<p>Is it true that colleges do discriminate against overweight applicants, or that a person's weight can reflect poorly on their character?</p>
<p>I've been struggling with the social impact of my weight all my life, and have managed to succeed mentally in spite of it, but haven't physically overcome my weight issues as of yet, though I am working on it. I ask because one of the best essays I wrote for one school discussed what it was like being the only overweight student at my school and how that influenced who I am today, and I was considering submitting it to a few more schools, but have been hesitant because of these certain rumors that I've heard about weight being a red flag to adcoms.</p>
<p>I seriously doubt that they are allowed to do that. I think it says somewhere that they aren't allowed to discriminate on the basis of race, religon, nationality and such, so I don't think that they could discriminate based on weight.</p>
<p>In all honesty, I think the thought of that sort of discrimination is horrible, but at the same time, have read a few articles discussing how it does, unfortunately, happen, which is why I'm worried. I don't mean any sort of formulaic discrimination either--just that it gives a negative impression, enough that you wouldn't want to draw attention to it in your application.</p>
<p>And, the rumors I've heard have said that it might reflect poorly on a person in the same way that drug use or any other "unhealthy behavior" would reflect poorly on someone. They're seeing that you don't have the control to make healthy choices.</p>
<p>imo, although colleges might say they don't and might try their hardest not to, there is always the posibility that someone may subconciously judge based on weight (just as people do with looks overall).</p>
<p>Yeah... I'm sure has happened in some rare, off-the-wall case in which the kid's parents probably sued the school's adcom for breaching some kind of discrimination law.</p>
<p>You'll be fine. I like what ns said- you might also have good odds of getting an admissions person who has also had weight problems, and hence maybe they'd subconsiously give you a better chance of admissions. But that's like an asian admissions rep/committee person subconsiously giving asians more acceptences... it could go for any kind of group, not just someone who is overweight.</p>
<p>If this is well known to happen then im screwed. When I wrote my essay i mentioned that i was middle eastern. I hope i dont get tagged for that especially with whats going on now.</p>
<p>To be honest with you, it's quite plausible. I'm sure you've seen those segments that appear every so often on T.V about how an overweight person and a person of average weight went on job interviews with the exact same credentials and the person of average weight is usually the person that gets it. I think that that's probably how it would work with college too.</p>
<p>I'm sure you've seen those segments that appear every so often on T.V about how an overweight person and a person of average weight went on job interviews with the exact same credentials and the person of average weight is usually the person that gets it. I think that that's probably how it would work with college too.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how discriminative this actually is. If these two people are exactly the same except for weight, then the weight would be the determinant. And what about weight? People of average weight tend to be healthier than obese people (eating more vegetables, getting more vitamins, having more stamina, etc), so this means that they miss less days due to sickness, they have a lesser chance of having heart problems and probably have more stamina while working, and etc. There's clear reasoning behind it, not simply bias.</p>
<p>That's a far stretch. Those are mainly assumptions. I'm skinny as hell and I eat quite unhealthily. In fact, I've heard multiple times the "did you know?" fact that many obese people are healthier than "normal" people.</p>
<p>I've also heard that obesity is the second biggest preventable killer in the country, behind tobacco. So take your pick. But the thing is, even if obese people are healthier, I doubt employers really know that, meaning that the cause of their decision is not bias alone.</p>
<p>I don't really think weight counts :<. For one, more than one adcom reads your app. Two, schools want SMART people, not pretty people. I know you're smart, I've read your essays. Three, because of the diversity of college applicants, adcoms can tell a lot about personality and character from the application, and they know what's important. Four, the best schools take in former drug addicts, and such, especially when they're open about in in their apps. That's much more of a deterrant than a weight problem. </p>
<p>I actually like fat people. The “few” that I know are very friendly and funny. Who knows?...It may be beneficial to be fat. Personally, I feel sorry for them, because they’re good at making depressing faces. Given my weakness for heavy-set individuals, I would probably be more inclined to help them by accepting them, unless if they were auditioning to be a model. Then, I would sadly have to pass on them.</p>
<p>honestly, we'll never really know. i mean, it all depends on the person who's reading your file. maybe the regional director reading your application hates overweight people, i don't know. what i do know is that everyone has his or her own prejudices, including admissions officers. i wouldnt be surprised if some of them were discriminating against overweight people.</p>