<p>Hi,
I’m a first time user so if I do anything wrong I apologize. But my question is if it’s ever “safe” to mention sexual orientation in a personal statement. I was thinking about writing about how I want to be a politician to fight for gay rights and be a role model for gay men. I basically talk about stereotypes about gay men and how there are no real gay heroes that aren’t entertainers. My fear is that doing this becomes too political.
The schools I’m applying to are generally considered more liberal, including Swarthmore, Reed, Beloit, etc. But even with these schools, would it be risky to touch on sexual orientation?
(On a side note, would it also be risky to mention the liberal atmosphere/gay acceptance of a school as a reason for applying? I have to write for Swarthmore, Beloit, and Reed the reasons why I’m applying, and honestly it’s a combination of their academic opportunities as well as their tolerant student body. Should I just leave out the gay acceptance part?)
I know I’m asking a lot but I’m really stressing out over this and I can’t find anyone to answer this question. Your help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I think it’d work very well, especially for such liberal schools.</p>
<p>The aim of these writing components is to show schools your personality and distinguish you from just another set of scores. If you consider your sexual orientation to be a key component of this identity, by all means include it.</p>
<p>In terms of the “gay acceptance” aspect, certainly mention it, but don’t hit it too hard—be clear there are plenty of other good reasons you want to attend there.</p>
<p>I think you should be fine mentioning the “gay acceptance” aspect. These schools probably take a lot of pride in the fact that they’re so accepting and mentioning it won’t offend them or anything. Of course you want to mention other things that the school does well if you’re going to talk about the school a lot in your essay.</p>
<p>Thanks. This makes my job a little bit easier now.
With that said, would anyone happen to know if Amherst, University of Chicago, and Williams are “gay friendly” enough to be comfortable with the same topic? Or should I choose a more “neutral” subject for those schools?</p>
<p>Not sure about U of C. Their economics department is pretty far right.</p>
<p>go for it! sounds like it’ll be a really interesting essay</p>
<p>Would you be happy at a school where you would have to downplay such an important part of your identity? Good luck with the essay!</p>