<p>Would writing my main college essay about when I recently found out that one of my older brothers is gay be a strong topic? (Later on, I found out my other brother was also gay. I was hoping to show how the first experience made me stronger and changed my outlook on the topic and also how I talked and acted around others.)</p>
<p>I was hoping to add in that I later found out my other older brother is gay at the very end in the essay, and how after my experience before, I was completely acceptant of it without second thought.</p>
<p>So what do you guys think? Of course how good the essay turns out completely depends on my ability to write it, but would this be a strong topic?</p>
<p>I think this is a little risky in that this seems more like a story about your brothers, not so much about you and how you can contribute to a college community.</p>
<p>^^I disagree. Depending on how you approach it, I think it could say alot about how you processed the information…how you view diversity…etc. In this day and age, any college officer that looks at the topic as negative in any way is a college I’m not sure I’d want to be a part of anyway.</p>
<p>If you write about how you were maybe ignorant about gays before and that learning your brothers (who I assume you love unconditionally) are gay opened your mind to new things and are no longer close-minded in some ways, it could work. </p>
<p>It seems like an iffy topic but you’re supposed to be writing about a life changing experience and if an essay about a week long summer camp that changed your life makes a good essay (as in my case) I don’t see how your story, which I presume has been in some way life changing to you, wouldn’t work as well.</p>
<p>You can make it less about your brothers and more about you by describing how it changed you. </p>
<p>Regarding you being homophobic before and not anymore, if that was the case I don’t particularly see what’s wrong with that, as it is a prime example of intellectual growth and development and if I am not mistaken is a lot of what admissions officers are looking for in an applicant. It shows you are able to see things from a different perspective and open to more things in the world.</p>
<p>Depends on the level of colleges. They’re looking to see your strengths- how some challenge helped you evolve, made you more aware, stronger, etc. -the kind of kid they want on campus. </p>
<p>Considering the volume of info, media articles, programs, etc, to foster understanding and equality, I agree it would seem strange to hint you were intolerant before. </p>
<p>Also (this applies to a host of topics,) they’re not looking for “now I get it.” That’s a bit passive. They like when they can see something inspired you to more than just change your mind. It’s a whole 'nother matter to say you were accepting, but some incident with your brothers raised that a notch, inspired you to get involved in something, whether it’s about gays or some other group, need or effort.</p>
<p>Thanks for these great replies. To clarify an important point, my message would not be “I used to be homophobic, now I’m not”. I was never at all homophobic and the reason that it is a life changing experience is more because of the idea that finding out a family member is gay is something you always think will happen to someone else, not yourself. My point would be that the experience reminded me to be aware that these kind of things are just as likely to happen to you as anyone else, and how it made me think twice about the way I talked around others and/or would find jokes about gays fine just because I wasn’t related to a gay person. It wouldn’t really be about my brother because, well the only role they he has in the essay is saying that he’s gay! The vast majority would be of course about me and its effects on me.</p>
<p>I kind of think it would be a weak essay topic. It suggests to me that you needed to have a personal connection to someone in order to be aware of ignorance or bias in your life – might be true, but not exactly the most insightful essay and not one I’d personally choose to represent myself. </p>
<p>Remember that your essay doesn’t necessarily have to be about a life changing serious family experience or anything. This feels like a bit of a stretch.</p>
<p>Let me clarify. I was not trying to imply that the OP is or was homophobic, simply that that’s what his essay might seem to be saying. Like lookingforward I see this topic as a little passive. As currently presented it reminds me of the “How I Spent a Week in Honduras and Learned Poor People are Just Like Us” essays admissions officers hate so. Imagine a gay AO reading your essay. Will he come away impressed or simply thinking, “So he didn’t think about homosexuals before but now he thinks we’re okay and is more careful not to be a jerk? Yawn.”</p>
<p>With any essay the question I like to ask is “So what?” IOW, what does this essay say about you that can’t be said about thousands of other applicants? The best essays have a subject but also a subtext. The subject of an essay can be something seemingly trivial-learning to play the tuba or watching a sunset from your screen porch, but they crystalize something interesting about your personality or character and they show these things instead of simply saying them. What I’d like the OP to do is really say something about who he is with this essay, to show how his brothers’ coming out changed him.</p>
<p>Where I think this could turn into a powerful essay is if the OP could show these events as a call to arms. What did he do differently as a result of this new knowledge?</p>
<p>Below are the titles of some essays one could craft on this subject and what they might say to an AO.</p>
<p>“How Learning My Brothers Are Gay Changed My Attitudes Toward Homosexuality”
Applicant values diversity and will not avoid being friends with people different from him. Meh. Just like a hundred other applications I’ve seen today.</p>
<p>“How a Heterosexual Christian Guy Became VP of GLAD”
Applicant will be active in campus politics and will bring together disparate groups. He’s a doer and is unafraid to take emotional risks.</p>
<p>“My Anti-Bullying Campaign”
Applicant will be an active participant in the life of the campus, stepping in to address injustice and setting his own path. When he sees a need on campus he’ll step up to the plate.</p>
<p>“A Bumbler’s Guide to Gay Culture, or How I Made a Fool of Myself for the Love of My Brothers”
Applicant doesn’t take himself too seriously and will be a risk-taker in the classroom, someone who is unafraid to contribute to the intellectual life of the college.</p>
<p>So brandonjabr, my challenge to you is this: dig deep and find the ways in which learning of your brothers’ sexual orientation changed your actions as well as your attitudes, then SHOW these in an essay. Then you’ll have a winner.</p>
<p>I wrote my common app essay about a similar topic (but instead of a sibling coming out, it was my friend). My colleges liked it!
I know you mentioned the whole being okay with gay jokes thing before your brother came out, but were you still a supporter of the LGBT community, even if you were a passive supporter? If so, you can talk about how your brother coming out added a whole new personal connection to the issue and you knew you couldn’t be passive about fighting for gay rights. This approach would clear up any suspicions about previous homophobia.
Of course please don’t take this approach if it’s not applicable. I was just giving suggestions based on what I did.
Good luck!</p>