Why would you care whether students you don’t know and will never meet are interested in revealing their gender and sexual identities to colleges, @oldfort ? That seems far, far weirder to me than students’ desires to give adcoms a three-dimensional view of who they are (as the subjective/holistic app system instructs them to do)…
Why do some say it won’t affect admissions? It’s not a hook, it’s a sort of background question. How you answer- and this means, with what maturity and awareness you show- can absolutely add to their impressions of you. Or fizzle you out. It’s not for housing. That comes later.
But I do agree asking if non binary will give a better shot really misses the point.
How is it anyone’s business? No, I do not believe my personal life is anyone’s business, and I certainly wouldn’t want any of it to be the reason for me to get into a school/job or not.
@oldfort, I was more responding to your comment that “why would students want to tell the adcoms whether they are gay or not”. Well, because it’s part of their identity and journey as much as anything else might be.
Let’s not turn this into a “gender identity and college admissions” thread.
Some kids want to reveal. Others may not. Some have gone through some processing and some either didn’t or can’t effectively show it in the writing. Some will take it at, ahem, face value. While others will riff it into something rather interesting.
Some here think the S roommate letter is about housing?
I think that the comment that students would just use it as a hook was inflammatory and offensive to some of us.
But we did get sidetracked…
It was offensive to me that OP thought it might be a hook.
Yeah, it’s in bad taste to ask if this “helps my chances”.
But the answer is yes. Opening yourself up in your application, regardless of your identity, will help your chances.
I don’t buy that these kids don’t go through a lot of processing in some way or another.
That’s where you’re wrong. As a teenager, I have no cognitive ability to think for myself.
I did not think asking if not caring what people identify OP as, calling it “agender,” had to do with expecting a hook.
Coterie, depending on the tier of colleges, just “opening up” is far from what it takes. They aren’t asking just for the heck of it, nor to tip one in. More to see how you present yourself, give you a chance to-- not just this one gender question, but whether you appear to think, have perspective, process, and “get it.” Who needs random opening up about 5th grade or hating spinach. If a kid wants to run with the big dawgs, he should try to think like them.
Sorry but the scolding in this thread surprised me. The more you know about your target colleges, the easier it will be to present yourself to them via all the questions.
Coterie, you’re the OP. Did you just answer your own question? And, aren’t you still a teenager?
I stated my takeaway from the thread, and the other post was sarcasm.
^ You know, my D thought the kids at Brown were really cool but the kids at UChicago were spectacularly awesome. You should visit both. She’s going to UChicago in the fall.
Thanks for your thoughts, but the distance is too much for me.
It may not necessarily increase your chances at Brown, but it’ll definitely add another reason as to why you’re applying to Brown (which is one of the most liberal colleges as I’m sure you know). Idk, but if I were an adcom for Brown, I would definitely think that you would fit in as a student.
I think there was a time when revealing a non-traditional sexuality may have given a slight admissions bump at schools looking to build a diverse student body. But I think we are in a “post-sexuality” phase now 
Alternate or fluid sexuality are yawningly common among millennials and Gen Z.
Apologies for the bump, but I just thought of something: is it a problem if an alternate gender identity is listed in the Common App isn’t reflected by letters of recommendation (as seen by pronouns/possible gendered references in the letter)? Will admissions officers understand that applicants may not be “out” to people in their school?
No, not at all, @deltea .