How much can you afford before taking loans?
The state of Alabama is not the only state passing laws against DEI stuff in universities or forcing unfriendly policies against LGBT (particularly T).
See Movement Advancement Project | Snapshot: LGBTQ Equality by State for descriptions of state laws and policies on LGBT issues (note that it also has subsections for LGB and T issues), if that is of concern.
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Agree with this. And be aware that finding a medical provider who is comfortable providing health care (of all kinds) to a non-cis young person could be challenging in some parts of the country.
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OP please be aware that “campus pride index” is a function of the schools self reporting of resources and can therefore be manipulated. It certainly doesn’t serve to reflect the reported experience of the LGBQ community.
In terms of University of Alabama, the Princeton Review ranks them 12 most “LGBQ Unfriendly”. This list is compiled based on first hand accounts experiences as reflected in surveys. Specifically…,
“ Our 50 annual college rankings lists are entirely based on what students attending the schools in our Best Colleges book tell us about their colleges and their experiences at them via our student survey for this project. Each ranking list reports the top 25 colleges (of the 390 in the book) in a specific category.”
You should also be aware of the states history…,
LGBTQ rights in Alabama - Wikipedia.
Hope this helps.
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OP’s student needs to talk to those in attendance and not worry about lists. At any school.
And there are intolerant people EVERYWHERE.
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While some kids undoubtedly can enjoy non Greek life at UA the school itself boasts the following…
“The fraternity and sorority community at The University of Alabama is one of the largest and most vibrant in the United States.
With around 12,000 students, the UA Greek community comprises 36 percent of the undergraduate student body and is home to 71 social Greek-letter organizations. Since Fall 2011, The University of Alabama has held the coveted honor of being the largest fraternity and sorority community in the nation with regard to overall fraternity and sorority membership.”
If trying to avoid a meaningful and dominant Greek culture I suspect best not to go to the school with “the largest fraternity and sorority community in the nation”.
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Please move on from arguing the merits/fit of Alabama, which was not on the OP’s list.
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Campus Pride Index mainly lists campus administrative policies on LGBT issues. It does not rate the general friendliness or hostility in the campus or local community (which survey based ratings are more likely to capture), nor the relevant state laws and policies (except indirectly when a state law forces the school to have a particular policy).
Hence, it has some use regarding the areas it covers, but it is also necessary to know what it does not cover.
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Please note that I am not a college admissions professional; I am just an interested parent. Below are my guesses as to what your D’s chances might be at the colleges on the list, assuming she applies as an environmental science major. If she applies as an environmental engineering major, however, her chances will decrease, sometimes significantly (like Purdue), since engineering is a much more competitive major.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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Indiana
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Rutgers
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U. of Colorado
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U. of Delaware
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U. of Kansas
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U. of South Carolina
Likely (60-79%)
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Ohio State
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Penn State
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Purdue
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U. of Maryland
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U. of South Florida
Toss-Up (40-59%)
- U. of Wisconsin
Lower Probability (20-39%)
- U. of Florida
Low Probability (less than 20%)
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Duke
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Vanderbilt
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Northeastern (if she wants to start in Boston)
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UNC-Chapel Hill
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U. of Southern California
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Thank you so much for this! Quick question - at most of these schools, how much would her applying for engineering lower her chances, on average? Like will it move her a full tier down? Or something smaller? I ask because I really think she does prefer environmental engineering.
Have you looked at state laws that could affect your LGBTQ student? I would have some reservations about Florida and Missouri and a few others.
Would University of Vermont be affordable? I like the University of Minnesota suggestion.
For some schools, like U. of Delaware or U. of Kansas, I don’t think going for environmental engineering would affect her chances at all. At schools in the Lower Probability to Likely categories, maybe it would decrease her chances by a tier, but I’m not entirely sure. At Purdue her chances would likely decrease by at least two tiers. The more popular the engineering program in comparison to the rest of the school, the bigger the effect on her chances for admission. But it’s important to dig into the admissions stats for each school by the college into which she is applying (i.e. college of arts & sciences vs. college of engineering), and I don’t know enough to make well-educated guesses for how much of an effect it will have on each school.
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In the end, the admission difficulty isn’t relevant in the sense that you have plenty of assured.
If Purdue turns you down, no big deal.
Since Env Eng is not one of the popular engineering majors, you may want to look into schools with direct admission to major such as Ohio State, not direct admission to school such as Purdue. Your daughter doesn’t want to compete admission with students applying for Comp, Mech, Aero and biomed Eng.
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Just wanted to say thanks again for the insight. Really appreciate it!
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