Post-Acceptance Decisions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Occidental College
1

<p>The mail's come and now I'm having a bit of trouble deciding between the colleges I've gotten in to. Right now, I'm mainly thinking about Occidental and Sarah Lawrence, but I'm really conflicted.</p>

<p>On one hand, Occidental is a great school and has just the right amount of intellectualism for me. The drawbacks? I'm still searching for that WOW factor at Oxy-- I think part of my problem is that Oxy is only an hour away from home, and I feel like I want to go farther away from college. Lastly, I'm not sure how big of a gay community is at Oxy. I'm a female interested in other females, and I just don't know how strong of a LGBT community there is at Oxy (not that I'd choose a school entirely based on this.. it's just a worry of mine).</p>

<p>On the other hand, Sarah Lawrence is a really progressive school, but it's easier to get in to than Oxy (not that it's less challenging academically). It's an appealing prospect to travel across the country for college (as opposed to just an hour drive), and I know there is DEFINITELY a LGBT community at Sarah Lawrence, but I'm afraid the college will be TOO "out there", and not legitimate enough. </p>

<p>I know it all comes down to what is the best fit for me, but I'd love some perspectives on these rumors/assumptions/what have you, and maybe some perspective from those of you who have either traveled far for college or have gone to school relatively close. How much of an impact does it have on your experience?</p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>I probably cannot comment so much on your close/far dilemma, but there is DEFINITELY a LGBTQ presence at Oxy - even a handful of our faculty members (i.e. the chair of the math department) is openly gay. Our sort of "gay-awareness month" is in April -called "Gapril" - so it's definitely part of the college's mission to establish students who can contribute to an increasingly diverse and pluralistic world. The main LGBTQ club on campus is "GSA" -Gay Straight Alliance. You could probably e-mail the president and ask him some questions about oxy's gay community. I hope that helps ease your concern, and feel free to ask more questions!</p>