One university asked sexual orientation

Applying to College
1

<p>Found it interesting that one of the top 10 schools in the US asked applicants sexual orientation. None of the other seven schools S applied to asked this. </p>

<p>I was just curious. Why would they ask that question?</p>

2

<p>MIT is probably just interested in diversifying their pool of admitted students, thus they want to select people from all sexual orientations. </p>

3

<p>Probably to collect data for statistical purposes. Your answer should not have any effect on admissions decisions.</p>

4

<p>^ Probably right, but that seems pretty creepy to me. What will they want to know next, you political affiliation or stance on hot issues? </p>

5

<p>A school confident enough to ask means they are 100% confident in their LGBT friendly campus. They are asking for two reasons: 1) to boldly state that LGBT people are welcome and 2) if an applicant self-identifies, they’ll target that student with LGBT specific marketing to hook the student, if admitted. It’s marketing – pure and simple.</p>

<p>Penn, right?</p>

6

<p>From the New York Times:</p>

<p>

<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/more-college-applications-ask-about-sexual-identity.html?_r=0”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/more-college-applications-ask-about-sexual-identity.html?_r=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

I was assuming MIT.</p>

7

<p>If students are asked about their racial backgrounds, religious beliefs, economic state, then sexual orientation wasn’t far behind</p>

8

<p>Are you’implying something nefarious here @mysonsgosoon? At this stage, there isn’t a hint of it. As stated the few programs that are asking it are CLEARLY doing so as a means to declare that their campuses are friendly to LGBT. This is akin to colleges asking if the applicant is a veteran or National Guard member. Would a US college asking that cause you concern? I think not.</p>

<p>This is one scenario that won’t creep. If a seemingly-conservative college were to ask it (possibly as a deterrent), you can bet it would hit the fan quickly. And since no benefit could come of it, why would any such college deign to do such a thing?</p>

9

<p>@T26E4 point well taken</p>

10

<p>duke asked that question this year</p>

11

<p>Next year the question be whether you self identify as left handed or right handed. Schools are looking to enhance diversity by increasing the number of southpaws on campus.</p>

12

<p>@spuding102 Duke isn’t asking specifically about sexual orientation or identification with the LGBT community, but they ARE giving students the option to expound on their personal experiences involving sexual orientation and how they have influenced their perspectives through the optional essay. However, it’s only one option out of many, so I’d assume that if the sexual orientation aspect doesn’t apply to someone, the applicant would choose to write about their community or their family or culture or anything else that has had a great impact on their personal views. That’s what I did.</p>

13

<p>Yes it was MIT. I was just curious. I see it’s not the only school asking that. Makes me wonder what questions they will ask 10 years from now to distinguish someone from the next person.</p>