When a high school senior begins applying to colleges, there are many questions that pop into their mind, but one of the biggest seems to be, "Will I meet someone?"
For most it can mean friends, but for many it means finding the love of their life they will hope to marry and live happily ever after with--the complete college fairy tale.
But with some universities having more women than men applying, finding a date can be harder than it should be.
Fortunately for incoming Auburn freshmen, the ratio of men to women in applications, acceptance and enrollment is close to 50/50.
In addition, the numbers of each gender is continually growing.
Drew Clark, director of assessment for the office of institutional research and assessment, explained that most universities are seeing an increase of applicants of both sexes due to updated admissions resources.
"It's cheap," Clark said. "There are more places to apply to... meaning more apply who usually wouldn't."
A group of students included in those who usually wouldn't apply are women.
Recently, however, women have been the majority of those applying, accepted and enrolling at Auburn and many other Southeastern schools and schools across the country.
According to the National Education for Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, in 2005 Auburn accepted 54 percent women, unlike Georgia Tech who only accepted 30 percent.
In 2006 there was a one percent increase to 55 percent women, as well as with Tech who then accepted 31 percent.
For 2007, Auburn increased another one percent, but remained more balanced than the University of Georgia, who accepted 63 percent women that year.
The last record available is for the incoming freshmen of 2008, who had 55 percent women accepted, dropping one percent from the year before and remaining close to equal acceptance of men.
Clark explained the dramatic differences between Auburn and Tech as a difference in the type of school.
"The more liberal arts, the more women outweigh," Clark said. "The more technical, the more menwill."
Ryan Shuler, senior in finance, said he thinks more women are applying and being accepted at Auburn because of the new generation and the shift off men's and women's values.
"From the late 20th century and into the 21st century, women value education more than they have previously," Shuler said. "Now more apply to college."
Clark said he agrees that women are now more willing to apply to college to further their education.
"The general perception is that you have to get your bachelor's degree to stay in the middle class," Clark said.
Although more women are being accepted and enrolled into Auburn as the years continue, enrollment services is not concerned.
"We don't watch for gender balance in terms of admission," said Wayne Alderman, dean of enrollment services.
For Alderman, monitoring gender balance is only necessary because the University is required to report these for federal aid.
With the number of women outweighing men for freshman year of all classes, the end result is having more women than men graduating.
"The percentage of men decrease by senior year," Clark said. "We've also lost a few students to the economy. There's always a cheaper alternative."
With roughly 40 percent of students coming in from out of state, Auburn will likely lose some students after their first year on campus.
Even though the man to woman ratio is close to 50/50, Shuler said he wished there were more girls.
"We've now arrived at a world where higher education has more females," Clark said.
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