Take a look at Washington college on the eastern shore in Maryland (technically mid Atlantic): 2 active LGBTQ clubs, walkable to a small town (High street has a farmers market every week), I believe new track team, rowing team with some walk-one, close to a river and students can take our kayaks for free, field campus and garden club, very active clubs with events open to all every week night, great professors who really get to know the students, great business program (not sure about engineering, but they do have an active engineering type club—forget what they build) and they give great merit and have undergrad research opps and internship opps.
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Vassar only has 3+2 for engineering but you could look into the physics department and see if it would suit. My Vassar grad (math and physics major) said it’s an easier admit for guys but I haven’t verified.
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Is he open to what were traditionally women’s colleges? Most of those have thriving LGBTQ communities with many folks who are the T in that. Most of the women’s colleges now are just non-CIS male. My L daughter is at one now and there are quite a few trans men there. Mount Holyoke comes to mind.
If Virginia is not too far, check out William & Mary. It checks most of your boxes. Selective, LGBTQ friendly, walkable, good for STEM, but lots of other stuff going on too.
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I note Smith has Engineering, so if that was an option it could be a great one.
I also agree about William & Mary being a really strong contender if the range expands that far.
Both of these are obviously pretty selective, but still well worth considering if things evolve in their direction.
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Lafayette is not a religious school. It’s popular with students from our high school, which is very diverse and LBTQ+ friendly. Lehigh is bigger than Lafayette. The campuses are very close and can be easily toured in one day. I personally preferred Lafayette’s campus but it is a smaller school.
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Lafayette is a Presbyterian college. There are some families who wouldn’t feel comfortable with that no matter how active or not this is.
But I agree it is not a particularly active religious school. And it’s a great small school…in a charming town.
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Wheaton in MA is very LGBTQ+ friendly. The campus is beautiful with a very typical New England feel. The town is very very small, but safe and it does have a few stores nearby like a pharmacy and food. Access to Boston and Providence via the train is a nice bonus. They have a first year orientation option for LGBTQ+ students. It starts a few days prior to the regular orientation which gives LGBTQ students a little extra time to “find their people” and make connections.
Did you look at Wesleyan in CT? It’s perhaps a “reach for all” school these days but very accepting.
Of the historically women’s colleges, I think Mount Holyoke is the most open and progressive in their admissions policies.
Good luck with the search!
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My D graduated from Lafayette (loved it). While the school does have a historical affiliation with the Presbyterian church it had zero impact on campus life. There were active groups for different religions, there were no required theology or philosophy courses, etc.
If the OP has any interest in Laf a visit to campus would be helpful. As noted by a poster above Laf and Lehigh are physically close to one another and can be seen in one trip.
ETA: meant to reply to thread.
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Delaware is great for engineering, a larger school that seems smaller, students are happy. My daughter graduated from the honors college (3.9+ UWGPA 34 act) and she is a big lgbtq supporter (one of her best friends from UD is very openly gay). Track is D1 but they have a very strong club xc/tf.
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Take a look at Wheaton mass. Good job placement focus, inclusive and offer a Ton of merit to A- student types.
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Can the OP clarify if having an engineering program is a “must” for any college being considered?
Just throwing another vote in favor of checking out Delaware. Including because you could actually take the train back and forth to Boston! But also because I think it might actually feel closer to target in person than it might seem on paper, and definitely with Honors.
Edit: That said, if UMass Amherst was considered too big . . . maybe this will be an issue (if not, definitely check that out too!).
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Yes - a lot of schools have historical ties - Syracuse (my alma mater), Duke, etc. - but those are long in the mirror and thought Lafayette was the same…no longer any affiliations.
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My daughter is a freshman at Brandeis and loves it so much. The best thing about it in my opinion, which is not something you can rank, is how warm and cozy it feels. It’s so easy to make friends and feel included - for LGBTQ kids but also for anyone who just wants to be themselves. Can’t say enough good things.
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Wow, thank you all so much for the thoughtful feedback and suggestions. To clarify a couple of points:
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Engineering is not a must at this point. A year ago, he thought he’d want to major in engineering of some sort. Now, after a semester of AP Econ, he’s leaning toward majoring in economics. Next year, he’s planning to take Engineering 1 (offered at his high school only to juniors and seniors), so I could easily see the pendulum swinging back if he likes it. If he becomes serious about engineering, we’ll focus more heavily on schools that offer it at that point. I agree that a 3-2 program is not appealing.
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Women’s colleges are not going to appeal to him. He’s very much a kid who would prefer to blend in, and he would decidedly stick out in those environments.
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If engineering is not a requirement then Dickinson is also worth considering.
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Came to suggest Lafayette. Mine decided later on wanting engineering and not a 3-2 program. We have not noticed any religious vibe whatsoever. There is a gender inclusive dorm option, which my kid chose.
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Bard and Vassar would be worth the look.
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FWIW, my son is going to run TF/XC at Conn next year. While he doesn’t go there yet, on his recruiting visit he got the feeling that the team is very inclusive and doesn’t just care about the “impact players.” And I also got the impression from our meeting with the coach that currently the men’s XC team doesn’t cut (though given Title IX I don’t think that they can guarantee it never would.)
i toured clark (as trans/nb student) and saw that there were signs advertising gender neutral bathrooms all over the place. my interviewer was also an RA and he said his hall was planning to convert their bathroom to be all-gender and that no one in the hall had any problem with it. definitely got very supportive vibes!
i also have a trans friend at wheaton who absolutely loves it; am happy to ask him more specific questions for you if you PM me!
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