lgbt

<p>any insights on lgbt life at midd?</p>

<p>Apply to Wesleyan. Although I am a straight female I know from my gay,lesbian etc friends that Wesleyan has a very active community and the campus is not just tolerant of all sexual orientations but very welcoming. I can think of very few other schools with such an eclectic community. </p>

<p>I saw this post and just wanted u to know this information.</p>

<p>Your best options are Wesleyan, Brown, Swarthmore & NYU & Oberlin & Vassar. If you are female, then also consider Smith and Wellesley & Sarah Lawrence. Skidmore and, possibly, Connecticutt College, which are both co-ed. Emory and Grinnell. In this respect, I do not think that Middlebury would be a good choice.</p>

<p>The Advocate magazine has published a new book highlighting the top 100 colleges in the United States for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. </p>

<p>The Advocate interviewed hundreds of students about the climate on their campuses. Middlebury was profiled as one of the top 100 schools for LGBT students.</p>

<p>Sarah Lawrence, by the way, is over 25% male and definitely co-ed. It is also very tolerant of nearly anyone, especially LGB individuals, from what I've seen.</p>

<p>great responses, guys! thanks!</p>

<p>i was kind of on the edge with middlebury because i like it... but i wasnt totally sold, and i wasnt ready to take it off my list. but i think i can retire it knowing my other schools are better matches.</p>

<p>im a gay male form the seattle suburbs</p>

<p>my list so far is:
University of Washington (safety and just cuz its instate)
lewis & clark college (again, safety and proximity)
pitzer, claremont, and pomona (claremont is my #1 academically)
university of chicago
bowdoin
swarthmore
georgetown
stanford
george washington
wesleyan
brown
columbia
princeton</p>

<p>im trying to get my list down to 8 or 10. any ideas on some i should strike from the list based solely on social match being a gay student?</p>

<p>If you think Middlebury wouldn't be a fit, then get rid of Bowdoin and Georgetown. Bowdoin is quite similar to Middlebury in the composition of the student body and environment, and, from what I've heard, Georgetown has a climate that can (at times) be uncomfortable for those with alternative lifestyles.</p>

<p>It depends what you're looking for lgbtq-wise. I can really only speak for my own school (the U of C) in saying that while our lgbtq-related clubs don't have much campus presence, many, many, many students and faculty are gay and gay relationships are about as commonplace and ordinary as straight ones.</p>

<p><a href="http://lgbtq.uchicago.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://lgbtq.uchicago.edu/&lt;/a> will give you an idea of what's available here.</p>

<p>Though it depends on your social life versus academic life, there are some choices on your list that seem really out of place if you're a gay male.Georgetown and CMC come to mind immediately. CMC is a fairly conservative school, similar with Gtown, and both seem to see alternative life styles as strange.</p>

<p>University of Washington
lewis & clark college
pitzer, and pomona
university of chicago
swarthmore
wesleyan
brown
columbia
princeton</p>

<p>The above are all fine choices for you, offering excellent academic and social atmospheres for you. I HIGHLY reccomend you look at Vassar though, along with maybe Macalester and SLC</p>

<p>ah the college application process is so awkward! so im like 100% i want to go into international relations.... but most of the schools strong in that (cmc, gtown esp.) seem to be bad matches for me socially. and lets be honest i probably cant get into the ivies (though im applying anyway). and for schools that fit me socially, IR isnt their forte.</p>

<p>ill have to mull it over and see how it goes...</p>

<p>thanks for your advice everyone</p>

<p>Actually, Lewis and Clark along with UChicago have very strong Int'l Relations. Vassar has an Int'l Relations program, perhaps not exceptionally strong, but decent.</p>

<p>Remember the college experience is very much about academics, but also social life aswell and the experiences you have. Given your position, I would suggest you look for a balance of academics and social life. Don't look for the one college with super strong programs in X or Y. Likewise, don't look for the one college with the most accepting environment with little focus on academics. Look for BALANCE.</p>

<p>Gah, I really can't stop reccommending Vassar. It is a renowned LAC, very liberal and accepting laid back student body, with strong programs in all areas. They have a nice international relations dept. too.</p>

<p>avantgardener - I wouldn't be so quick to write off Georgetown for social reasons. It is very good in terms of IR, and I don't think that it is as socially conservative as is being asserted on this board. And don't forget that it is located in the heart of Washington, DC, which is one of the more gay friendly cities in the US . .</p>

<p>torasee, you make a good point. DC is an awesome city. and this is probably ridiculous and makes no sense but: i was reading an article about how the georgetown administration is trying to make themselves look good in the aftermath of some sort of homophobic event...? which means they may want me for diversity?! ha i dunno bout that. its a stretch.</p>

<p>and @ onilawliet, vassar has been on and off my list for a while now. they have a very beautiful campus, definitely a very accepting atmosphere, and that whole kind of learning-for-the-sake-of-learning attitude which i like. i guess i had a bad impression because of my friend who is applying ed there, she is very pretentious annoying about it. but ill definitely research more and consider vassar.</p>

<p>i have until december-ish to decide... and if im admitted it doesnt mean i HAVE to go there. so we'll just see what happens.</p>

<p>georgetown is a fantastic place to be gay. i would keep it. question the small liberal arts colleges, not because they're unfriendly toward gay people (quite the contrary) but because the selection pool of eligible people to date is small. on should not on the basis of its religious affiliation eliminate georgetown. it has a thriving and deep gay scene and is a part of one of the largest and, relatively speaking, most tame gay urban populations in the US.</p>

<p>I have friends, both gay and straight, who have been very happy at Georgetown. What I've been told (so it's only hearsay) is that there's a strong and supportive LBGT community, but that there can also be a higher-than-at-some-schools level of resistance and intolerance coming from elsewhere. This is hardly an unbiased source, but it's the most comprehensive set of explanations that I found to highlight some recent incidences: <a href="http://www.queerty.com/news/gay-georgetown-staffer-speaks-out-20071023/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.queerty.com/news/gay-georgetown-staffer-speaks-out-20071023/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Every school, unfortunately, has something comparable to this in its recent history. By posting the info here (and I'm sure it's referenced somewhere else on CC), I don't mean to bash Georgetown...simply to elaborate on avantgardener's "some sort of homophobic event...?"</p>

<p>That said, I'd recommend to the OP that when you visit campuses, you try to get in touch with the schools' Queer Resource Center, Gay Straight Alliance, or other related groups. Such offices should give you a good place to get firsthand (and hopefully fairly accurate) info about social climate.</p>

<p>CMC is more homophobic by far than Pomona or Pitzer</p>

<p>avantgardener -</p>

<p>I can say that Midd actually has a really present lgbt group on campus (MOQA) and that alternative lifestyles are respected and relatively common. My freshman year, a couple of guys in my hall rediscovered their sexuality and everyone was really supportive.</p>

<p>The college may seem stiff with New Englanders from private schools, but there are people from everywhere (two people from Seattle in my hall acutally) and attitudes are a lot more progressive than I would have expected. </p>

<p>Best,
fortunateson</p>

<p>According to my neighbor, we actually have a really active gay scene. The issue is kind of a hot-topic on campus, or has been really because there was an issue last year with one incident of homophobic graffiti that led to meetings between MOQA (Midd out queer alliance... I think?) and the administration and town-meeting style gatherings of students to talk about discrimination and whatnot. Good stuff, come to Midd.</p>

<p>thanks klink, that's good to know!</p>

<p>Hi! this thread is great! I'm a gay girl hoping to return to college. i should also add I'm international & 21... I'm applying to Wellesley, Smith, Mt Holyoke, Hollins, Amherst & Williams & SLC. should I mention my sexuality in my applications?</p>