Attrition Rates for Engineering Schools?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I was just speaking to a female engineering major who transferred out of VT after Freshman year and went on a mini tirade about her poor treatment as a female there. I was really surprised.

Most colleges are accepting more females than males (60/40) in recent years. It stands to reason that there are more females than males admitted to engineering programs. STEM admits for females have been steadily preferred and rising Consequently, it should not be surprising that certain treatment still exists, however unfortunate.

I can tell you almost certainly that Engineering programs are still admitting more males then females. They would love to reach equilibrium but its just not possible right now.

+100 can confirm from top ranked engineering, they cannot get above 30-40% females because so few apply

really? is it apply or are admitted?, my dd wants to do engineering, she s not an urm, will she have a hook just purely on her gender?

No it’s not a hook anymore. The ivy engineering program mine is in said the Engineering applicant ratio was “about the same” as admitted ratio. This school admits less than 5% of Engineering applicants, regular and early decision combined. À different ivy admits less than 3.5% for 2026 and 2027 according to reddit posts quoting that dean. Even if these programs have a 6% admit rate for females—so double—it is still much tougher admit rate than the arts&sciences programs at the same schools because the stats of the engineering applicant pool are always higher than the overall stats.

DP. I really think at this tier, it's about what the student brings to the college as well as statistical aspects. Mine (female) had engr awards but also had awards/portfolio in the arts, and this school particularly likes cross-disciplinary, multi-spike kids. And, dept strives for 50/50 male/female which is also helpful. It's the coming together of many facets, I think.

Can you give examples of colleges for e that are on this level? Are you talking about penn cmu mit Stanford type of schools ?

Like another PP said, not schools that don't emphasize crossover. I was thinking primarily Ivies (especially Brown/Yale/Dartmouth who prioritize arts, and Brown is close to 50/50) (but not Cornell, not sure about Columbia), Stanford. I think this kind of candidate would also stand out at the likes of Tufts, Lehigh, Lafayette, and those would have options for a multi-spike. Even Olin might be good with its emphasis on out-of-the-box creativity and links to Wellesley and Babson.
So, engineer girls, join Society of Women Engineers, rocket club/team, and/or robitics team, AND dig into the arts, especially something that might have crossover value. Metal-smithing? Sculpture? Digital design? Maybe set/light design or even just unrelated arts -- voice, theatre, film. Any creativity is good, and any way to quantify with awards, even better.

Ths is a really helpful post. I just looked at the SWE website and it seems you have to be in college or older to join? Can HS girls join? I love the idea of connecting engineer to something else, would outreach count instead of an art?

[Anonymous]

Off topic. Back in my day, the attrition rate was about 75%
And it was designed that way.
It was pretty hard to flourish as a woman in STEM in those days but I did it. Perhaps if I’d been a guy I wouldn’t have had the drive to survive butI felt so had to do it for all the women after me.

[Anonymous]

Some people may switch due to poor grades alone, but the important thing (if the student still likes and is interested in engineering) is to stick it out. GPA isn’t expected to be as high as an engineering major; you can still get a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:the boys in robotics seem to have much poorer social skills (and make inappropriate sexist jokes around girls-including my dd) than my dd athlete male friends...so maybe this is what females mean by not being accepted around male engineering students?

Absolutely this is the reality in high school and maybe in younger grades too. Some engineering (and physics let me not start there) classes are difficult for females to survive socially. Academically the women kick ass! This is the current reality.

There have been some really socially inappropriate things said and my dd reported it but apparently this kid has an iep for emotional issues so he has the right to make sexist derogatory comments per the school...tbh most of the girls are also on the spectrum as well in this group and a minority of the girls are social-so they will sink or swim

Most of the female engineering students are on the spectrum? I have a female freshman and this is not her experience. Do you have data to support this?

Yeah, that is total BS! My daughter is an engineer major and that's definately not the case.
She's about as far from that description as possible and so are most of her friends

+100 same as my DD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

Can you share the stats for this? my DD is interested

[Anonymous]

I recommend SWE for women in engineering - and maybe also in adjacent scientific fields (e.g., Physics, Chemistry). I also recommend that employers actively recruit at the SWE. All of our hires from SWE conference have worked out well.

[Anonymous]

High school buddy from church and I both went to Engineering School, but at different schools. We had very very different experiences.

The common factors were that engineering is hard at any school, courses are graded on a curve (with 50%. correct often being an A), and that the curriculum did not have much flexibility.

The different factor was graduation rate.

At my smaller, lower ranked E School, a small part of a modest sized general flagship public, we all were told on the 1st day that “Everyone here is capable of graduating. We are here to help you graduate on time. You will need to be diligent, start homework when its assigned not the night before it is due, and use office hours. I had easy access directly to faculty and lots of faculty support at office hours. It was a supportive environment. It still was very very hard work for everyone, no shortage of rigor. Top job offers. Everyone found a job, even bottom of class.

At his higher ranked, much larger, public flagship specifically for engineering, students were told to look around them. Then they were told that only 7 of 10 freshman students would still be in engineering at that school in 2 years time. They said it is up to you whether you are still here in 2 years time. They further said that only 6 of 10 freshman students would graduate on time in 4 years. He had little faculty access because they were “too busy”. It was definitely a competitive weed-out environment, roughly opposite to my own. Upper class E school students at his E School did have access to a wider range of engineering electives than my school offered. It was higher ranked and much better known for engineering. A different animal in many ways. Similar job offers.

[Anonymous]

PP again. Just to be clear, nearly all E School freshmen at my E School graduated on time in 4 years with an engineering degree, versus maybe 60-70% at my buddy’s E School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

Can you share the stats for this? my DD is interested

Valedictorian, Engineering research for a couple of years, 1570 one sitting(800/770), straight 5s on APs--had eight completed by 11th, including all the hard ones(typical for school is the top 10% have 6 by the end of 11th). Local and state level academic awards; state level recognition in an extracurricular, other in depth extracurricular experience outside of STEM. NON-URM/no hooks (race still used for c/o 2027).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

UPenn or Penn state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

UPenn or Penn state?

You know we mean upenn when we say Penn. Don’t be a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

UPenn or Penn state?

You know we mean upenn when we say Penn. Don’t be a troll.

People on this board are hilarious. Penn State is very strong in engineering. It's ACTUALLY possible that someone wasn't sure which one you meant. Your snark makes me chuckle and I feel a little bad for your worldview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just speaking to a female engineering major who transferred out of VT after Freshman year and went on a mini tirade about her poor treatment as a female there. I was really surprised.

Most colleges are accepting more females than males (60/40) in recent years. It stands to reason that there are more females than males admitted to engineering programs. STEM admits for females have been steadily preferred and rising Consequently, it should not be surprising that certain treatment still exists, however unfortunate.

I can tell you almost certainly that Engineering programs are still admitting more males then females. They would love to reach equilibrium but its just not possible right now.

+100 can confirm from top ranked engineering, they cannot get above 30-40% females because so few apply

really? is it apply or are admitted?, my dd wants to do engineering, she s not an urm, will she have a hook just purely on her gender?

No it’s not a hook anymore. The ivy engineering program mine is in said the Engineering applicant ratio was “about the same” as admitted ratio. This school admits less than 5% of Engineering applicants, regular and early decision combined. À different ivy admits less than 3.5% for 2026 and 2027 according to reddit posts quoting that dean. Even if these programs have a 6% admit rate for females—so double—it is still much tougher admit rate than the arts&sciences programs at the same schools because the stats of the engineering applicant pool are always higher than the overall stats.

DP. I really think at this tier, it's about what the student brings to the college as well as statistical aspects. Mine (female) had engr awards but also had awards/portfolio in the arts, and this school particularly likes cross-disciplinary, multi-spike kids. And, dept strives for 50/50 male/female which is also helpful. It's the coming together of many facets, I think.

Can you give examples of colleges for e that are on this level? Are you talking about penn cmu mit Stanford type of schools ?

Like another PP said, not schools that don't emphasize crossover. I was thinking primarily Ivies (especially Brown/Yale/Dartmouth who prioritize arts, and Brown is close to 50/50) (but not Cornell, not sure about Columbia), Stanford. I think this kind of candidate would also stand out at the likes of Tufts, Lehigh, Lafayette, and those would have options for a multi-spike. Even Olin might be good with its emphasis on out-of-the-box creativity and links to Wellesley and Babson.
So, engineer girls, join Society of Women Engineers, rocket club/team, and/or robitics team, AND dig into the arts, especially something that might have crossover value. Metal-smithing? Sculpture? Digital design? Maybe set/light design or even just unrelated arts -- voice, theatre, film. Any creativity is good, and any way to quantify with awards, even better.

Ths is a really helpful post. I just looked at the SWE website and it seems you have to be in college or older to join? Can HS girls join? I love the idea of connecting engineer to something else, would outreach count instead of an art?

I know there are HS chapters. My kid is in one. They won an international championship which definitely added to the college app. But, SWE can be more social, exploration-based, or networking. It doesn't have to be competition based. Your kid could contact SWE, find a faculty sponsor and start a chapter.

I think outreach could be cool too. Hard to say without details. I've been college consultant for a few stem girls with Ivy admissions, and they all had blend of stem and arts. But, I think it's the cross-disciplinary aspect that is appealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD at Penn. 40% female per data- thought it feels lower to her. No attrition in Freshman year.

My DD is Engineering there too! Freshman! Loves it !

UPenn or Penn state?

You know we mean upenn when we say Penn. Don’t be a troll.

People on this board are hilarious. Penn State is very strong in engineering. It's ACTUALLY possible that someone wasn't sure which one you meant. Your snark makes me chuckle and I feel a little bad for your worldview.

DP. I think PP was just annoyed at the name confusion. This has been discussed a zillion times, and still someone will conflate Penn with Penn State. It's like grammar errors. Gets people's knickers in a twist. It's probably a student just messing with purists.