<p>One of my friends said that I had a better shot of getting in than her because I am gay and I made it known in my application.</p>
<p>Do you think there is any merit to that statement? I didn't think so, but I wasn't sure so I wanted an outside opinion.</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>hahahahaha, the title of this thread is kind of suggestive. To answer the question, I would say maybe but you have to make it known somehow in your app that your gay, which you did. I don’t think they weigh it as something tangible, but in the back of an adcoms mind maybe they think, oh this person is gay, they bring a unique perspective on life. I would think that gay students wouldn’t want such an advantage since they are all for equality and everything, but hey I guess we are all hypocrites ahemm… I mean pragmatists. (That last part was just my rant against any form of AA, but whatever)</p>
<p>Yale is known as…how do I put this…the gay Ivy. I’ve heard statistics as high as 25% of the student body is LGBT. Putting down that you’re gay is not really going to confer any advantage in terms of diversity.</p>
<p>Unless Yale has quotas for gay students, I don’t see how it would be of benefit…</p>
<p>i mean i didnt write it as a way to boost my chances, but the essay I wrote felt really real to who am i and stuff, so I sent it in. </p>
<p>but yeah that’s what I was thinking, that it is just something different they might find interesting.</p>
<p>and as for the thing about equality, black people have been fighting for equality a lot longer and they still use the whole URM thing to their advantage, so it really doesn’t bug me.</p>
<p>Coming out in high school is often looked upon favorably, as a testament to the student’s ability to manage hard situations, stay true to theirself, be a leader, ect.</p>
<p>I read that somewhere…</p>
<p>LOL the 25% thing is probably a derivation of a popular saying:</p>
<p>One in four, maybe more.
One in three, maybe me?
One in two? How about you?</p>
<p>What the actual stats are were in the Yale alumni magazine article about a year back. Go to its website and look up the archived article.</p>
<p>^ [Yale</a> Alumni Magazine: the “Gay Ivy” (July/Aug 09)](<a href=“http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2009_07/gayivy_033.html]Yale”>http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2009_07/gayivy_033.html)</p>
<p>^ what an awesome article. thanks for the link.</p>
<p>No your chances won’t be better.</p>
<p>It’s sort of like being Asian doesn’t really count as an URM because there’s so many asians.
Also I would think it would actually hurt your application because it might seem like you were trying to exploit a potential hook. Depends on how it is mentioned really, but believe me some story about how hard it was growing up in a small town as a little boy that just loved to listen to his Cher records will not help, they’ve read 500 other similar essays. </p>
<p>I’m gay and graduated this spring. I would say a good 20% of the men are gay at least so the “one in four” meme is pretty accurate, but most people don’t try to fix in any boxes. A lot of “bi” people and granola eating lesbians too.</p>
<p>^^The vast majority (Im talking all but one or two guys per team) are straight. SOO, regardless of attractiveness, you wont be hooking up with them</p>
<p>And, forgot the one last level to the joke, T2… </p>
<p>“One in one, no more legacy”</p>
<p>well it certainly isnt going to hurt my application. i didnt say anything along the lines of look how sad my life is. </p>
<p>but thank you for your advice!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s a win for all straight men at Yale. Less competition.</p>
<p>Well, I wasn’t citing an actual statistic when I said 25%, but the mere fact that I heard as high as number as this shows that it is generally thought of as the gay Ivy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>LOL.</p>
<p>“That’s a win for all straight men at Yale. Less competition.”</p>
<p>LOL: but what about the potentially one-fifth of non-hetero women at Yale? Straight guys’ choices diminish too! You forgot that!</p>
<p>^Nah nah, with these good looks and charm, I’ll turn em straight.</p>