Hi. I am planning on transferring as a Junior applicant from UConn next year. My home state is New York, and I am looking for a school that is relatively LGBT friendly and also considered a good school.
My GPA is really good here at UConn, but I have felt it is just not a fit for me, and the kids are not my type of people by all means. Anyways, I am looking into schools in California as they seem LGBT friendly, however, I would like to know if any other schools are well-known and LGBT friendly. As of now, I am looking into UCSD, UCSB, UCLA, UC Irvine, and USC. I am VERY well aware that these are very expensive schools for OOS students!
If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know! Thanks.
As a very openly member of the community myself I’ve done a fair bit of research into this topic.
The schools you have listed, especially USC and UCLA, all seem to be LGBT+ friendly as far as I can tell. I also recommend looking at San Diego State University, University of California Davis and San Francisco State University. Most liberal schools and LGBT+ friendly schools are LACs and if you are willing to consider these I recommend Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College and Scripps College.
I also advise that you don’t limit yourself to just California. I know you said you were looking there as it is a liberal state but many of the prestigious universities there have a reputation of being quite conservative such as Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University, Santa Clara University and Chapman University.
Other universities I’d recommend of similar prestige are New York University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Rutgers University New Brunswick and University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Other LACs I suggest you consider consider are Vassar College, Oberlin College, Carleton College and Bryn Mawr College (women’s only).
Good luck. Hopefully you will be happier at whatever college you transfer to than UConn.
Just about any CSU in California will be LGBT-friendly, although I don’t know if they’re worth the cost for OOS. If you’re female, there’s Mills College in Oakland.
Wesleyan in CT
Sarah Lawrence
Bard
Hampshire
Ithaca
NYU
Any of the women’s colleges as mentioned above (Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hollins, Vassar (now coed), Wellesley)
U of Vermont in Burlington (UVM)
Go to Barnard College of Columbia University!!! It’s an Ivy League (undergraduate college of Columbia University) AND a Seven Sister! Very prestigious. Columbia U as a whole is very LGBTQ friendly! Plus, it’s in NYC which is soooo progressive and amazing. Barnard is very hard to get into these days though with a 14.8% acceptance rate this year.
If your major is engineering/STEM, RPI is LGBT friendly (according to my D who is there, she herself is not LGBT, but most of her close circle of friends are).
@NYCGirl33 Barnard is not an undergraduate college of Columbia. The only two undergraduate colleges are Columbia College and Columbia Engineering and Applied Sciences. Barnard is a separate liberal arts college which is located next to the Columbia campus. It is still prestigious, however.
Somewhat off point but to clarify Barnard College is a distinct entity but it does have a very direct relationship with and is considered a partner college to Columbia. Barnard students can take classes at Columbia, use the libraries, live in residence halls etc. And on a resume a Barnard graduate would correctly write: Barnard College of Columbia University.
@happy1 yes, I am aware they have a close relationship and students can take classes at Columbia however Barnard is not technically one of the undergraduate colleges since you apply to them separately.
“Barnard is legally separate and financially independent from the University; sets its own student fees; has a separate endowment, administration and faculty, and admissions office; and undertakes its own fund-raising.”
@TheGr8Gatsby I clearly stated that Barnard is a distinct entity that has a relationship/partnership with Columbia so I believe we are substantially in agreement.
Columbia counts four undergraduate colleges: Barnard, Columbia College, GS, and engineering. They have different histories, money streams, etc., but they all are under the big umbrella of Columbia University.
All of the Ivies are LGBT friendly. Yale, Penn, Brown and Columbia are notoriously LGBT friendly. Penn’s LGBT community is especially well supported by the Penn administration as well. Penn was a very early adopter of gender neutral housing options for first years as well as upperclass students (I’m not sure that all ivies have this for first years yet- you’ll have to check) and it had the most expansive LGBT inclusive healthcare coverage in the ivy league (though all of the other ivies now have the same or very similar coverage plans I believe). Additionally, Penn’s LGBT center is in the heart of campus in a two story, beautifully renovated 1870s Carriage House. Most other (if not all?) Ivies have centers that share space in campus buildings dedicated to other uses, but none are as robust as Penn’s LGBT center. But beyond administrative support, you’ll find that LGBT students thrive at every Ivy and they participate in an annual event called IvyQ where the students of the eight ivy LGBT communities get together to discuss life as an LGBT person at their respective institutions (and to meet for the social benefits too… )
@Humbly Vassar has a gender ratio equivalent to the national average. For incoming freshman for the class of 2020 there was an acceptance rate of 27%. I don’t know about the transfer admit rate, however.
PennCAS2014 you make it sound amazing. If only my gpa was better D: