<p>Hi all</p>
<p>I am wondering what your opinion is on my writing the UChicago essay related to LGBTQ topics. I know it is a very sensitive topic and I am not sure how admission officer will view such things. Though I am not LGBTQ but the topic is really near to my heart. Is UChicago admission conservative? Shall I switch my topic?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance :) and good luck everybody</p>
<p>Writing on something near to your heart is always a good idea. I wouldn’t worry about anyone at Chicago looking askance at that.</p>
<p>And, for what it’s worth . . . There are plenty of conservatives at the University of Chicago, but they tend to be economic and libertarian conservatives, not social-issues conservatives. You would have a hard time finding any conservative there who believes that the law should regulate issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. In addition to which, college admissions is not a field known for attracting super-conservative people. Lots of the staff are relatively recent graduates. Honestly the bulk of the conservative recent graduates are earning 3-4 times what the admissions staff make, in high-paid financial industry or management consulting jobs somewhere, or they are going to business school or law school. The people who read your application are people who love the University of Chicago and enjoy finding applicants who have something interesting to say.</p>
<p>I will second that advice: Write about something you are passionate about. </p>
<p>I have never known the U of C in recent history (i.e., the last 25+ years) to discriminate in its admissions on the basis of sexual orientation. Really. </p>
<p>The place is not conservative intellectually or socially, and it is diverse politically. In fact, it was one of the first places to support the field of LGBTQ history, and even before then pioneered sexuality studies in the sociology department and in the committee on human development.</p>
<p>Totally fine of a topic if you can write a good essay about it.</p>