<p>Hey everyone! This is my first post, so I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I just had a conversation with my mom about joining the youth leadership group at my local LGBT center, and she was concerned about colleges seeing that, along with me being part of my school's GSA. I'm not insanely passionate about gay rights or anything, but it's something I care about, and now I'm a bit worried about what schools would think of this. I'm pretty conflicted, because I don't really think it's a big deal (The only religious school I'm thinking about is Gtown) but she feels like I shouldn't mention these things when I apply to schools. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Unless you are applying to a Christian college, those EC’s may help you. At Catholic colleges it would neither help nor hurt. </p>
<p>Yes, unless you are applying to BYU or Liberty or other very religious schools, no issue these days. Admissions are used to it and don’t blink. I do not think it would make any difference at Georgetown. If you had a leadership position or a lot of volunteer hours, definitely list them. Can’t tell from your post, are you gay? CC is a good place to get advice on which schools are not LGBT friendly (it is easier to list who isn’t than who is these days!).</p>
<p>It’s 2014, Unless you are looking at a very conservative school, it would not matter. This piece from The New York Times may give you perspective on the LGBT community at Georgetown.</p>
<p><a href=“How Georgetown Became a Gay-Friendly Campus - The New York Times”>How Georgetown Became a Gay-Friendly Campus - The New York Times;
<p>Thank you guys for the help!</p>
<p>intparent - To be honest, I’m not sure as I’ve never dated, but for now I don’t really have a preference. I don’t care too much about schools being “LGBT friendly,” though. I assume most are by now. 
Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>Well… a few still aren’t so much… feel free to PM me your list if you want a private opinion. :)</p>
<p>Many colleges have LGBT student groups on campus. I don’t think it’s an issue at many colleges. You can search for student groups on the college website.
When making a list of colleges to apply to, see what student groups and support systems are in place for LGBT students. If they are present on campus, it’s likely you won’t be judged.</p>
<p>I’m not interested in joining any LGBT groups in college, but thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>Pennylane meant that if a school clearly and specifically supports gay rights (LGBTQ groups on campus are a sure sign of that) then they won’t penalize you for being involved in gay rights groups in high school.</p>
<p>Oh, oops, I see. Thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification. Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. If the school is supportive, then they are not likely to judge you. Also, many students change interests in college, and some don’t continue being members of groups they were in during high school. I haven’t seen the latest version of the Common Application, but on the old one, I think there were sections where you indicated the years ( grade 9, 10, 11, 12) you participated, and a box to check if you planned to continue in college. Just check the appropriate boxes.</p>
<p>Your mother is wrong. Joining LGBT groups is viewed as community participation-- showing that you are an active person who gets involved is a good thing.</p>
<p>As others have mentioned, for schools like Liberty, Patrick Henry, Biola, BY, yes, it can be a problem. Most others, nope. Could even help.</p>
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<p>This is not true. At conservative Catholic colleges, such as Franciscan, this would probably be viewed as a negative. More progressive Catholic colleges, and certainly Jesuit colleges such as Georgetown, will see this as positive leadership in your community. And if LGBT issues are something you are passionate about, would you really want to attend a school where LGBT activism would be considered a negative? I would definitely recommend listing this on your app. </p>
<p>Two years ago I wrote a common app essay about organizing a protest against Prop 8 (California’s anti gay marriage legislation). I got into all of the colleges I expected to get into as well as a few reaches. Two of the colleges are considered to be relatively socially and politically conservative schools, and they still accepted me with a nice merit offer. Given how much opinion on gay marriage has changed in the past few years, particularly among the generation who will likely read your essays, I’d find it hard to believe you’d be rejected from any non hyper conservative school for your involvement in LGBT issues. </p>
<p>Worst comes to worst, and you really don’t know whether you ought or not, you don’t have to list it. Still, I think an extracurricular is an extracurricular and colleges aren’t looking so deeply into it as to see your views as the skills you’ve gleaned from it.</p>
<p>With more conservative schools, I doubt it’d be so much an issue as to hurt you. I’m not sure to the extent in Christian schools, though.</p>
<p>Catholic colleges (or, at least, more progressive ones) are a little ambiguous.DePaul has a Gay & Lesbian Studies program. Fordham has a gay-outreach ministry, and its Lincoln Center campus naturally attracts a number of openly gay students. They are often located in or near liberal communities, since they were traditionally based in urban, northern areas. They have non-discriminatory policies, but have to hold official positions against any sexual activity outside of marriage. I would say you should list your activities, since it doesn’t sound as if you’d be very happy at a fundamentalist college. </p>
<p>Do you really want to go to a school where LGBT involvement is considered negatively?</p>