Going to college is a hard transition for the most resilient of students, but for transgender youth, the adjustment is that much more difficult. Many trans students decide to live their lives as their true selves for the first time in college. To get there in the first place, most must navigate complicated bureaucracies and often hostile educational environments, while simultaneously taking on the burden of applying to colleges. So, where should a trans college applicant even begin?

Tips for Applying to College as a Transgender Student

Find Allies in Your Community and Lean on Them

Making it to college cannot be done alone, even when it feels like no one is on your side. Trans high schoolers should find supportive adults in their community, whether they’re parents, relatives, role models, or the proverbial queer-friendly English teacher. These allies will offer crucial emotional support and, at-times, logistical support, as college-bound students assume the stress of applying to college. Even those who feel like there is no one to rely on should not lose faith that college will open the door to LGBTQ+ community — it won’t be easy, but making it to a friendly campus will be worth the effort.

Pick the Right College

To this end, it is essential that all trans college applicants thoroughly research the schools in which they are interested. The unfortunate reality is that not all schools are trans-friendly. In order to be assured that your transition will be supported, your civil rights will be protected, and your peers will be accepting, trans students should look into the LGBTQ+ resources on prospective campuses. Look up things like “name change policy,” “transgender housing accommodations,” and “trans student groups on campus” on any given college’s website, and “trans civil rights protections” in any given state. Even trans-friendly colleges located in states passing healthcare bans and discriminatory statutes will not be able to protect their students from regional political discrimination.

Craft a Competitive Application

It used to be the case that a trans applicant would come out through their personal essay,  recount a few examples of hardships they faced as a result of their transness, and affirm their belief that the college to which they are applying will be the best and most supportive place for them, and such an essay would secure admission to even the most elite university. Times have changed a bit since this era. While applicants should by no means hide who they are in their applications, we at Ivy Coach do not recommend that trans identity be the centerpiece of the Personal Statement.

If a student has faced significant oppression as a result of their transness or has dedicated themselves to activism on behalf of trans lives, those experiences should certainly come into play in any writing on the application. But simply gesturing to one’s identity or the broader landscape of LGBTQ+ civil rights without giving admissions officers a look at the person behind the identity will read as hollow and opportunistic. Transness is an incredibly special part of what makes you you, and you are who colleges want to get to know. 

Gender Breakdown Across America’s Top Universities

The charts below provide a comprehensive breakdown of the gender makeup of America’s top national universities and liberal arts colleges. As is plainly obvious, most schools do not collect data on gender-nonconforming students (to say nothing of all trans students). Those schools that do report the number of gender-nonconforming people in the student body, such as Yale University, the University of California Schools, or Williams College, are more likely to be trans-friendly.

However, the raw number of non-cis students in a given student body is only one metric for determining the scope of a college’s trans community. Some trans communities exist under the radar, thriving through niche student groups and party cultures that do not make it into college brochures. Getting in touch with current trans students enrolled at colleges through email, social media, and campus visits is a great way to gauge the particularities of a school’s relationship with transness.

Best National Universities

College/University	2024 U.S. News and World Report Best National University Ranking	Number of Full-Time Male Students	Number of Full-Time Female Students	Number of Full-Time Gender Nonconforming Students
Princeton University	#1	2,769	2,771	0
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	#2	2,378	2,223	0
Harvard University	#3	3,471	3,735	0
Stanford University	#3	3,789	4,052	0
Yale University	#5	3,229	3,461	115
University of Pennsylvania	#6	4,501	5,216	0
California Institute of Technology	#7	537	445	0
Duke University	#7	3,307	3,531	0
Brown University	#9	3,557	3,663	0
Johns Hopkins University	#9	2,567	3,041	0
Northwestern University	#9	3,951	4,576	1
Columbia University	#12	3,301	3,308	42
Cornell University	#12	7,194	8,610	0
University of Chicago	#12	3,942	3,582	0
University of California, Berkeley	#15	13,647	17,481	415
University of California, Los Angeles	#15	12,392	19,072	299
Rice University	#17	2,241	2,152	0
Dartmouth College	#18	2,237	2,119	63
Vanderbilt University	#18	3,381	3,706	0
University of Notre Dame	#20	4,579	4,374	0
University of Michigan	#21	14,802	16,517	0
Georgetown University	#22	3,023	4,164	0
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	#22	7,626	11,731	0
Carnegie Mellon University	#24	3,567	3,709	0
Emory University	#24	3,011	4,011	0
University of Virginia	#24	7,260	9,317	3
Washington University in St. Louis	#24	3,504	3,941	0

Best Liberal Arts Colleges

College/University	2024 U.S. News and World Report Best National Liberal Arts College Ranking	Number of Full-Time Male Students	Number of Full-Time Female Students	Number of Full-Time Gender Nonconforming Students
Williams College	#1	991	1044	20
Amherst College	#2	914	981	0
Pomona College	#4	772	965	2
Swarthmore College	#4	794	847	0
Wellesley College	#4	1	2334	0
United States Air Force Academy	#7	2878	1207	0
United States Military Academy	#8	3394	999	0
Bowdoin College	#9	887	958	0
Carleton College	#9	1003	1014	0
Barnard College	#11	0	3091	0
Claremont McKenna	#11	682	695	0
Grinnell College	#11	806	900	0
Middlebury College	#11	1284	1464	0
Wesleyan University	#11	1388	1581	0
Davidson College	#16	892	1012	0
Hamilton College	#16	903	1123	18
Harvey Mudd College	#16	458	453	0
Smith College	#16	1	2517	0
Vassar College	#16	922	1512	0
Colgate University	#21	1383	1729	0
Haverford	#21	615	804	0
Washington and Lee University	#21	916	971	0
Bates College	#24	862	866	25
University of Richmond	#25	1352	1590	0

It’s Trite, But It’s True: It Gets Better

Ultimately, the most important aspect of applying to college as a transgender student is holding onto hope. Trans people everywhere must have thick skin, incredible drive and creativity, and resilience like no other. All of these skills will come into play when applying to college, which provides great practice for navigating the world as a trans adult.