Curious about whether or not my daughter should mention in her essay that she is gay. The topic fits but we are not sure on how it will be received. Do you think Admissions will appreciate her honesty and comfort with the subject or better left unsaid.
IMO, if the adcom looks poorly on it then it’s not somewhere your D wants to go anyway.
With that said, I’d only say it if it’s relevant to the essays. It seems like it is so I wouldn’t hesitate to do it.
What is the topic of her essay?
Is this a college application essay?
It might matter where she is applying, to a certain extent. To use an extreme example, just about any topic would be handled differently between applications to Oberlin vs. Liberty University. In general, however, I think colleges like to see essays that exhibit a high degree of self confidence and self awareness. So, yes, I think it would be fine for your D to mention it.
IMO, any student that has to think about whether or not a part of him/herself would be accepted by an admissions person should steer clear of that Uni- this applies to sexuality, SES status, race/ethnicity, etc.
^^ I think you’re right, romani, but one also has to take into account the undue hesitance a HS student might feel. Since HS is usually a much less gay-friendly environment than college, the student may not have an accurate feeling about how the college would receive it. Her worries might be needless. Nevertheless, I think the student should write about whatever is real and important to her, and let the chips fall where they may.
My D talked about it, as it was also pertinent to her essay topic. She seemed to get the normal range of rejections/waitlist/acceptances! We told her any school that turned her down because of the subject of her essay was a school she did NOT want to go to.
If it fits into the essay effortlessly, sure, why not? If putting it into the essay feels contrived, then maybe not.
As others have said, I would not worry about what AO’s think. If they think negatively, then that is not a college that I would want to attend.
My DS wrote his common ap essay on his coming out to me and my husband. It was personal, compelling, and well written and lead into why he wants to pursue certain studies. He applied to 6 schools and had 4 acceptances, one wait list and one denial. The denial was his reach school and I have no reason to think his essay hurt him, as the school is quite gay friendly. If the essay is telling your story in an honest, authentic way I don’t see a problem with it.
@consolation absolutely- it was just a general statement 
What is your DS studying vamominvabeach?
He wants to study public policy, government, and pre-law so he can work to protect and advocate for peoples civil rights. I’m excited to see where this passion will lead him. He’s interested in minoring in Spanish and Gender Studies as well.
Note that there are no specific course or major requirements to be a pre-law student. He just needs to get the highest GPA possible in college and get a high LSAT score to get into a high ranking law school (law school ranking is hugely important in law employment, much more so than undergraduate school ranking for many kinds of bachelor’s degree employment). http://lawschoolnumbers.com can give him an idea of what GPA and LSAT score he needs to target for a given rank law school.
Yes @ucbalumnus, thank you for the information. His college has a special advisor that will help guide him on classes to take and how to study for the LSAT.