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I heard that being a female and being interested in Science helps your chances at an Ivy League school.

By Serene (Serene) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 06:55 pm: Edit

No. My friend was rejected and she was Siemens semifinalist.

By Testtaker (Testtaker) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 02:50 am: Edit

Was everything else up to par (SATs, ECs)?

By Bft (Bft) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 03:23 am: Edit

It only helps if you are going to a school that has a horrible gender ratio. This usually is common at science schools which is why you may think that. Take Caltech for instance. The portion of guys at that school is almost 7/10. But Harvard isn't like Caltech. The male to female ratio is almost identical. Pretty much split down the middle so there won't be any boost in admission there. Harvard gets plenty of female applicants. Caltech does not.

Being female might help a little, but not much really.

By Clickspring (Clickspring) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 12:54 pm: Edit

Honey, hundreds of women who are passionately interested in sciences and math are rejected from Ivy schools every year. Your gender really won't give you a leg up.

By Serene (Serene) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 12:56 pm: Edit

for my fd, she had 1600, rsi, ranked 2nd in her class, did summer math programs for at least 2 years...

By Plastikcup (Plastikcup) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 01:08 pm: Edit

She looks like many applicants....not so special in the grand scheme. Math Olympiad, Physics Olympiad, many applicants are smart and have shown personal excellence.

By Serene (Serene) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 01:12 pm: Edit

plastikcup: well she also read for blind on radio... which is pretty cool. and really, siemens + rsi is a good math/science combo.

By Emeraldkity4 (Emeraldkity4) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 02:50 pm: Edit

A friend who was accepted to Harvard 2006 was National Merit Scholar, spent summers in France at a language school, didn't need aid, had straight A's no APs as school didn't offer any, but had honors.
I think she is majoring in history- Harvard wouldn't be in my top ten for undergrad science, maybe for grad school though.

Top 20 would prob include Caltech, Mit, Carleton, Macalester, Swarthmore, Reed, RPI,Harvey Mudd, Smith, UMadison,for a start.

By Bft (Bft) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 04:09 pm: Edit

Harvard is generally considered a school for humanities, but it is also an excellent science school. For example, it is the number one school for physics which is a very popular science major.