Here's how Renée Rapp's Leighton exits 'The Sex Lives of College Girls'

• Season three of "The Sex Lives of College Girls" premiered on Max on November 21.
• Reneé Rapp, who stars as Leighton Murray, announced her exit from the show in July 2023.
• In episode two, Leighton leaves Essex College for MIT's math program, so she can pursue a career in finance.

"The Sex Lives of College Girls" gives Reneé Rapp's character, Leighton Murray, an emotional send-off early in season three.

The new season of the series kicks off with the core four characters — Leighton, Kimberly Finkle (Pauline Chalamet), Bela Malhotra (Amrit Kaur), and Whitney Chase (Alyah Chanelle Scott) — returning to Essex College for their sophomore year.

However, Leighton's life soon takes her in an unexpected direction. By the second episode of the season, she's decided to transfer to another school and says farewell to the girls.

Leighton leaves Essex for MIT

In the first episode, Leighton learns that the math class she was excited to take this semester, on algebraic and differential topology, got canceled because she was the only person who passed the placement exam.

As an alternative, Leighton begins taking a more advanced math class at the nearby University of Vermont. But the bus rides are too long, and Leighton stops attending.

In episode two, Leighton's Essex professor offers her another suggestion: transfer to MIT, which has the best math department in the country.

Leighton is torn because she loves the life she's built at Essex, but the math classes aren't challenging enough. The MIT classes, on the other hand, will better set her up for a career in finance.

When Kimberly, Bela, and Whitney learn about Leighton's plan to transfer they decide to have one final night out together. They pregame at their freshman-year suite and then go to a party.

The next morning, Leighton says goodbye and lets them know that she left some of her things behind — mainly because she didn't want to finish packing.

The episode ends with Kimberly, Bela, and Whitney discovering that they've been given a suitemate in light of Leighton's departure.

Rapp announced her exit from the show in July 2023

Rapp rose to prominence in the theater community through her role as Regina George in the Broadway musical "Mean Girls." Following her breakout role on "The Sex Lives of College Girls," Rapp began working on her music career.

Her debut EP, "Everything to Everyone," was released in November 2022 and her debut solo album, "Snow Angel," dropped in August 2023. More recently, Rapp reprised her role as Regina George for the 2024 film adaptation of the "Mean Girls" musical and performed on "SNL."

In the summer of 2023, multiple outlets reported that Rapp would be leaving "The Sex Lives of College Girls" after season three. Rapp then spoke about her decision to exit the series on social media and gave shoutouts to cocreators Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble.

"college girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favorite people. 2 and a half years later — it's given me y'all and this community," Rapp wrote on X and her Instagram Story. "thank u mindy, justin and everyone at Max for believing in me."

Rapp also spoke about how playing a queer character affected her.

"a lot of queer work gets belittled — but playing Leighton has changed my life," she wrote. "i love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her. i hope she gave y'all a little bit of that too. she's such a tiny part of representation but even the tiny parts count. i wouldn't be half the person I am without her and y'all. i love that bitch more than you know."

The first two episodes of season three of "The Sex Lives of College Girls" are now streaming on Max. New episodes are released every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, with the season finale on January 23.