<p>I was actually wondering about this a few days ago. Colleges try to get the most diverse group of students in terms of race, ethnicity, background and sexual orientation. They can ask for everything but the last one since that can be somewhat controversial/taboo/offending. So they infer these kind of things from your essays, ECs, etc.
It seems to me even worst than racial profiling.. I don't know why but this issue is kind of disturbing.
Here's the article:
University</a> of Pennsylvania Tries Outreach Based on Sexual Orientation - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com
What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>I got an email from JPMorgan that advertised to female and minority applicants. Translation: white males need not apply.</p>
<p>It’s called “equality” -live with it.</p>
<p>Btw, if you’re still wondering - the “diversity” they are getting are black kids from wealthy white suburbs. So the only thing that’s different is skin color, not perspective / struggles / etc.</p>
<p>I’m not talking about the diversity part. It’s the “we’ll make generalizations about you, and if you do gay stuff you’ll have better chances” part that I find kind of odd (not sure if that’s the right word). It’s just too much of a sexist/ and stereotypic view on others.
Disclaimer: I’m not trying to offend anyone here.</p>
<p>I doubt that. Pretending to be gay is not something that people would do. Chuck and Larry was a movie, not real life.</p>
<p>But, beyond that, I think it is a bad idea to recruit people as groups. It is counter-individualist.</p>
<p>More on this new program here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/872111-penns-new-gay-outreach-admissions-program-gets-national-publicity.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/872111-penns-new-gay-outreach-admissions-program-gets-national-publicity.html</a></p>
<p>no, I definitely do understand. At my school on Penn ED day (i applied RD), me and a bunch of my friends stayed late at school doing physics homework, and one by one people checked.</p>
<p>It was awkward.</p>
<p>But NONE of them would have pretended to be gay.</p>
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<p>That is hilarious! It has been a long, long time since I worked at JP Morgan, but it is hard to believe that there aren’t still lots of white males there . . . lots and lots and lots of them. 30 years ago, you would not have needed all your fingers to count the women and minorities in professional positions there. You might not have needed two hands.</p>
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<p>The article in the DP seemed to indicate that they were reaching out to ADMITTED students. I didn’t see anything about better chances. I do think that those are two entirely different things. If Penn wants to make admitted students aware of the resources for gay students on campus to encourage their enrollment, I have no problem with that at all.
If, on the other hand, sexual orientation becomes some sort of hook, that is another matter entirely.</p>
<p>To be honest, at most left-leaning universities I think being gay has a certain unofficial Affirmative Action kind of appeal simply b/c they can’t come out and ask it (too controversial) and they want to be progressive, ergo, they want gays, women and minorities. </p>
<p>Then again, I know a guy who got rejected and wrote his app essay on – more or less – how being gay has changed his life. I got in, however, and briefly mentioned that I was involved in a radical GLBT EC group on my application. </p>
<p>IMHO, the whole gay thing is a crap shoot. Will it help? Probably. Is it going to be the deciding factor? Probably not.</p>