@Old_parent, we have investigated LGBTQ theme housing on both campuses – it’s available at both, though as you say there are no guarantees. That’s not an imperative for D, although I think it would be a good way to find a community of people who are congenial – one thing I worry about with my D is that she is not at all social and not good at reaching out and making connections with people, so it’s very important that she be able to easily plug in to a community of like-minded people. That was always my worry with her attending a huge school like either Cal or UCLA. Obviously she’s not going to get along with every random stranger just because they are LGBTQ, but at least we wouldn’t have to worry that one of her roommates would actually be homophobic or something.
I got a text from D this morning saying that she’s leaning towards UCLA, so she may be ready to make a decision!