<p>The thing is, most applications have cliche essays about a family member dying, overcoming an obstacle, struggling with ADHD, and whatnot. It's not about the topic, but about how well it is portrayed. Anyone can write about anything of it is written well.</p>
<p>So is being gay a URM or an ORM?</p>
<p>Suze,
While topically I may agree with your idea, if you look at some concrete data (which I have seen but am not able to provide), gay teens have a higher rate of dropping out of high school and/or lower grades, higher instance of drug problems, and much higher suicide rates than their straight counterparts. It is in this way that gay students could gain an admissions advantage, but the same sort of "not offered the same opportunities" idea that semi-works for the African-American/Caucasian comparison doesn't really apply, since being gay is much more "random". </p>
<p>To the OP,
I did not mention being gay in any of my essays, but I did include the GLBT youth group I used to go to in my ECs, so the information was there without me having to force it upon the admissions committee. </p>
<p>SirTrev,
Gays are certainly not an ORM (if such a thing exists) when compared to a racial group such as Asians (which really only applies at some colleges, because they are URMs at schools like Vanderbilt), but they certainly compose a substantial part of most campuses, especially those with more liberal or less religious personalities.</p>
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If it were a hook, a lot of collegeconfiedntial posters would all of a sudden get some new urges....
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<p>lmfao. There's a joke worthy of praise.</p>
<p>try doing it to some colleges deep south</p>
<p>"Read those "50 Great College Essays" books, and you'll find at least five essays in each about "coming out" or just being gay. "</p>
<p>I've actually went to BN and borders and read about 5 or 6 books with college essays, and i've only found one essay about "coming out" or being gay. If I'm wrong, give me a title of a "college essays" book I haven't found yet</p>
<p>I think if you can pull-off a "coming out/being gay" essay well, it'll work in your advantage. On the other hand, I can see the topic being way over-used in admissions essays (one of my friends did that and got deferred from Yale... boy was he devastated).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, kudos to you for having the courage to come out and tell your mother.</p>
<p>tour guide is right. if it were a hook, there'd be A LOT of gays on CC lol...</p>
<p>however, i admire your courage of coming out and all that to your mom and us here online! good luck with whatever you decide!</p>
<p>I too wrote my essay about being gay, not necessarily coming out, but just growing up and becoming a confident individual.</p>
<p>I actually think writing an essay about the topic and applying to schools where gays are prominent may actually be a good idea. Many colleges consider yield rates and the likelyhood that a candidate would actually attend the college. If being gay is something very important to the candidate, if accepted, it is likely that that student would attend the college due to it being very gay friendly. </p>
<p>I myself applied to schools like Wesleyan, Vassar, Bard, Brandeis, Skidmore, etc.; all very gay-friendly schools. So far, I've only heard from Brandeis, and I got in, and I sincerely feel my essay tipped the scales. My stats were only about average for Brandeis, and my EC's were hardly spectacular. </p>
<p>My mom actually found out about my being gay when she FOUND one of my admissions essays. I then revised my CommonApp essay and added a little part about that. She too was OK with it, although she cried for like 3 days. lol</p>
<p>I don't intend on being nosy, kev07wan, but your mom didn't know about you being gay until she read your admissions essay? That must have been something. </p>
<p>Regardless, congrats about Brandeis! I agree with your logic.</p>
<p>Ang Lee missed the best picture oscar not because his film was about homosexuality, but because it wasn't a great film. The romance is underdeveloped and the dialogue is sparse. The visuals are beautiful, the performances are good, but it wasn't a truly great romance, merely a very good one.</p>
<p>i agree. brokeback mountain really wasn't THAT good. look at the academy this year: a record number of african-american nominees.</p>
<p>Haha... diehldun, my mom told me she "suspected it," but I never actually told her. I had found a gramatical error in one of my essays, tore it up, and threw it on the top of the paper recycling basket. I only tore it into like 3 pieces, and so she found it, pieced it together, and read it. Oooops. </p>
<p>She cried for like 2 days and I was kinda thinking "ut-oh." After that she told me she had found it and was ok with it, yada yada yada. This was in like November or early December, so I've survived and so has she. lol</p>
<p>I would be hesitant to write exclusively about being gay (unless you could provide enough insight to make the essay unique), but I would definitely mention it somewhere in the application.</p>
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<p>I respectfully disagree. The film was meant to be slow-moving and the dialogue sparse to capture the mundanity of everyday life. The film won practically every Best Picture award there was besides the Oscars (British Oscars, Golden Globe, Venice Int'l Film Festival, most critics' circles, including a 100% rating from the NY Times). It might not have been the best film of that year, but it was certainly better than Crash (which inaccurately portrayed race relations in the US).</p>
<p>Agreed completely gianscolere1.</p>
<p>its great your mom supports you, thats awsome!</p>
<p>It could turn out to be a great essay, but it's very risky. Who knows if the the admissions officier is homophobic?</p>
<p>okay, I liked brokeback mountain, and as for sparse dialogue, well, to be honest, isn't that how many men are, quiet, not needing to talk...gay or straight, many men are like that</p>
<p>It's my understanding that Middlebury "tips" openly gay students like they do URMs and athletes. </p>
<p>However, I'd be careful about dismissing the benefit of an essay written by a teen about coming out during high school. I read somewhere that up to 30% of teenage suicides are by gay students, usually as a result of homophobic harassment and rejection from peers and family. Frankly, coming out in high school requires a lot of guts, and as a girl who came out sophomore year, dealing with the homophobia (and fear of homophobia) isn't easy. I'm not sure where I really stand on this yet, but I think it could be a good idea for colleges to give a second look (not necessarily a tip, or hook, but a second look) to open teenagers who face the daily effects of what a Harvard divinity professor deems to be "the last respected prejudice."</p>