<p>So, I’ve narrowed it down to Amherst and Vassar. I’ve visited both, and loved them. I know that Amherst is more prestigious, but it’s college, and social life is very important as well for me, especially when the two colleges are both great academically. </p>
<p>So I was wondering about gay life at Amherst. I know that Vassar is extremely gay-friendly even among liberal arts colleges, and I wanted to ask whether the same can be said for Amherst. Also, it seemed as if every other guy at Vassar was gay. Is there a large gay population at Amherst? It’s a tiny school, and I’m wondering about slim pickings, if you would forgive me the term.</p>
<p>This doesn't help you much, as a guy, but for girls at least the 5-college consortium offers a large gay population, as smith and mt. holyoke tend to attract lesbians because of the all-girlsness.</p>
<p>This is obviously anecdotal, and I don’t go there, but my tour guide was an gay senior male who seemed pretty enthused about the school. He did not talk about being gay at Amherst specifically, but I would suspect that if he was doing tour guides for the admissions office he doesn’t have any major complaints.</p>
<p>I certainly can’t speak for everyone, but my friends who are out have been pretty happy at Amherst. It’s a very tolerant environment, and the 5 College consortium certainly opens up a lot of opportunities. </p>
<p>Beyond the dating scene, the Pride Alliance is very active on campus and GAPs are very popular social events. (GAP stands for Gay Amherst Party and occur often throughout the semester, usually the same weekend as TAPs – The Amherst Party – school-sponsored social events.)</p>
<p>I’m a gay Senior at Amherst (who might have given a tour to quomodo) and I think it is a great place to be as a gay man. </p>
<p>It’s obviously not a gay mecca. There are people at Amherst who may be slightly homophobic, but I’ve never found any issues with classmates respecting each other.</p>
<p>The school has two GAPs (Gay amherst parties) per semester, which attract gay students from all of the other four schools (lots of men from UMass and Hampshire). They are really popular parties and are tons of fun.</p>
<p>Also, the Pioneer Valley, where the 5-college consortium is, is very gay-friendly. Tons of gay people (especially around Northampton) and Amherst is generally a very liberal town.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. Feel free to pm me for more questions!</p>