Gay life at these smaller schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey all, I realize this topic has been brought up countless times, but most of the schools that I'm applying to have not been brought up, for better or for worse, in any discussion i've looked at. So here goes.</p>

<p>I dont care so much as to whether or not the school is accepting, I am pretty confident in my ability to fit in with many people. My question is will I have a gay social life at these schools? </p>

<p>Colby- considering ED, only thing holding me back is fear of being the only gay with class size being so small
Bates
Connecticut College
Skidmore
Bucknell</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch :)</p>

2

<p>You’re wise to wonder about this. I am generally hesitant to recommend LACs to LGBT applicants, because there simply isn’t a critical mass at most of them. Consider the number of male students at each of your schools:</p>

<p>Conn College 760
Bates 820
Colby 850
Skidmore 1030
Bucknell 1690</p>

<p>Assuming that the standard 10% applies, you have somewhere between 76 and 170 gays at each school. Of course, you have to factor in that not all of these are out. A good rule of thumb (from my experience and talking to LGBT folks at other schools) is to assume that between 1/3 and 1/2 are out and roughly 1/4 are out and active in the community.</p>

<p>As a somewhat generous estimate, Conn College has ~20-25 gays out and social, Bucknell has ~40-50, and the others fall in between.</p>

<p>For more accurate info, I recommend contacting the LGBT centers at Bucknell and Conn College</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bucknell.edu/LGBT.xml[/url]”>http://www.bucknell.edu/LGBT.xml&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://lgbtq.conncoll.edu/[/url]”>http://lgbtq.conncoll.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and the GSAs at Bates, Colby, and Skidmore.</p>

<p><a href=“Office of Equity and Inclusion | Bates College”>Office of Equity and Inclusion | Bates College;
<a href=“http://www.colby.edu/administration_cs/studentactivities/clubs/club-info.cfm?clubname=The%20Bridge&clubid=1155681[/url]”>http://www.colby.edu/administration_cs/studentactivities/clubs/club-info.cfm?clubname=The%20Bridge&clubid=1155681&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Student Government Association”>Student Government Association;