Hello!

I was wondering if I could apply next year to colleges like Smith, Wessley that are for only women... Do you know if it's possible? or can I benefit from female-based affirmative action? (like for Caltech or MIT)? I was looking on the web but I didn't find anything!!! D:

Do you think you'll need to change your gender legally in order to do that?

Not real sure myself. It would benefit you though to have a letter from your Therapist explaining you are transitioning as it may be enough to get you enrolled. 

Quote from: Emily29 on June 25, 2014, 06:44:21 PM
Hello!

I was wondering if I could apply next year to colleges like Smith, Wessley that are for only women... Do you know if it's possible? or can I benefit from female-based affirmative action? (like for Caltech or MIT)? I was looking on the web but I didn't find anything!!! D:

Do you think you'll need to change your gender legally in order to do that?

there is a bunch of information at googling transgenders apply to all women's colleges. It seems they have a right to deny you over gender under that TITLE issued by the government.

there is an exemption in TITLE IX that allows private colleges to deny based on gender

Ok then, I think I saw this quesiton before but I'm unsure, when I will apply t  college in general, can I mark female as my gender, even though I didn't change my gender legally yet? I don't see a terapist yet because of some problems I have but I will soon.

Quote from: Emily29 on June 25, 2014, 09:45:50 PM
Ok then, I think I saw this quesiton before but I'm unsure, when I will apply t  college in general, can I mark female as my gender, even though I didn't change my gender legally yet? I don't see a terapist yet because of some problems I have but I will soon.

don't know personally maybe some member will know. You can always try and apply to a woman's college . There's probably women's colleges that are more concerned with you as an individual.

You can apply. But I think what you really mean is, if I apply will I succeed?

I doubt it. Its as said, those specific collages have been granted rights to deny based on gender/sex.
And as much as we are becoming accepted. It is more in the lines of MtF. Personally I see the differences between MtF and F being enough for them to say your not F but MtF and this is an F only place.

I THINK, that it might be best to apply to one of those, after somebody has made the push their. A sister fighting for her trans sis to join the same school. Or a mother fighting for her daughter to attend the school she works at. But its my guess that this will be met by a, you can always change schools and your fired response.

So Its up to you. If you want to apply. But I don't think you will be accepted.

Well do they have to know it? So I am forced to put M instead of F? What about colleges that are not ony for women, do I have to put M, since legally i didn't change it yet? It's for next year that I'm going to be a senior in high school D: I wish there would be more stuff about this, but there is little care about trangender people in high school

legally, you would have to put M on college documents unless you change your gender in the courts or obtain a court order.

From the news stories I've read on the subject, basically you'd probably need your legal documents all in order in order to be accepted. Women's colleges do allow trans students, but basically they have to prove their femaleness first. It's very much a case-by-case basis, and is pretty much in its infancy as an issue.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/06/transgender_students_at_women_s_colleges_wellesley_smith_and_others_confront.html

I think Carrie hit the nail on the head-there is no policy in place for this sort of thing.  I happen to know Caliope Wong personally (who made the news a year or so back when she applied to Smith and was then denied on account of being transgender), and she told me that she knew from the start that she would not be admitted-she did it purely as a gesture to shed light on this issue.  When filing your application, you should mention that although the social security administration has you on record as a male student, you are not one.  Unfortunately, that's the only way to do it.

As for affirmative action, I can say that oddly enough being trans* actually helped me in that department.  Since I was applying to art schools, theatre conservatories, and academics-heavy liberal arts collages (all of which are very open and accepting communities), being transgender helped set me apart from the other applicants.  While there aren't any quotas to fill for people like us, many schools see us as adding diversity to the student body (and I was a 4-for-one, because I'm also latina, jewish, and gay!)  Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck-collage applications are miserable in this day and age, and I hope you find a place that's accepting, challenging, and makes you feel at home!

This issue crops up once in a while.  It's odd: I believe that women's colleges (typically private?) can and will deny admission to transwomen, but regular mixed colleges often see your trans status as a diversity issue and will encourage you to apply.

The women's colleges seem to have a rather old-fashioned view.  Understandable, I suppose, seeing as they initially had to fight so hard to create respectable women-only colleges in the first place and don't want to have "men" eroding that hard-won niche, but rather backward in terms of modern attitudes as a whole.  But whatever floats their boat, I suppose.

Keep applying though.  Until they're forced to change, they won't.

1. Women's colleges are very sensitive to LGBT issues. They get a lot of their students from the lesbian community so they try not to piss off the high school gay straight alliances. I would expect those that do not have a religious or conservative basis would welcome trans girls.

2. Some may post their policies. Here's an example: http://www.smith.edu/diversity/gender.php

Interesting, Suzi.  I took a glance at Smith's policies and while it seems to be very pro-trans on the surface, there's lots of room for discrimination.  For example:

"Like most women's colleges, Smith expects that, to be eligible for review, a student's application and supporting documentation (transcripts, recommendations, etc.) will reflect her status as a woman."

In other words, if you have any recent documented history as male, forget it.  Kinda rules almost every single one of us out, which is what happened very recently at Smith with Calliope Wong, a transgirl rejected because on her FAFSA form, she was still classed as male, despite everything else - recommendations, transcripts - identifying her as female.  In other words, the school spitefully rejected her based upon a minor technicality on a document irrelevant to her gender or her academic ability.

All of which I find weird since you're utterly correct that such colleges are extremely sensitive to "L" issues.  Just not "T" issues.

It's one of those issues that's ripe for activists to hammer away at, but for any MtF just looking for a good education without the drama, I'd suggest staying away from such institutions.  There's little they can offer which can't be found at many a good college eager to accept diversity rather than stifle it.