Gay Chinese male ED Dartmouth

Colleges & Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>You're curious. Okay, I'll share a bit more about myself.</p>

<p>I grew up in the UK; my parents emigrated here from Shenzhen, China. I am Chinese, male, 18, and gay. I studied in a competitive prep high school, and in my search for the ideal college, I found Dartmouth. Will Dartmouth give me a chance?</p>

<p>In preparing my college application, I realized how my sexuality served as an undercurrent to my activities, beliefs and values in shaping them. I joined a uniform group in grade 6-8, and learnt about teamwork, discipline, and leadership, but detested all 3 years of it. In grade 9-10, I switched to the English theater and drama group, and learnt about articulation, presentation, and made many friends, but did not love it. Where was the sense of purpose?</p>

<p>I was taught since young that purpose came from God. Growing up in a Christian family, I had a safety and comfort that I could rely on. It was in secondary school that I came to realize my sexuality and its incongruity with my religion. I found my own answers in books, film, philosophy, people. With respect to my questions and purpose, it is a continuous journey.</p>

<p>I found another purpose by way of making a difference in others' lives. In 11-12 grade, I volunteered at a local children's home to teach maths, English, and the sciences. Though I had done various other charity work from grade 9-12 to do with the elderly, recycling, fundraising, it was the teaching that I found most meaningful. With education comes understanding and hopefully social progress.</p>

<p>I find that I have a predilection for words, books. In grade 9-12 I held leadership position in creative writing and journalism clubs. I wrote a play, some poems, and am writing a book. </p>

<p>My grades:
GCE A levels: AAAAB
SAT 1: 2320 (740 CR 790 M 790 W)
SAT 2: 800 (Maths 2, Physics, World History)</p>

<p>What is my likelihood of getting accepted ED to study Psychology at Dartmouth?
How would a gay Chinese Psychology major be received at Dartmouth?</p>

2

<p>I also engaged in kayaking, hiking, karate (6th kyu) at grade 9-10.</p>

<p>Please comment!</p>

3

<p>I am a Dartmouth alumnus. Dartmouth has a reputation for being more conservative than many others, and back when I attended (25 years ago), Dartmouth was not a very friendly place for gay students. However, things have changed mightily. One dorm even has a suite for transgendered students who are struggling with their identity. Dartmouth is still a very athletic campus, and the fraternities and sororities tend to dominate the social scene–at least outwardly. But there are still plenty of ways to be engaged and involved without joining (I never did). </p>

<p>From outward appearances, it would seem that you would be competitive for Dartmouth, but there are other places you might want to look at in addition to Dartmouth that have great psychology and that are also gay-friendly. </p>

<p>I do work with students from Hong Kong and South China in the admissions process. Let me know if I can help you!</p>

4

<p>Your stats are very competitive (is it now normal to take 5 subjects for your A Levels in the UK?) and it sounds like you have a good hook in your sexuality, if you stress it correctly in your essay.</p>

<p>Your major isn’t important at all in admissions decisions, btw – the US is a bit different from the UK in many respects. About half of all students wind up changing their minds about their majors anyway.</p>

<p>As for Dartmouth’s friendliness towards gay students, Gender Sexuality XYZ (formerly the Gay-Straight Alliance) is a very active group on campus and conservatism is not really a presence here. Most conservatives here are still pretty liberal in terms of social issues. Your biggest problem fitting in might have to do with the Greek scene because of the few coed options – most Greek societies are single-sex. Having said that, nobody’s going to force you to join a frat, and you might well find one of the coed frats to your liking.</p>

5

<p>I chose Dartmouth in part because it is accommodating towards different kinds of people be it by sexuality, religious or political views. I know that there are more liberal colleges (Yale, Brown, NYU) with a more prominent gay community, but I feel my sexuality is just one of many important parts of my person. I want to be able to celebrate my sexuality and not feel it defines me entirely. At the same time, I like that Dartmouth is at a midway in the liberal-conservative spectrum, a comfortable compromise that allows for dialogues between both sides.
A big draw is the fact that Dartmouth is undergrad focused in terms of academic attention and opportunities.
I did not participate in competitive sports, but will it be looked upon negatively in my application? I have been active outdoors (scouts, kayaking, hiking), and I like that there is so much to do at Dartmouth outdoors, but I will not be a recruited athlete, and Dartmouth is a very athletic campus as Mark said.</p>

6

<p>Oh, also as I am interested in studying psychology in Dartmouth, should I consider taking the GRE psychology subject test?
AP is not offered in UK (or at least it wasn’t offered in my high school), so how else can I show that I have an interest and a certain level of proficiency in the subject?
I am interested in taking Gender Studies, but what a clich</p>

7

<p>

That’s fine. I and a lot of other students led pretty sedentary lives when we applied and we got in. Think about it this way: if you’re an athlete, that’s a huge boost. But if you’re not an athlete, you aren’t disqualified in any way. Yes, you do lose out slightly – every spot filled by a recruit is a spot some pasty nerd won’t get. But the admissions process is a lot less zero-sum than some people think it is.</p>

<p>I don’t see any point to taking the GRE. A-Levels are considered roughly equivalent to APs, and you will get academic credit for them if you’re admitted. As long as you’ve taken the most challenging courseload open to you, you’ll do fine.</p>

8

<p>What you hope to pursue as a major in college will not really affect your admissions evaluation.</p>

9

<p>@johnleemk
If a college is trying to create a diverse class, wouldn’t every athlete recruited make my application more unique -wink-
Dear all at CC, what are my honest chances at Dartmouth?</p>

10

<p>i mean no offense whatsoever, but an honest question:</p>

<p>is there anything more to your application (i.e. in terms of hooks) aside from your sexuality?</p>

11

<p>Sorry, sexuality is not a hook.</p>

12

<p>Thanks, nickng88. sybbie719 is right that sexuality is not a hook. I guess my experiences as a gay person adds a dimension of diversity to my application. However, it is not a hook in the sense that being a recruited athlete or URM might be a hook, and I do not want it to be a “hook” as though angling for something I am less-than competitive for.
If I were to say what makes my case, it would probably be my passion for writing, volunteerism in youth education, and my leadership involvement. Being gay contributes to my motivation in an important way; it adds so much in the way of creativity, awareness, empathy, humility, courage, and perseverance. I am proud to be gay.
Don’t be politically-correct about this though, am I a candidate for Dartmouth?</p>

13

<p>There are plenty of gay and non-gay students at Dartmouth who posess the same qualities that you are describing (passion for writing, volunteerism in youth education, and my leadership involvement). </p>

<p>One does not necessarily have to be gay to bring,awareness, empathy, humility, courage, and perseverance to the table . Is what you are saying going to make you a stand out? Nope. All you can do is toss your hat in the ring and let the process play it self out.</p>

<p>good luck</p>

14

<p>You’re definitely a solid candidate for Dartmouth. You have the numbers, and if you stress them correctly, you should have enough activities as well. Although being gay is not a hook, it will still help your application.</p>

15

<p>I don’t believe your sexual orientation is all that significant. There are a lot of gay people. Besides that, you have great stats. Good luck!!!</p>

16

<p>Hahahaha</p>

<p>Being gay doesn’t help you at all. And I hate when some gay teens always think they’re are special.</p>

17

<p>We had a discussion with our NHS advisor last year about what “hooks” help a student get into college. He said something that stuck with me. “If you can fake it, it’s not going to help you get in.” In other words, being a legacy, scoring a 2400, being an URM or varsity athlete or NMS or winning a national contest help applicants get in because they are verifiable. Being gay can’t be verified. I’m not doubting your sexuality, gmale, but anyone could claim to be gay, right? That’s why I don’t think being gay by itself is a factor. That said, if your sexuality has had a compelling impact on your life that translates into a fascinating essay, then it probably would help. </p>

<p>Our NHS advisor said this because there was a girl in our school three years ago who told her best friend that she wrote an essay about the difficulties she experienced telling her very strict, Christian father that she was gay. She explained how her father quit talking with her, disowned her, etc. None of it was true. She was not gay and her dad is a very sweet man, but she claimed that she wrote it anyway (and she probably did; she’s like that). She ended up at a well-known UC, but she was a pretty good student, too, so I’m not sure how much it helped her. Our advisor said that it didn’t but who really knows?</p>

<p>It’s just a guess but I bet colleges receive a lot of essays about how applicants struggled with their sexuality.</p>

<p>Our school has a GLBT club. Only 5 or 6 people are active in the club but it has over 20 paid members. I’ve often wondered if people join the club just to put it on their app. Anyone else notice this at their school?</p>

18

<p>Thanks for all the great comments! Some were really funny haha
I think I will let my application flow organically. It is funny that being gay comes with so many stereotypes. Don’t misunderstand me! I didn’t try to “use” my sexuality or claim it is a “hook”; you’re just projecting how fabulous you think being gay is hahaha! For me, being Chinese, my instinctive reaction is to hide it. But hey, isn’t part of the application process to discover who you really are?
Being gay means different things to each gay person. Personally, one example would be of re-connecting with my Chinese roots/culture after searching, finding, and watching Chinese films that captured MY gay experiences. (before that Chinese culture didn’t resonate me, the length and breadth of my curiosity and imagination) I didn’t identify with the American ones (although I loved Prayers for Bobby a lot!), but I felt an intimate connection with the Chinese ones. Unwittingly, I learnt how even sexuality is colored by shades of different cultures.</p>

19

<p>@Hope Full
The UC-system schools are rather stat-oriented (or so I heard). Sexuality is less polarized for females anyway, so she could be at least bisexual. I am sure there are more interesting essays for straight people to write about than to fake being gay. If I were to write about being gay, it would be more to gauge the acceptance of homosexuality at the college than to gain brownie points. Most people feel strongly about the subjects of religion, sexuality and politics; it would be a risk.</p>

20

<p>Focus on a single school, Dartmouth, and you are setting yourself up for heartache.</p>

<p>In this competitive world, one can set goals - become a person who Dartmouth would accept - but you need to be realistic. Select a group of school that you could live with, and apply to them all. If Dartmouth comes through, then Yeah! to you. But it may not. Only prioritize AFTER acceptances happen.</p>

<p>Princeton review has a list of best schools for gays. Do any of them pic your fancy?</p>