Homosexuality: a hook?

Applying to College
21

<p>Re skibob's response:</p>

<p>Being homophobic can get one rejected from HPYS etc. I met an adcom from one of those schools who told me about a stellar URM who was rejected because the essay that he submitted was homophobic.</p>

<p>Being homosexual won't get one rejected from HPYS, but indicating that one thinks that homosexuals are evil certainly will.</p>

<p>While HPYS want a diverse student body, and gays can add to that diversity, those particular schools attract a lot of stellar gay applicants, so just being gay isn't likely to cause one to be admitted. Being gay along with some major accomplishment could help one be admitted.</p>

22

<p>You have to do it the right way. You can write how hard it was, becoming openly gay, in a society that is mostly heterosexist, how you came to accept your sexual orientation and move on with your life</p>

23

<p>ok ignore skibob...</p>

<p>it's no hook</p>

<p>don't bring it up in interviews</p>

<p>go ahead with GSA</p>

<p>be careful not to sound dull as if you're over doing it in your essays</p>

<p>GL</p>

24

<p>i would suggest not to add it.. america is a country that isn't very open... ok nvm what I'm trying to say is, you are a very smart and brilliant, talented kid. I wouldn't add the homosexuality in there. It's good to express yourself, but you can't take chances with college apllications</p>

25

<p>I don't think that being gay will hurt you or help you in college admissions to HPYS. THere are plenty of gay students who apply to those places, "and their admissions officers are very open minded."</p>

<p>really? I didn't know that. can't take chances though.. listen...not to be mean... but some of my classmates were shot because of being openly gay... but whatveer floats your boat. pursue it! Be careful!</p>

26

<p>Info about Harvard's Gay and Lesbian Caucus from: <a href="http://hglc.org/about/history.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://hglc.org/about/history.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>" 1998, the Caucus was delighted to welcome then partners, now married, Professor Diana Eck and Dr. Dorothy Austin as Co-Masters of Lowell House. They received the Caucus' Visibility Award at the 1998 Annual Commencement Dinner. This was the first time that an openly gay or lesbian person had been named as the Master of a Harvard House, and the first time that a same-sex couple had been named Co-Masters....</p>

<p>In November 2003, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (the home of Harvard College) voted unanimously to establish the degree-granting Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality, for the first time providing a home for gay and lesbian studies at Harvard. The program was launched in academic year 2004-2005, becoming the first year that students could concentrate (major) in gender and sexuality studies.</p>

<p>In 2005, the Caucus became a Shared Interest Group of the Harvard Alumni Association. The affiliation agreement guaranteed the Caucus’ independence while providing for cooperation with the HAA and access to its services.</p>

<p>In 2006, after nine years of lobbying by the Caucus, the President and Fellows of Harvard College amended the University-wide anti-discrimination policy to include discrimination on the basis of gender identity, thus providing protection for transgender and gender-variant students, faculty and staff.</p>

<p>Also in 2006, the Caucus welcomed its 4,000th member"</p>

<p>Also, Harvard alum Kenneth Reeves, who is gay and out, is a former mayor of Cambridge, Mass.</p>

<p>And the Harvard chaplain (official title, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in The Memorial Church),
Peter Gomes, is gay and out.</p>

27

<p>
[quote]
2 homosexuality is unnatural, im sure even gay people will back me up on that. For one thing its caused by a mental or hormonal problem- medical fact, a gay couple cant have children-medical fact, which pts to the unnatrual part of it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I almost choked when I tried to follow that logic. I found that offensive.</p>

28

<p>I almost choked when I tried to follow that logic. I found that offensive.</p>

<p>you might have some medical issues. get that checked with a doctor. It could be serious</p>

29

<p>Though this is an interesting topic it is also too controversial. If for instance you land a conservative reader, then it will undoubtedly hurt more than help. Of course admissions officers readers are suppose to be unbiased but humans are flawed naturally. Nonetheless even if they are not biased towards homosexuals, the topic is something not many people confront and may thereby make them uncomfortable.</p>

<p>My advice is to stick with something else.</p>

30

<p>i agree i couldn't have said it better. me personally, I have no hard feelings towards homosexuals. but others might. You have any other passions? I mean with a 4.5 g.p.a you set</p>

31

<p>If a college rejects a student because the student's application indicates the student is gay, the college would not be a good place for the student to attend. Why would any gay student (or any open minded student for that matter) care to attend a college that would discriminate against gays? Think about that.</p>

<p>There certainly are conservative colleges that would not want to admit a student who is gay. However, I don't think that such colleges are among the very top colleges in the country. When it comes to places like Ivies, the admissions officers want classes representing all kinds of diversity, so homosexuals are welcome. Heck, they probably have some gay and out people who are admissions officers.</p>

<p>Of course, one would need to use common sense in writing about being gay. Adcoms are no more interested in the intimate details of gay applicants' sex lives than they are interested in the intimate details of hetero applicants' sex lives. However, a thoughtful, well written essay about one's experiences advocating for gay rights or coming out to one's parents could be the type of thing that could tip one in.</p>

32

<p>Skibob,</p>

<p>The question is not whether gay people should feel privileged just because they are different - it is not about a sense of entitlement but rather the discrimination that GLBT students face on a daily basis - just like African-American students. If being GLBT were accepted by all and GLBT students were treated the same as heterosexual students, this would be a nonissue.</p>

33

<p>What Northstarmom says about a kid getting rejected for being "homophobic" in their essay is just downright scray. Obviously all of these campuses have unbelievably strong liberal tilts, and no one is going to discriminate against you for being gay. But I would guess from Northstarmom's comment that they probably will discriminate against you for being against gay marriage. Can no one see the problem here? You don't have to worry about some non-existent boogey man discriminating against you for being a homo at these schools, it's those who disagree who are going to be ridiculed. They have a politically correct environment that doesn't allow for meaningful discourse on anything related to homosexuality, because we all know that being against gay marriage is "ignorant" and "hate speech".</p>

34

<p>How would a college discriminate against a person who's against gay marriage unless that student thought the issue was so important that it was in their college application? The college application isn't a place to pontificate about how the world should be run, but to let the college know about one's own personality and interests. </p>

<p>It's also highly unlikely that in an interview a student would get to talk about their views of gay marriage unless the student themself brought up the issue. Given the brevity of the interview and the presumably many other important subjects about themself that the student could discuss, choosing to focus on gay marriage would be bad judgment and that bad judgment, not the student's opinion, could lead to rejection.</p>

35

<p>But that theoretically wouldn't be any worse than focusing on one's homosexuality, except for the fact that the liberal status quo at these schools detests anyone who opposes gay marriage. I think I am more trying to say that even mentioning, let alone focusing on, one's opposition to gay marriage would get you shot down by most of the elite schools.</p>