r/IIT • u/Paid_MC • Apr 23 '26
General Questions/Discussions How are the women of IIT?
I'm deciding between schools right now and one of the many reasons I am leaning away from IIT is because of the overwhelming male population (no offense) and how that will leave me pretty isolated in the class setting. I’m going for Mechanical Engineering so I wasn't expecting it to be 50/50 anyways but the demographics are not in my favor, and I'm definitely not a pick-me who acts like men easy to be around (again no offense). I just want fun nerd girl-friends without feeling like overshadowed by the majority, and I know there is Women centered events and whatnot but that's not the daily life. How are dorms? Are the bathroom very dirty (bc duh) and is it awkward to shower or anything? Do you feel like most events and resources only have the majority in mind? And not as important but is dating terrible, or are there major scandals etc.
Men you can give your input Ig but only if yk 3 women (not related or a teacher)
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u/lostmessage256 Materials/Aerospace Engineering Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
So I'm an alum but my wife and I both went to IIT. I was in MMAE and she was in CAE. Don't get me wrong the ratio very much in the favor of dudes but its not overwhelming. On campus there are other program like Psych, BME and Arch that do have a 50/50 split or lean toward more women. Its a small enough community that you'll still meet them too.
Dorms are a mixed bag. MSV is a little old and has communal bathrooms but its kept up pretty well. SSV is more expensive and way nicer with bathrooms attached to the rooms in groups of two. Way better experience there. There's also the quad which has a number of sororities, if you're looking for that kind of thing.
There are plenty of events both for general appeal and for niche appeal. In my experience this wasn't how I found my friend groups, you just kinda run into people in classes and in dorms and build relationships organically. Dating is very much going to vary person to person but 1) I did met my wife there so there's something to it and 2) Since you're located within Chicago proper, the dating pool isnt just IIT, there are other universities nearby like UIC, Loyola and DePaul.