Coming up with a list of colleges and universities for application involves a lot of consideration for every student. Students who identify as LGBTQ have extra best-fit criteria to consider when it comes to finding their ideal schools.

Back-to-school season is one of my favorite times of the year. September is when I take my show on the road, traveling the country to talk to high school students, parents, and college counselors about what they need to know about researching and applying to colleges.

Every one of these academically outstanding schools has a profile in the book and on our website chock-full of direct quotes from those students, offering you a campus snapshot with #nofilter.

Last week The Princeton Review released its latest ranking of the allegedly least LGBT-friendly colleges in America. The list includes my alma mater, Wake Forest University, which comes in at number 7 this year. We rose in the ranking! Go Deacs! But here's the thing: This ranking is crap.

It's not a bad thing to give a ranking some consideration -- especially if it's about its general position rather than its exact number. But if some say to take rankings with a grain of salt, I would recommend giving the salt shaker a few more shakes.