<p>I have seen in a couple of topics discussion of a high school student's sexuality being used as a possible hook on applications. Call me naive, but do teenagers really discuss and disclose their sexual orientation in college applications? This seems like it would be a private matter. Also, does announcing you are gay, lesbian or transgendered actually improve your chances at college admission? Just wondering as sexuality seems an odd thing to base college admission decisions on.</p>
<p>Actually I would think this should not be a discussion for admissions. Too much potential for discrimination. IMHO.</p>
<p>There’s lots of misinformation about this topic. One’s minority sexuality (LGBT) is NOT a hook at any college. A “hook” implies an institutional desire/need to find applicants with a oarticular trait/talent/status. LGBT applicants are NOT in short supply so no college would be longing for this subset of applicants per se.</p>
<p>A lot of stirring erupted a few years ago when Penn’s LGBT orgs were enlisted by their admissions office to assist convincing admitted students who somehow self-identified as LGBT to matriculate. This was a completely logical step but people took this to somehow infer that Penn was preferring LGBT applicants. Simply not the case.</p>
<p>Penn using their school’s LGBT resources to increase matriculation is no different than athletic teammates, ethnic or religious groups or other interest groups doing all they can to portray the college in a good light in order to get a YES from the admitted student.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Let’s keep track of views on this post. That might help decide?</p>
<p>A hook is something that benefits the school…and sets the kids apart from the piles of apps…</p>
<p>oboe player who is needed by school orchestra
urm from 3rd world nation for diversity stats</p>
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<p>I doubt any college admission decisions are based solely on sexual orientation but it can certainly be a factor.</p>
<p>My son wrote about being gay in a small high school in south Texas in one of his essays. It wasn’t the topic of the essay but rather a part of it.</p>
<p>I think my son would like his orientation to be a private matter but since he is still not afforded his full civil rights because of it, then he feels he cannot keep it private. Someday he can, let’s hope.</p>
<p>Where I think this comes into play is with very selective colleges that pay a lot of attention to personal essays and recommendations. Applicants who have had to deal with questions of their own non-mainstream sexuality while still in high school, or earlier, and (a) have in fact dealt with them, and (b) are forthcoming about their experience and thought processes, are likely to come across as more mature and more impressive than many other applicants. After all, in general, 17-year-olds are a callow bunch. Most of them have given precious little thought to who they are, and the “passions” they express tend to be for medical research, investment banking salaries, and following sports. Someone who has faced a real, deeply felt personal challenge, and picked a way through it to take a stand that is not comfortable or conventional, may well stand out in the admissions pool.</p>
<p>I didn’t mention my sexuality at all. It’s really wasn’t a huge deal after my Catholic K-8 days. I was never involved in LGBT stuff and it just didn’t seem worthwhile to mention. </p>
<p>For someone actively involved in LGBT stuff, I could see including it. </p>
<p>Then again, I didn’t include my URM race either.</p>
<p>If having a discriminated sexuality is a hook…isn’t that “sexual-ist” against straight people?</p>
<p>I really don’t know if people make these things clear in their applications. However, having visited many many colleges during the search process, it is clear that some campuses would be more attractive for lgbt lifestyles than others. Would someone want to go where it was not comfortable because they would be going against the current and might have a “hook”? Do the diversity admissions officers take this type of diversity into account in places where it may not be so diverse? Who knows. This is not like racial diversity, where most schools that are not racially diverse espouse interest in becoming more diverse. Some schools espouse interest in diversity of all types, but certainly many schools do not focus on lgbt diversity and are not diverse in that way.</p>
<p>As an aside: how do hooks work, in general? Do universities verify that you’re actually the “hook” you represent yourself to be? For instance, if a white applicant claims to be African American on an application, and the university decides to admit that student based, in part, on that “hook”, is the admission typically rescinded - or the student kicked out - after it comes to light that the student clearly isn’t the “hook” they claimed to be?</p>
<p>So that was the setup for my real question - how could using LGBT as a “hook” possibly work?
Unlike for race, socioeconomic status, etc., there aren’t very clear ways of telling who is LGBT and who isn’t (that wouldn’t be unduly invasive). If it ever did come to light - e.g., through statistical analysis - that being LGBT did confer any measurable advantage in the admissions process, it would be in the best interest of each student to claim LGBT status (even falsely), rendering the “hook” meaningless. I doubt universities would feel comfortable conferring preferential treatment on straight/hetero applicants if they became the minority… so it seems more or less futile - and in any event, an unstable situation - to use LGBT status (or any other non-verifiable self-identification) as a “hook”.</p>
<p>(I mean no offense by any of the above. I’m simply fascinated by the practicalities of the “hook” system in this particular case.)</p>
<p>I can certainly understand a student investigating a campus culture and acceptance of gays before deciding on a school. I also can understand a school’s marketing it’s acceptance in order to attract a diverse student body. What interests/concerns me is the idea of disclosing such personal information as your sexual orientation in an application in an attempt to “better your odds” of being accepted.</p>
<p>I agree with the general idea of JHS’s comment. If an applicant feels that an LGBT focused essay would be expressive of who they are, they shouldn’t hesitate to do so. Assuming the university isn’t anti-gay or anything. But then again, I’m not sure why an LGBT student would want to apply there in the first place.</p>
<p>I am quite confused. What – other than your own repeated innuendo – gives you the idea that an applicant can better the odds of admission simply by disclosing his or her [non-mainstream] sexual orientation? That’s really a pretty outrageous suggestion. No one else here has thought that was true, and I certainly don’t know of any evidence for it.</p>
<p>(You don’t say “non-mainstream”, but that’s what you mean. I don’t see you suggesting that straight kids are getting a boost for disclosing that they are straight. And I can’t imagine how disclosing that you share a quality with the overwhelming majority of other applicants would possibly make a difference.)</p>
<p>Wow JHS. Simmer down. I read a 65 page post just yesterday about a clever highschool girl writing an article in the Washington post bemoaning her lack of a hook and joking that she wished she was a lesbian so she would be more attractive as an applicant. SEVERAL people commented on sexual orientation as a hook and it made me curious. This is a forum. I wanted more insight into an issue I had never thought of before - using sexuality as a hook. No more, no less.</p>
<p>Fwiw, I think she was bemoaning the fact that her parents were straight, not herself.</p>
<p>It just seems like such a private matter to disclose. But then again, I’m an old fogey uncomfortable with this generation living their whole life in public. I don’t even have Facebook! I just wanted other parents’ thoughts on the issue (hence my posting in parent forum). I don’t think I would be comfortable with my child sharing such personal information. But another parent already discussed his/her son’s reasons for doing just that. I much appreciated that insight. It was exactly the sort of information I wanted and I thank him/her for the contribution.</p>
<p>It can help males get into schools with too many females. And vice-versa for a few tech schools. That’s about it for most.</p>
<p>It think it’s interesting that a gay student, or the child of gay parents, writes something that discloses their or their parents’ sexual orientation, it’s considered “disclosing”. I don’t think we apply those same standards to straight students. </p>
<p>Imagine that a student wrote an essay that discussed a trip they’d taken with their mom and dad. Would we consider that “disclosing” their parents’ sexual orientation?</p>
<p>Imagine that a student wrote an essay that referred to someone as their boyfriend or girlfriend, would that be considered “disclosing”?</p>
<p>I think that when we expect some students to treat their family composition, or who they love as “private”, and don’t expect the same of the majority, it’s unfair.</p>
<p>As far as how colleges look at sexual orientation, I don’t know. I do know that many of the GLBTQ young people I know have been put into situations that challenge them and demand maturity of them. For many of them it can be incredibly difficult, and the experience can have an impact on things like their self confidence, their grades, or their interest in participating in EC’s. If colleges recognize this, and are somewhat more forgiving when evaluating applications, I’m in favor of that. Similarly, I find that some GLBTQ youth come through the experience of high school with more maturity than their peers, and I think colleges value maturity when evaluating candidates.</p>
<p>^ Exactly.</p>