<p>i'm a gay male, and am looking for a college with a good sized gay community...can i find this at grinnell...if not, where?</p>
<p>Vassar has a good sized gay community.</p>
<p>for sure you'll find it at grinnell.</p>
<p>Wesleyan would be a good place to look.</p>
<p>Another thought, though different: Bard (or Reed).</p>
<p>NYU would be another way to go.</p>
<p>I'd say Oberlin as well. Look at the book "Choosing the Right College" and go for places they don't like. It's a very conservative guide that pretty much hated every place my kid liked.</p>
<p>yeah im looking at schools like bennington, bard, grinnell, beloit, ithaca, skidmore and bates.
it's good to know that i'll be comfortable at school that i'm interested haha, pretty high on my priorities</p>
<p>I think Bennington, Bard, Skidmore might be the most comfortable.</p>
<p>I agree with Mythmom, who knows a lot about a lot of schools.</p>
<p>That's funny, mattman, we also looked at Bard, Beloit, Skidmore and Bates. My son thought Oberlin might be the best of the 20 we saw. The others we saw were Sarah Lawrence, Antioch, Wesleyan, Hampshire, St. John's and Evergreen State.</p>
<p>bethie: Not excluding Oberlin -- not in mattman's list.</p>
<p>A Grinnell admissions officer told me that 40% of students at Grinnell identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.</p>
<p>What most people would say is go for an unconventional student body because they are apt to be accepting of all kinds of differences.</p>
<p>Really? 40% of students at Grinnell are LGBT? Sounds pretty high, no?</p>
<p>vicariousparent: Since I know so little about Grinnell's social life I left that one alone but I'm glad you picked up on it. Seemed impossible to me. Perhaps poster misheard and the adofficer said 14%. That would sound in the ball park.</p>
<p>I asked my son and he said the 40% sounded ridiculous. Said maybe 14% as myth suggested.</p>
<p>No--I thought it was very odd as well. He clearly said 40% because I actually asked him the same question to make sure.</p>
<p>Perhaps it was a flawed survey that produced that statistic?</p>
<p>Grinnell, Skidmore, Vassar, Hampshire...basically everything that was mentioned here. I am personally familiar with Skidmore and Hampshire, and Skidmore even had a few gay life books in the bestseller shelf right at the front window of the bookstore! These are the ones my lesbian best friend is looking at, as well, and she is also looking for a good LGBT community, so I can ask her tomorrow where else she would recommend.</p>
<p>Well, that's interesting Kicharo. My son says he's never been surveyed about any of this. He does guess the Jewish presence is high, like 30% or more. He is half Jewish, from his Dad's side. But he thinks that, from his own experience--whatever that is--the 40% number for GLT is way high. Doesn't matter to me one way or another.</p>
<p>I'm pretty familiar with Grinnell, and I wouldn't be surprised (if the 40% number was accurate). Grinnell may be in the middle of Iowa, but, as my AP US history teacher put it, it might as well have been dropped here from the Planet of Pinko Commies or something. It's a very different vibe than the rest of the state.
In any case, I think the queer community is definitely sizable. I'd guess 1/3 of the Grinnellians I've met were GLBT.
Come visit and see for yourself, if possible!</p>