You should also take a look at this thread…similar question about physics.
It sounds like some of your main criteria so far are:
- physics major. Option to take astronomy/astrophysics classes a plus.
- anywhere east of (and including) Texas or Midwest
- not in a conservative state, but Florida ok.
- large enough LGBT+ community where you’d feel comfortable. For example, if it’s a larger school, would that equate to, maybe, the dorms having an LGBT living learning community floor? Or gender-fluid housing options? just keep in mind that a smaller college might not have that as an LLC option)
- schools where Greek life isn’t a big thing.
- good supports for your ASD & ADHD - lots of variety here, so research at each school of what’s available will be helpful + having a solid understanding of what you need will be important. On a related note, if you’ll need access to psychiatric and/or mental health professionals while at college, then, speaking from a mom’s perspective, if you were my kid, I’d be telling you to consider the locally available access to those services…and consider whether the physical & mental healthcare options in and around the college will be “in network” for your medical insurance plan.
- accepting of LGBT+, races, ethnicities, etc. On this topic, 1 person’s opinion can vary a lot from the next person, so I’d recommend that you for sure go on a tour of wherever you are seriously thinking of attending.
Is an on campus Hillel organization part of your ‘must have’ or ‘nice to have’ list? Also, how would you define “accepting of races, ethnicities, etc.” For example, would that mean “X% of students are not Caucasian”? Or it might mean “X% of students are international”? Or something else?