What can I do about it?

42 comments

1. I went to a prestigious university (Chicago) and hijabs were a regular sight on campus. You should be fine at any of the top universities.

2. Depends where you go. Most places in the north and near cities no one will say a word. I see women in hijabs every day and no one bats an eye.

3. Which college?

4. If by prodigious you mean prestigious, I’d think the diversity aspect of wearing a hijab would help you in the admissions process rather than harm you.

5. University of Michigan might be right for you.

   Edit: For the downvoters, as OP is concerned about how she will be treated, my recommendation is a valid one. I believe UofM has the highest percentage and/or most total students of Muslim faith of any major or public university. Hijabs are a common sight, not just on campus but in Ann Arbor, in the Big House, basically everywhere.

6. It really varies from college to college. If you wear the hijab to the interview and they reject you, we’ll, maybe you wouldn’t have been accepted anyway. But if the hijab played a role in their decision, you wouldn’t have a good experience there anyway.

   I think it really depends on the school. Keep in mind that you will spend much of your time there off campus in the local community. I’d avoid schools in states that are politically conservative and avoid schools in smaller towns, even in liberal states.

7. As a college student in the U.S, it’s not unusual to see people wearing all kinds of headdresses on campus. Colleges tend to be fairly accepting places, so the chances that you will get negative reactions are low.

8. If someone is that primitive to be threatened by an article of clothing, why make adjustments to accommodate what they choose to be offended by?

9. I don’t think you would get rejected from any reputable university for wearing a hijab.

10. I would go against the grain and say you would *benefit* if anything. Colleges are always looking to boost diversity numbers/statistics up, agree with it or not

11. A foreigner wearing a hijab is not going to figure into your admissions into any moderately prestigious college. You’d be in a small minority wearing one on campus, but certainly not the only student who does. You’d probably run into a little curiosity and a lot of indifference. If you’re in a particularly conservative community (not state, community), you may run into a bit of hostility. And even then, it’d only be from individual who are both conservative and religiously intolerant, two things which frequently do not go hand in hand. Most colleges are in fairly to extremely liberal communities.

    For an American, it might slightly improve their chances of admission.

12. No, if anything it would help you. There’s a huge diversity push these days

13. No university worth attending would care if you wore a hijab.

14. Wearing a hijab might actually work in your favor to be honest. Most colleges in the US tend to be left leaning / liberal and are very aware or into diversity in campuses be it in the form of race, religion, gender or sexual identity.

    As for prejudice or bigotry on your religion (I wouldn’t call it racist as religions are not a race) there are some instances that you might get some glances/looks. I doubt you would get the in your face bigotry on campus but of course there will always be idiots everywhere.

    As a non white person, contrary to popular belief the US is actually pretty safe when it comes to accommodating different races, ethnicities and cultures. And is really easy to blend in as it is a multiracial and a multicultural country.

    As an Atheist who is critical of your religion and every other religion. Stay true to your convictions if that’s who you are. That is what made and makes this country if you every decide to study here.

15. You really should ask this in subs specific to the school or maybe city where the school is located. Most of us are out of school, and attitudes at colleges are often different from the surrounding areas and often chance more quickly.

16. I live in Wyoming, a super super conservative red state and went to the university of Wyoming, and saw hijabs. No one cared. Universities are a lot more open and accepting. You do you.

17. No, no one cares if you where a hijab.

18. This isn’t France. It’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion here, which religious garb falls under.

19. Honestly, no one cares. What people don’t like is when you bring up religion out of the blue, but religious clothing is protected by the first amendment to the constitution.

20. You’re fine, might get a couple people being assholes in passing by, but colleges are incredibly diverse places.

21. Federal law requires universities to provide reasonable religious and medical accommodations as needed. You cannot be barred from wearing a hijab in public.

22. “Prodigious” means “a large amount.” You mean “Prestigious.”

    And no, no one cares in the US. In many campuses and cities, there are plenty of women wearing hijabs. It’s not all that uncommon. There may be a jerk who says something, but that person is regarded by everyone else as a jerk. Also, in a college, there are procedures in place for any harassment you might experience because of your hijab.

23. You would probably be treated much more kindly wearing a hijab at an elite university in the US than you would if you were an evangelical Christian.

24. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the hijab might actually help you if you really own your religious/cultural identity. There’s sort of a low-key feeling in favor of it among the educated class if you wear it with pride and not passivity.

25. No one cares if you wear a hijab

26. Universities, on an institutional level, will be perfectly accepting of hijabis.

27. The *only* colleges where this might happen would be very small, private, intensely religious (but non-Muslim) colleges.

    I went to a Catholic university and there were plenty of people who wore hijabs and multiple student societies for Muslims. So even most religious private colleges wouldn’t have a problem with it.

    In general outside of colleges, most people you encounter will react in line with how familiar they are with it. If you’re somewhere where there aren’t any other Muslims, people might stare. If you’re somewhere where there are some, probably no one will even really notice.

28. Honest answer (referring to once you are admitted and attending the school) is that other students might stereotype you as an insular religious person and figure you would not want to interact with people outside your faith. So they are not going to reach out to you or include you, unless you reach out to them. I’m not saying this is right, but it would happen. Some people, of course, would have the opposite reaction and go out of their way to try to make you feel welcome. But unfortunately I think you will likely encounter the former reaction from most people.

29. Yeah, you’re good here.

    Despite some American people’s noisy prejudice, our nation respects religious freedom as a foundational aspect of liberty. We also profoundly respect an individual’s freedom to dress as they choose, as an expression of their freedom of speech.

30. I live in Alabama, which is known to be super conservative and über Christian, but I see many hijabis on a daily basis and no one (that I’ve seen) harassed them or even bats an eye.

    Be yourself. You are obviously strong in your convictions, and no one should give you a hard time about that.

    I’m Pagan and will wear my hair wrapped in observance of a high day and no one says anything about the difference.

31. You don’t have to take it off. I’ve gone to school with (and currently work with) many women who wear hijab and no one says anything.

    If you’re talking about the one that covers your whole face as well, you might get a few weird looks but people will most likely leave you alone.

32. Most people won’t give a fuck what you wear in college and a very small minority of people in any country are just going to be assholes. Just avoid the small minority of assholes and you’ll be fine anywhere you go the world over.

33. I see women with hijabs around and it isn’t an issue at all (of course, I am a non-Muslim male, and I am not wearing one, so I don’t know how it feels to be wearing one. It is pretty common though.) . I got take out food last night from a place where a woman who wears a hijab works. This is in Central Maryland, a very ethnically diverse area. People here are used to culturally different paradigms.

    Of course, if you go to a large University in the US, you will probably see quite a few women wearing hijabs. College campuses tend to be among the most ethnically diverse and culturally tolerant places around regardless of what part of the country you are in.

34. Not only do you not need to remove it, but if you feel that your admission was influenced by discrimination based on your religious attire, then you can [file a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights](https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html?src=rt). If you feel you are being harassed by other students, then I would file a complaint with the relevant administrative department at your university and, if they fail to act, file a complaint with the Department of Education using the form I linked.

    I recommend reading the [DoE’s page on Civil Rights as they pertain to religious groups](https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/religion.html) for more information about your rights as a student and where to go for specific issues.

35. Pure blunt answers:
    1) No, you don’t need to take off your hijab to get into a good college in the US. It will have no negative influence on that process whatsoever unless you apply to a strict religious school that isn’t Muslim.
    2) Yes, there are some people here who are racist to hijabis, but they are an ever-shrinking group.

36. Wearing a hijab is a religious act that is protected by the first amendment. If you’re getting rejected it likely isn’t because of the hijab. It’s because you’re applying to incredibly prestigious and competitive schools like Stanford.

37. I went to a public university in South Texas (about 20K students) and hundreds of students wore hijabs, some even wore full niqabs. We see people out and about wearing hijabs all the time. My local pharmacist wears one. It’s not going to be an issue.

38. I wouldn’t worry at all about being a hijabi at an Ivy! You probably have even better chances of acceptance than if you were not. However, I would be more worried about expressing more conservative values of Islam. I sometimes see issues with that at my university. International students tend to get away with more things that very progressive people find “offensive,” but tread lightly with the things you say, if you are very traditional.

39. I’m a white Christian male so I don’t have any personal lived experience with this , but in general I’d say that you shouldn’t have any problems, except maybe a handful of less-than-prestigious schools in certain very conservative areas. Generally, college campuses (especially for the best schools) are seen as some of the most tolerant, accepting places in the United States. Will there still be jerks? Yes, but, as a country, we’re slowly getting better at keeping those jerks out of decision-making positions. (Also, a lot of college admissions is online. I didn’t have to do a single interview to get into undergraduate, I only interviewed for grad school, so any aspect of your physical appearance may never be a factor.)

    And as others have said, do you really want to go a school that doesn’t accept you, and where you can’t be who you really are? I understand the urge to go to a really prestigious school, but most people who are happy focus less on the school’s name, and more on how comfortable they feel at that school, and how good that school is for the specific subject they want to study.

40. So at an actual university you should be 100% fine. Plenty of other people wear hijabs. But, if you go to a university in the south of the country or venture out into any rural areas you *might* get some weird looks. But honestly it should be 100% fine either way.

    I will say, universities are allowed to ask you to remove your hijab if they suspect you’re using it to cheat. (But I can’t imagine any university would actually request this from you)

41. More likely it will increase your chances of getting in.

42. Hello! I’m a veiled woman (not Muslim, but oh well) and have been for almost two years, and have talked to a good handful of hijabi’s here in the states. Keep in mind though this might just be Texas!
    Depending on the diversity of the area your in your could be one of many hijabis or the only one. In big cities you’re more likely to not be alone, and in Texas, not hate crimed (as far as I’m aware). In NY I feel they might have stronger prejudices because of 9/11, however incorrect they are. While you legally can’t be discriminated against on the basis of hijab, some people will find any reason to deny you simply because of their prejudice. Overall I highly suggest that you only take off the hijab if/when you feel that doing so will bring you more joy and peace. I get many odd questions and looks from my veil, but so long as it makes me happy I will continue to wear it!