Personal Statenent....Too Risky?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>For UC Prompt #2 I was planning on writing about being gay and how it greatly affected my life when I finally told my family and friends. I come from a very strict culture and at first my family didn't react to the news very well. I had to support myself for the whole 1st year and 1/2 of community college(job-30 hours, volunteering, and being a full time student). I wanted to talk about how this experience has helped me to become a stronger, more independent person.</p>

<p>Is it too risky to mention my sexual orientation in my essay? I'm afraid that some of the adcoms might not be objective if I mention this.</p>

<p>Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I think this would be a very strong personal statement -- shows you have drive. This is what the personal essay is all about: Showing your strengths and I think your essay highlights them greatly. Rather than a weakness, I would see this as a plus in your admissions essay. I would be shocked if anyone at Berkeley (liberal bastion that it is) would undermine your admission because of your sexual orientation. Their non-discrimination policy includes sexual orientation, so all of the essay readers are probably trained in not discriminating. In any event, if you apply with the personal statement and if you don't get in, you can always appeal and could claim you were discriminated against if you feel this was the reason you were turned down.</p>

3

<p>I can't imagine any reader from any of the UC campuses holding your sexual preference against you. To me it just seems silly for this to have to be the concern of a University of California applicant, or maybe I'm just naive (California did pass prop 8 after all). I wouldn't worry about it at all- focus on the writing. Anyway, I think this could be a solid topic, as long as it focuses on you and how you developed as a person from it. Good luck.</p>

4

<p>As evidenced by the Prop 8 voting results, every other person in California is prejudiced against gay people. Maybe UC admissions are a gayfest, but if I were you, I would not take any chances and would steer clear of this controversial topic.</p>

5

<p>this is exactly what I said to someone earlier when they wondered if they should write about the same topic. Prop 8 proved there are still enough religious bigots out there to make writing out being gay a risk.</p>

6

<p>"As evidenced by the Prop 8 voting results, every other person in California is prejudiced against gay people. Maybe UC admissions are a gayfest, but if I were you, I would not take any chances and would steer clear of this controversial topic."</p>

<p>Not exactly true, it's not that every other Californian is prejudiced against gays. In fact, my parents have nothing against gay people, but they believe the definition of marriage is the union of man and woman. Sometimes it has got nothing to do with whether you're against them or not. I didn't vote or anything so don't bash me for this.</p>

<p>Also, a lot of people feel this is by definition, what marriage is, I'm a Christian myself, but I honestly don't care if gays are allowed to get married or not, I find that this is somewhat a trivial issue compared to the whole spectrum of things. I think they should just let them get married, because it dosen't hurt anyone. But you have to understand a lot do feel that this is an abuse of a sacred ritual meant for a man and woman. </p>

<p>Also it doesn't help that Hollywood already seems to abuse this ritual, through the almost uncountable number of divorces and re-marriages. I sometimes don't get why people even decide to get married in the first place, when most end up in divorces, it's quite a waste of time and money. But then again I guess these celebrities can afford these million dollar weddings.</p>

<p>LOL, I'm sorry to stray from the topic, but to answer your question, I think you shouldn't worry about what they think about gays. If they reject you based on this then they're prejudice and you should def. avoid them, but this scenario is almost impossible. Considering that Cali is still one of the most liberal states (Despite prop 8) and has the biggest gay-friendly city in San Francisco. Also I'm betting my money Cal is prob one of the most gay-friendly unis around. See if they've got some gay clubs there, that should immediately tell you about the liberal atmosphere there.</p>

<p>I come from a school in a conservative North Florida, but we had gay clubs and and a considerable number of gay students at my uni.</p>

<p>I think your essay will convey your true character, the more controversial, the more your deeper thoughts will shine through, and that's what unis want to see, your character, personality and thought process. So I have disagree with the above poster.</p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Not exactly true, it's not that every other Californian is prejudiced against gays. In fact, my parents have nothing against gay people, but they believe the definition of marriage is the union of man and woman. Sometimes it has got nothing to do with whether you're against them or not.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>"No blacks in our restaurant please. We're not being racist, it's just our preference".</p>

8

<p>don't listen to the nay-sayers.
my roommate applied, and was accepted, to UCB for fall '08 having written a nearly identical essay - being gay, coming out, reactions, consequents, etc. </p>

<p>it's foolish to think that the prop 8 proponents have job titles like 'uc admissions counselor'.. or whatever that title is...
if you look at the statistics, the 'yes' votes were nearly all from non-coastal california, with the exception of orange county.</p>

9

<p>Wow, thanks for the quick responses guys. I think I might just go for it.</p>

<p>If anyone else has any input, I would be glad to hear it.</p>

10

<p>Yes, go for it. It was a life changing experience for you, and you used it in a positive sense. You didn't give in, you didn't give up, but rather, you came out of it ready to apply to a school such as UC Berkeley or UCLA. I'd say that is fairly amazing.</p>

11

<p>"No blacks in our restaurant please. We're not being racist, it's just our preference".</p>

<p>I hope you've read everything I said, and thought it through, cause your example doesn't debunk anything I stated.</p>