@SeattleTW The answer to me is simple, I am female and I have always been female in spite of what my birth certificate says. I have contacted several colleges to get more information but none of them have responded yet so i thought I would ask if anyone knows about particular policies.
By legal documents I mean my Birth certificate, Passport, old DACA and New State ID all say female. As far as paperwork is concerned I have nothing that would “out” me as transgender. However were I in a housing situation or if for some reason a previous contact outed me at college I would like to know that I would not be punished for statements made about my gender on my college app.
With the exception of the aforementioned Women’s colleges none of the colleges I have looked at have a clear cut policy readily available for prospective students. Most have an inclusion policy which may or may not include Transgender people but does not have specific guidelines on how a transgender person should apply and how our rights our protected. I’m sure I’m not the only one having this problem, despite the fact that there is a large disparity between being transgender and going on to higher education.
I emailed Yale, Pitt, Dartmouth, Ithaca and Georgetown none of them have replied yet. I realize too that it is possible that they have a policy I could not find. I do know that Yale is in the works of creating a gender neutral housing option, which seems to be in the right direction but I still would like to double check about the application specifically.
Thanks for your understanding in this matter,it really does mean a lot. Often times people view us jokes or gags at best and as a threat to be treated with violence at worst. Right now I am somewhere between blending into the woodwork, because I don’t have to worry about “passing” as female and standing up for transgender rights because I know that one of the struggles of our community is a desire to be normal cis people. This tendency makes us easy prey for bullies and policy makers because we aren’t typically an outspoken people.
Now to get us back on track 
Okay, so your birth certificate says you are a female? Did you have it changed via adoption? What is a DACA?
You would check “female.” Point blank. Putting “male” would be an affront to who you are. I have transgender friends who applied to schools before all of their documentation had been changed, and they still applied as the gender they identified with.
That being said, I would suggest mentioning that you’re transgender in the additional section of the application, for a couple of reasons. One, if there are colleges that are transphobic enough to view you putting female as lying, it would keep you away from a potentially bad situation. Two, you will likely come out to the college you end up going to, either when filling out medical forms or when you’re doing housing; this way you’re being proactive and making sure they know. Three, it could make you a more compelling candidate, if you have a strong profile and if the admissions committee is well-versed in the struggles that transgender people often face. I don’t think you’re legally obligated to, though, if you don’t feel comfortable disclosing that.
You’re doing the right thing by emailing the schools (though calling would likely get you a more immediate response, if you haven’t heard back in a few weeks). You might also want to check the schools’ nondiscrimination policies and make sure that gender identity (and, ideally, gender expression) are included. You can also poke around on websites and see if they hold events like Trans Day of Remembrance. This will give you some idea how welcoming the schools are.
The UC system is giving 6 choices for gender this year. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-gender-20150806-story.html
IIRC, Caltech gives several more choices.
I’m an attorney and if my adopted foster alumnus told me he was transgender I’d advise him to mark the male box, regardless of whether he insisted he was really female, and regardless of whether his other state ID and passport said otherwise. Full disclosure is always preferable to trying to hide essential facts and then trying to explain oneself years later. The OP will still need to check the local and state laws to determine whether she will be subject to discrimination outside of college. Be very careful here.
Perhaps you should do sit with an attorney in your state to see what is what. The transgender folks I know always put the sex that they identify with. In your case, you also have lots of documentation that agrees with this choice. The poster above is a lawyer, but I would suggest you consult in person with someone who is an expert on transgender issues and guidelines.
You have bantered about a number of schools…hard to give you any choices without knowing your stats. So…what is your SAT or ACT score, and how about your GPA? The policies of the schools won’t matter at all unless you have the credentials to be admitted.
I will suggest that you look into Wesleyan in CT.
I’m an attorney and this sentence makes absolutely no sense to me. Absent an intimate physical examination or DNA test by the admissions office, which is not to my knowledge a part of any college application process, I can’t think of any way in which a school could take issue with a student’s identification as a particular gender when every piece of legal documentation, as well as the student’s presentation, supports that identification. Nor would it be remotely the business of the school to even take an interest in the subject under those circumstances. There may or may not be countervailing arguments when a student is in the process of transitioning, but OP’s situation seems to be a closed case. If OP would like to discuss her transgender experience in an essay or as a supplement to her application, that’s entirely her choice, but it would in no way be required, @SeattleTWE’s obvious personal discomfort with the subject nothwithstanding.
THIS.
There is a lot of wrongheaded advice in this thread. Read the above post by @SpringAwake15 carefully and then follow it.
BEST of luck to you. The world is slow to change, but it’s going to get better for people like you, and some of that change has started in the best colleges in the US.
After you enroll, you’d have to indicate that you’re transgender for health center forms, in order to receive proper treatment (example: some medicines work differently in biological men vs. biological women). Medical records such as these should be confidential, though.
Here are the colleges I’d avoid:
Any in NC, SC, GA, TN, UT, TX, IN, AL, LA, MS, and most other states outside of CA, New England, NY, OR, and WA. You should feel comfortable and protected in areas outside the rarefied boundaries of the college.
I have no personal discomfort with transgender at all, but you should consider my opinion because it’s legally defensible from the start and requires no further documentation, explanation, rationalization or argument. You can then request accommodation based upon your orientation, regardless of how others perceive you sexually or physically.
I think you’ve answered your own question.
If you are female in the eyes of the law there’s no reason you should have to indicate the gender assigned to you at birth. I would, however, seek out school communities supported of TG people. This is a list of TG-friendly colleges. It’s 3 years old but should still be useful. I’d add in some LACs such as Hampshire, Oberlin, and some of the women’s colleges.
@Thumper1 My stats aren’t all that important My ACT is in the 25th-75th percentile of the top schools, My GPA is a 4.0 unweighted and I have been offered a few fly-ins at Ivy league schools. I’m not worried about whether or not I can get in mostly because I feel that admissions officers are generally very good at what they do and if they don’t think I can do well at their school, they’re probably right. lol
Are you interested in women’s colleges? The 7 sister schools might be good options as “safer” schools than the Ivies (in terms of admissions chances, not physical safety). These schools tend to have experience with TG students and have developed explicit policies. I know that doesn’t answer your question, but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway!
Have you asked your question in any TG discussion groups? The phenomenon of students applying to college as openly TG is quite new, but I’m sure there are a few students out there who have done it in the past couple of years who could give you some advice on the process.
In a perfect world everything would be open and easy and everybody would take you exactly as you are. Obviously, we do not live in a perfect world.
So, imo, take Georgetown out. It is a Catholic school. That is a genuine, important part of their identity, and transgender is a genuine challenge to their understanding of the world.
Rather than trying to find out which colleges are still learning about gender neutrality (and, to be fair, while it is blindingly obvious once you ‘get it’, it is a very big mental transition for a lot of perfectly decent people, never mind institutions, which typically are as nimble as barges), look for schools that are clear that they are welcoming to you as you are.
Being a young adult is hard enough. Being a college student is hard enough. Being in a minority (and I gather you that you are in multiple minorities) is hard enough. Take the positive approach, and look for places that feel comfortable and welcoming.
I’m not sure you will feel,comfortable at Catholic colleges…even Jesuit ones like Georgetown. They do follow the church doctrine. Having said that, I’m not sure what the Catholic Church stance is in transgender issue. But other issues regarding sexual issues are very clear.
@collegemom3717 - your thoughts on Georgetown seem logical, but [think again](Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Resource Guide | LGBTQ Resource Center | Georgetown University)…times are changing.
Yes, times are changing…but catholic colleges follow Catholic Church doctrines. For example. It is not likely you will be getting birth control pills at the student health center at a Catholiv college (my kid attended Santa Clara, and the school offered no birth control on campus).
Single-sex colleges aside, you’re more likely to run into issues after you matriculate rather than before. There’s been a fair bit of discussion about trans-friendly colleges over the years.
An old post:
@SeattleTW, I’m still not following you. Seems to me a student stating a gender in her application that is at odds with all her legal documentation would open up a hornet’s nest of inquiry and confusion. Again, apart from medical disclosures which are confidential, I fail to see how OP’s transgender status would come to the attention of her college at all, much less become the subject of explanation, rationalization or argument. And the fact that you use the term “orientation” to describe a transgendered individual tells me you don’t have a good handle on this subject.