 The requirement that women ( at least freshman women ) must live in dormitories , which started in 1884 , served to constrain female student admissions until 1972 , when Cornell dropped its freshman dorm residency requirement . As a result , the academic admission standards for women in each college were typically higher than the corresponding standards for men . In general , women have been over @-@ represented in certain schools and under @-@ represented in others . For example , the NYS College of Home Economics and the Cornell School of Nursing historically drew a disproportionate number of women students , while the College of Engineering attracted fewer women . 
