You could be a good candidate for Rutgers University - New Brunswicks Honors Program or even the new. more prestigious Honors College. Both are great programs that offer plenty of opportunities. I identify as a lesbian and have found a large support network and am impressed with the steps Rutgers has taken to become an inclusive and safe space.
also almost, if not, all Honors College students receive some type of scholarship and many many honors program students do as well.
You may want to look at the following lists of large merit scholarships:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit)
You can then filter them by your criteria, including academic offerings and LGBT-friendliness, among other things. The automatic ones that you qualify for may be safeties, while the competitive ones would be match/reach for the scholarships (may be safety if you are certain to be admitted and you can afford them without the scholarships).
Seconding Lewis & Clark. When touring the dorms, the tourguide made a comment about dorm policies that are specifically designed for inclusion of transgender students.
They have merit aid.
Laewrence University in Wisconsin may give you good merit aid. I think their university president is gay, and the campus seemed fairly welcoming for LGBT students.
Muhlenberg has a strong theater program, merit aid and an honors program. I can’t speak for the environment for you though, but in addition to asking here, maybe you can contact students through this link if the school sounds appealing: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/campuslife/multicultural/studentclubs/squad/
http://muhlenberg.edu/main/aboutus/finaid/applyingForAid/merit.html
OP’s likely majors are English, political science, and sociology.
My son did an overnight a U. of Puget Sound and happened to stay with someone who was active in the LGBT community and he described the folks he met as warm, friendly and welcoming. It’s definitely a very liberal environment with a significant contingent of artsy types around. There is some Greek life, but it’s not a dominant factor on campus. With that SAT score, you’d probably be eligible for their max merit award, which I think is over $20K/yr. That’s still not going to bring you all the way down to $25K/yr, though --probably closer to $35K. Not sure if they have any full tuition scholarships for exceptional candidates, as some schools do.
I’ll also point out that if you’re looking at private colleges, you don’t just need merit money but major merit money. Schools like Oberlin, Grinnell and Kenyon I think are going to leave you >$10K over your $25K target, because they’ve got sticker prices over $60K and will probably offer less than $20K/yr in aid. I think you’re going to need to go another notch or two down the selectivity ladder if you want big-time merit money.
It might be a little out there, but I went to the University of Oklahoma and it is a lot more liberal and accepting than people would think! It is very LGBT friendly with a lot of resources on campus and throughout Norman and Oklahoma City. They have an Honors College and they have the highest number of national merit scholars in the country! I’m also from NJ and I loved OU. Here is a link to their scholarship page: http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/scholarships/ScholDescription_15.16_res.pdf
@soonerbaby19
OU is not a good place for a transgender student.
@whenhen I know a few trans students and they haven’t had negative experiences.
I also know some of the trans students at the school and they certainly have. These range from not being able to get into dorms for their gender, to not finding bathrooms, to having slurs thrown at them. In one of my classes a few years ago, the head of the Women and Gender Center came in to talk about sexuality and he even said that he does not advise OOS trans students to attend the school if they have better options (he used an example of a student in Washington State wanting to come to OU)
That sucks, but I think the school is becoming more inclusive. As an LGBT individual, I did not feel discriminated against, but I am not trans, so I don’t know how they are treated. I was a WGS student and it was very inclusive, so hopefully things have gotten better in the past few years. I graduated in May 2014.
In general, acceptance of T tends to lag behind acceptance of LGB, so it may be a mischaracterization to describe a place’s “LGBT acceptance/friendliness” when it may differ for LGB compared to T.
@ucbalumnus OP did mention possible majors and then listed theater as being an EC. Muhlenberg has an excellent Political Science department and OP could still enjoy various aspects of the theater program as an EC.
If you like Oberlin you should consider Earlham. It has a similar vibe but is a less competitive school. Your stats would be high there and I imagine you’d get top merit.
It will be a narrow search that checks all your boxes.
You need a private school in which Your profile greatly exceeds their profile.
Plus they offer full tuition merit
And meet your lgbt friendliness
I second Earlham. It appears to be very LBGT friendly, although I don’t know the bathroom or dorm situation. for trans students, but I’m sure you can ask. Also, it seems to have an active - though small because Earlham is small - theater dept, esp in terms of student directed productions, and a beautiful new Center for Visual and Performing Arts. And it sounds as if you would qualify for a generous merit scholarship.
A friend of mine has a daughter who goes to Bryn Mawr in PA. She said it’s VERY LGBTQIA+ friendly and there are a few transgender students on campus. Her daughter loves how close-knit the students are as it’s a small school. My son, cis-gender and gay, only chose colleges that were LGBTQ welcomin, had LGBTQ or gender neutral housing (should the regular dorms not work out,) and were also in towns/cities that were welcoming as well. No place is completely safe, but it was our family’s first priority next to universities that were strong in political science.
@ucbalumnus Exactly! That’s why I can’t trust every school that calls itself LGBT-friendly, because not all of them would suit my needs.
@tigerfish @MomofM Thank you for the recommendation! I’ll look at Earlham.
@FarscapeFan I know of people who’ve gone to Bryn Mawr and have loved it, but as a non-woman I personally don’t feel like I belong in that kind of space, even if I can apply. Which schools did your son consider/apply to? If you don’t mind my asking.
Also, does anyone know anything about the LGBT community at American University?