<p>Okay, my final college list has basically come down to three colleges: University of Vermont, Clark University, and University of North Carolina at Asheville.</p>
<p>Now, all three of these colleges are known to be very accepting of gay and lesbian students and have a very liberal leaning student body. However, at this point, acceptance is not the issue. Clark and UNCA are more on the smaller scale: 2,000 to 3,000 students. But University of Vermont has about 10,000 students with a big LGBT population. </p>
<p>As a gay student, meeting someone special is very important to me, as dating would be completely new for me. But I want to be able to attend a place where I will have options. Will I have options at a small-sized liberal arts college like Clark or UNCA? Or would I be better off attending a mid-sized university like UVM?</p>
<p>Gay or straight, the general rule is that bigger school equals bigger dating pool. That said, a bigger dating pool is not always better. It’s possible that you will find somebody to date and maybe even eventually get married, even on a smaller campus. It really depends on the people you meet and how happy you are at the college for reasons unrelated to the dating pool. Since all schools are known to be accepting and you’ve been admitted to all of them, I suggest you first consider your options based on non-dating reasons and then see if the larger dating pool changes the order of the schools. Choose the school you feel best fits you. Many people have found the love of their life in hs. Many LAC’s are similar in size to medium or large high schools. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Similar to SEA_tide, I suggest looking at the school you prefer overall for academics/social life/clubs/etc. You could be at a school full of 50,000 LGBTQ students, but if you hate going to class every day and just wish you were home, you’re not going to be interested in dating at all. Meanwhile, if you’re the happiest you’ve ever been at a school of 3,000, where there would be about 300 LGBTQ students, your personality will shine enough that dating will be easy, even with a limited pool of fish. That was exactly my problem – I go to a huge school and am involved in a number of gay-related clubs, but I’m not happy enough to be looking for anyone.</p>
<p>Also, check out the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index. It rates a bunch of school based on their gay-related clubs, domestic partner benefits, anti-discrimination policies, etc.</p>
<p>I’m gay too, and I emailed one of the GLBTQ advisers listed on my school’s webpage before I got there, just to get a feel for the environment for GLBTQ people at my school. Obviously I ended up going here anyway, but as others have said, I made this decision based on my school’s academics and great “feel”, not because of the amount of GLBTQ students. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yeah, I think gay kids often fall into the trap of going for a super large university at all costs with the mentality “MORE PEOPLE MORE GAYZ”. </p>
<p>Having never attended a smaller university, I cannot speak for the dating pool at a smaller university from personal experience. But I attend a big school and wish I went someplace smaller for academic reasons.</p>
<p>Theoretically speaking, your pool of friends is going to be constrained to the two people who sit on either side of you the first day of class, to your neighbors in your dorm, etc. The number of friends and acquaintances one has is usually determind by one’s personal comfort level, not the sheer number of people in a certain radius! A kid in a small country town might have 5 close friends. A kid in NYC might have the same. Basically, I don’t think people at small schools have less friends - so while there may be a huge number of gay people at Vermont, it’s not like you’re going to meet all of them, anyway. But you might ask, Wouldn’t the GLBT group be larger at Vermont? First of all, not necessarily. Otherwise, in my experience GLBT groups/clubs/etc. are not the best places to meet people. Gay people generally end up meeting their significant others just like straight people do…in their dorms, in their classes, in their clubs. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I reach out to the same number of people no matter how large the setting (sometimes I reach out to MORE people in a smaller club setting and become withdrawn in a larger group!).</p>
<p>Finally, I agree with other posters that your happiness and your integration into campus life will be crucial for your success dating. Pick the place that will make you the most happy and most fulfilled individual, and I truly believe that will lead you down the right road to finding the right person. Maybe the road will be longer at the smaller school (or maybe it won’t, if my theory holds true!), but it will be more rewarding if that is where you belong for all other intents and purposes :).</p>