So, next summer (2015) I will receive my degree and will move out of my country to go to a university abroad to do a Meng or a PhD, and probably stay there for some years afterwards too. I have two choices, Europe and USA. Apply ingand moving in to an EU country is firly easy, given that my country is an EU member. The USA have the advantage of better universities in my sector, but it's a lot of pain to get there (Visa, higher transportation costs etc). I am really sceptical about this. Under other circumstances, finding a proper university for me would be easier, but now that I am gay I have to take into consideration whether the place I will study is gay friendly. Compared to the US, Europe doesn't have the greatest reputation of being gay friendly (correct me if I am wrong), so it seems the US are winning. Should the factor of"gay friendliness" affect so much my choice? Do you have any experience to share in any universities (or city of a well reputed university)? I am interested in universities acknowledged for their electrical engineering department, such as MIT, Stanford, Georgia university, Calitech (California institute of technology), university of Illinois in the US, and then Cambridge (UK), ETH (in Zurich) in Europe and such. If you have a university to suggest, don't hesitate to name it. I know I am asking for something too specific, but any advice would be welcome. Thanks!
What a great position to be in .. Choosing between so many great places. I think you would find most university environments awesome academically and LGBT too. Cambridge UK is the only one I know personally. Gay friendly and 50 minutes from London. Great reputation internationally.
the US is not incredibly gay friendly, but that does depend HIGHLY on where you were to live. Some states are great for gay people, some states are awful. I would suggest, if gay friendliness matters to you in your choice (and why shouldn't it?), that you check out LGBT rights and protections by state. this chart, for example The universities located in states with higher incidences of equal rights for LGBT people under the law will be more gay friendly, and also, you might want to check out the website for each university you consider because they may have an active LGBT center or club and that indicates a gay-friendly campus. (regardless of whether you would join, having one of these things indicates that they are interested in gay people feeling comfortable on their campus) As for whether it's more expensive to live here? Maybe. I wouldn't worry too incredibly much about transportation while you're in school. College towns generally have decent public transportation and cheap-ish housing on and around campus, but that is another thing each university will be able to tell you about their campus and the surrounding area! Good luck!
