I’ve been kicked out twice by my parents over my sexual orientation, which left me having to crash with friends or sleep in my car for a few months over my sophomore and junior years, which obviously hurt my grades/limited ec involvement. For some of the schools I’m applying to, they let me explain a “special circumstance,” and I’m tempted to include this because it really impacted me, but I’m not sure if it’s helpful at all, since I saw that being a part of the LGBTQ+ community (obviously) has no impact on apps. Also, I’ve done a lot of advocacy for LGBTQ+ students in my school’s newspaper, and will include that, but I was wondering if I should include the stuff about getting kicked out. One thing that might make that a bit strange is I go to private school and I wasn’t unenrolled (because my parents care too much about “saving face” so they wouldn’t take me out and then have to explain why to friends and family). Not sure if this will help at all but I would really like to explain why my ecs especially aren’t really as good as they could be.
Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, in and of itself, isn’t some kind of admission hook - but your experience should be shared with schools as it is a legitimate explanation for why you were not able to participate in ECs to the extent you would have liked. If possible, it would be best if your CC/GC could write about this on your behalf. I hope that your living situation is more stable now and I’m so sorry that you had to go through a situation like this. I wish you the best.
Is your guidance counselor at school familiar with this situation?
What’s best is for your counselor to explain these circumstances in their recommendation. This way, the schools get the information, but you don’t have to walk the tightrope of explaining the full impact of what happened without appearing to be embellishing or making excuses… plus, the limited space you have to present yourself can be used to focus on the positive. But yes, this is important information for colleges to have, as it goes well the mere demographics of being LGBTQ+ which, as you say, are mostly unimportant admissions-wise.
I hope you are doing okay and have the support you need. 
I wasn’t able to tell my counselor for a few reasons:
- my school is religious, and I’m not sure what she may think (for example, the advocacy for my school’s newspaper was to allow LGBTQ+ students to express this in their art or writing)
- I was a bit scared of what could happen because of this (maybe they would force me to quit my sport, drop some classes, or she could be a mandated reporter and this would be a problem)
Not sure what I should do because I honestly don’t feel super comfortable telling her
Thank you!
She isn’t familiar since I wasn’t super comfortable telling her. Things are okay now and I’m more prepared in case it happens again 
I tried not to make excuses, I just stated what happened and framed it more of trying to reconcile w/ my parents and understand their perspectives.
What you wrote sounds very appropriate.
Sorry you went through this. Best wishes going forward
I agree that it sounds like you’re handling it in a measured and appropriate way. It’s tough to frame this on your own, but it sounds like you’re doing so with as much finesse as humanly possible, and I think that will be well-received. I hope all goes smoothly this year, both with your apps and at home!
Thank you!
Sounds to me that what is important is the grit and determination you showed in getting through this.if your guidance counselor cannot write about this, you could write a great creative essay about living out of your car, and why.
I wrote my additional info section more similar to an essay, but tried to highlight other things in my essays themselves so I wasn’t just trauma dumping
Perhaps more importantly, how will this situation affect your college funding and (if applicable) financial aid?
I have a part-time job that I’m using to cover some of the cost. I will be applying for financial aid and explaining my situation to all colleges as well as applying for scholarships
If you are independent before you turn 18 (living on your own, or homeless) you may qualify for a different status when completing the FAFSA. That could mean a lot more money (or some money at all if your parents will not complete the FAFSA for you). in Pell grants.
Thank you for the information! I’ll definitely look into that because I’m not too sure what will happen.
You would need to have been emancipated by a court before you turn 18 to qualify for fin aid on your own, without your parents’ cooperation or financial information.
OP does not need to be emancipated to be independent for FAFSA purposes. There are other ways to qualify as an independent student, and homelessness or risk of homelessness is one of those qualifiers.
https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency
It also sounds like OP likely qualifies for assistance under McKinney-Vento, but that is likely going to require getting the school counselor involved.
OP, you might also have a state agency that helps HS students with financial aid info that can help you navigate these issues, so check into that if you decide you really can’t talk with your HS counselor about this. Here’s Illinois’, for example. https://www.isac.org/ Good luck.
In any event, it sounds as if the student is back with his family now.
I turn 18 pretty soon, so that likely won’t happen, but I have some scholarship money + money from a job so hopefully I’ll be ok for at least the first year, then I’ll have to go from there.
You really want to have a four year plan in place to pay for college.
I’m waiting on a few more scholarships that will hopefully help me cover more. I’ll still work at my job, and I’m considering taking out student loans. For now, my parents have said that they will pay for college (again it’s the thing about “saving face” where they might pay for it just to not make anyone be suspicious about stuff going on at home), but it’s not solid.