Question about girls applying for STEM programs and transferring out.
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Anonymous
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On another thread someone mentioned that a good tactic for a girl to use to improve her admissions chances would be apply for STEM and then transfer out once enrolled. Would this really work? I know it's much easier for women to be admitted to STEM programs, but I wouldn't think it would be easier than being admitted as say an undecided. So for example would a girl who is applying to Vandy as a computer science major have a better chance of being admitted than if she were applying as an English major? And the answer doesn't need to be specific to Vandy, that's just the first school that popped into my head.
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Anonymous
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It may work if her electives and extra curricular support the major she is applying for. But if everything is business related and she’s applying for engineering, they might not fall for it.
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Anonymous
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Its not magically easier to get admitted just because of gender. STEM majors generally (especially engineering) have much higher thresholds for SAT/ACT scores and GPAs. The standard is HIGHER for these kids because the average score for these kids is HIGHER than other majors.
So yeah, go ahead and try to game the system by going for the HARDER major. |
Anonymous
Well that's what I would think too. But a poster on another thread indicated that because schools are so hungry for female STEM majors, girls would have better chances applying as STEM majors than non-STEM. |
Anonymous
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Plus, your high school record should logically match your stated interest (such as take AP calculus if you want to be an engineer).
Haven’t the recent scandals taught parents to stop gaming the system? Who wants their kid in a school that is over their head. Just stop! |
Anonymous
I think you are a few years too late for that attempt anyway. It might work in more industrial or easier colleges like WVU, NC State, etc... but colleges like UMD, Purdue, Mudd, Olin, GT, Ohio, UMass, Rutgers, WPI, Penn, CMU, etc... are matriculating 40/60 and some 50/50. And like another poster said, you still need higher stats than the mean. You need to be in the 75%-100% of each of those schools test scores and GPA. |
Anonymous
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Well, my son is at a big ten engineering program. It is soooo much harder to get into engineering than the non-stem divisions that I can't imagine there's a path to any other division via a stem admit.
And if you are looking at schools with impacted majors, worry aobut whether there is actually access EVER to the major your kid wants. |
Anonymous
But in this instance we are talking about a girl being admitted fair and square and transferring to an EASIER major. |
Anonymous
Plenty of girls who are not interested in STEM take AP calculus and physics. Would this be enough to get into a STEM major at a school like Vandy or UVA? |
Anonymous
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when you have 10-15 kids competing for 1 spot, all of those students will have spectacular scores.
so to the question about Vandy, regardless of major, it is very competitive to get in at all. |
Anonymous
1) those girls have stellar stats - don’t think you can get into a selective college with anything less just because you are a girl. 2) kids change majors all of the time. But not all college make it easy. Check the individual college. |
Anonymous
| It works. Half of the girls in my engineering class dropped after the first semester. Doesn’t really help them as a group since they took the spots of boys that would have stayed in those degrees. Creates resentment among the remaining engineering class members. |
Anonymous
Because men don’t drop out of engineering too? Imagine being so crappy at engineering that you blame an entire gender for it. |
Anonymous
^ and maybe makes the college get more selective in the future with female applicants who say they want to major in engineering. |
Anonymous
Yes, but they still need the harder STEM classes in HS. |