyon AO specifically said boys had a fairly marked advantage in admissions.

Now, I can’t remember if it was two kids with same stats vs accepting boys with lower stats. If it is the former, then two things can be true at once…that a boy with the same stats as a girl has a big advantage and that boys on average don’t have the same stats so fewer continue to be accepted.

You have to factor in recruited athletes. Boys who are recruited to schools like Kenyon have lower stats but still get in.

I get that…but the article was talking about just everyday applicants, not sports recruits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

I did a similar experiment a few years ago when my son was applying. The vast majority of schools are consistent across the breakdown of applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students. In other words, more girls apply, more girls are accepted, and more girls enroll, often at 60% or higher for each category. There were very few schools that I found where there appeared to be a big advantage to being male.

I think you are correct and that your research is sound, but there are more variables than we are able to take into account. We are assuming that the applications are equal across males and females and we do not know that to be the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

Interesting Kenyon is on the disadvantage list since there was a NY Times article several years back where a Kenyon AO specifically said boys had a fairly marked advantage in admissions.

Now, I can’t remember if it was two kids with same stats vs accepting boys with lower stats. If it is the former, then two things can be true at once…that a boy with the same stats as a girl has a big advantage and that boys on average don’t have the same stats so fewer continue to be accepted.

Current Kenyon CDS
3,913 men applied, 4,305 women = applicant pool 47.6% male, 52.4% female

1,058 men admitted = 27% of male applicants
1,466 women admitted = 34% of female applicants

Enrolled class is 42.6% male and 57.4% female

609 applied early decision, 249 accepted (56% of their incoming freshman class)

Seems pretty clear that Kenyon just doesn't want men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran some numbers based on the 2023 CDS. Might have changed since then.

Places where the boy acceptance rate > boy application rate:
Middlebury, Williams (slightly), Bowdoin, Wesleyan (large), Villanova

Places where the boy acceptance rate < boy application rate (it is a disadvantage for boys to apply)
Trinity (CT), Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Colgate, Kenyon, Grinnell

Interesting Kenyon is on the disadvantage list since there was a NY Times article several years back where a Kenyon AO specifically said boys had a fairly marked advantage in admissions.

Now, I can’t remember if it was two kids with same stats vs accepting boys with lower stats. If it is the former, then two things can be true at once…that a boy with the same stats as a girl has a big advantage and that boys on average don’t have the same stats so fewer continue to be accepted.

Current Kenyon CDS
3,913 men applied, 4,305 women = applicant pool 47.6% male, 52.4% female

1,058 men admitted = 27% of male applicants
1,466 women admitted = 34% of female applicants

Enrolled class is 42.6% male and 57.4% female

609 applied early decision, 249 accepted (56% of their incoming freshman class)

Seems pretty clear that Kenyon just doesn't want men.

What’s interesting is when the article was written, Kenyon was trending 62% female and they wanted to get it under 60%.

Obviously, looks like they did that. 60% is the magic number they don’t want to exceed.