Hello! To keep it short: I am a Muslim applying to college right now, and I was wondering if anyone knows how filling out my religious affiliation as ‘Muslim’ would affect my application to ivy league tier schools. Thanks!
It’s simple. You’re not asked.
Although many older colleges were founded by religious denominations, very few are religious in scope. There is no slot for you to indicate your religion. Some schools, which are expressly religious in flavor (Wheaton College, Brandeis, Notre Dame, BYU, etc.) may ask. But even they normally admit students who are not of their main denomination.
I don’t think it’ll make any difference. Just leave it blank if you’re not sure if you’re comfortable filling it out.
@T26E4 On the Common Application, I am asked. I was wondering if being Muslim would help/hurt my application in any way, like being a certain race.
I would put it down because of the sought after diversity in college admission lol
Would it be an insult to Allah if you did not self identify as Muslim? I am asking this as a Christian pastor. We preach that we identify our faith even when it is not convenient or even dangerous because it is to be an intrinsic part of our identity. It reminds us that our God never denies us.
I guess you need to consider which is more important: your following of Islam or being accepted by the school. A decision only you can make if not owning up to your faith goes against the religions teachings.
Religion doesn’t count much for “diversity” since a person can convert in and out of religions in a way that they cannot for their race or ethnicity.
^^^ I agree with the above that you should check if you have a religious obligation to mark it. However, i don’t think it would hurt you to mark it so i would just do it anyway
@KKmama Well said.
It won’t make a difference. There are plenty of Muslims in college.
I doubt it would make a difference for ivy league, but for many other schools, I’d think it would be a positive, in a very minor way, because of that extra molecule of diversity. And if a college actually perceived being Muslim as negative, would you really want to be at such an intolerant place?!?
You may not be aware but many many decades of Muslim Indian, Malay and Indonesian students have been attending US universities. Muslim (from the Middle East or not) isn’t a big deal. If you’re unsure, visit that school’s website and look up the Muslim student association and investigate.
Won’t make any difference. Often times the religious affiliation is used so groups or church can invite you to their organization once you are accepted;