Sexuality Factors Into Admissions Game

But many experts say that despite increasing support across the country for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, a prospective student's sexuality does not play a major role in the application process.

Officials said that, although a student's sexual orientation might reflect a diverse perspective that can add to campus life, it is not a factor that is usually taken into explicit consideration, although officials often do try actively to attract LGBTQ students to campus.

"We are looking for the best people in the world," said Marlyn McGrath Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard University. "We don't think there's an ideal ratio."

Lewis said Harvard does not use any specific goals for its classes.

Despite a lack of quotas, most officials agree that the key to a successful college experience is creating a balance between traditional and alternative ideas.

Diversity adds significantly to the college experience by exposing students to people from different backgrounds, said Jerry Sullivan, executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

"Higher education is a healthier place when it's inclusive," he said. "People should be exposed to people who have different lifestyles and different senses of what's right and what's wrong."

But expressing one's sexuality in a college application, particularly in the essay, does not have an influence on the admission decision, said Jerry Lucido, UNC director of undergraduate admissions.

He stressed that a student's potential for impacting the campus weighs more heavily on the minds of admissions counselors. "What's more influential is what the student expresses and might bring to the campus as a result of their understanding of self and the world around them."

Experiences with sexuality have strong potential as an essay topic because many students are interested in writing about events deeply personal to them, said Steve Farmer, UNC senior associate director for admissions. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if kids began to address this subject more than they do now."

But Farmer emphasized that it is not the person but the way he handles a subject that makes his application stand out.

"We care about what (students) care about," he said. "We want to see the places where kids are most passionately engaged. ... As long as they can make us sense something of the passion they feel, that's a good thing."

Farmer said the number of UNC students addressing sexuality in their essays has remained constant during the past decade. "I can recall a half-dozen cases a year where kids address one or another aspect of their sexuality directly -- that's been pretty constant," he said.

Admissions counselors should not place one essay over another simply because it deals with a controversial topic, Lucido said. "(Someone) can do a beautiful treatment of these through a lens of sexuality, but it may not be more valuable than a person who does a treatment from an entirely different perspective."

All the attention paid to LGBTQ issues can overshadow the intensely personal nature of revealing one's sexuality in a sensitive situation like college admissions.

For many high school students who classify themselves as members of the LGBTQ community, advice on whether to "come out" on their application is not readily available from their high schools.

But universities and outside groups are aiming to make the transition to college easier for students struggling with sexuality. Multiple resources are available for gay and lesbian students trying to pick the right college.

A guide published in 2001 by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network provides suggestions for LGBTQ high school students on how to choose a college. It also provides advice for transgender students, who choose not to identify with what they see as society's stereotypical definitions of gender roles and behaviors.

The brochure suggests possible questions for applicants, including inquiries about courses in LGBTQ studies and the percentage of students who identify themselves as gay.

Heightened sensitivity to the needs of LGBTQ students also often is addressed in an individual institution's informational material.

Harvard admissions officials decided last year to add a statement to the application booklet describing the atmosphere of the university's LGBTQ community. The brochure cites Harvard's climate toward alternative lifestyles as one consisting of an active, visible group of students and faculty. It emphasizes that students are given a range of opportunities according to their own preferences.

Lewis, who was responsible for the statement being added, said it was a direct result of the school's desire to make its published material accurately represent issues students are concerned about.

But some officials stressed there is no ideal way for a school to uniformly appeal to the LGBTQ community at large.

Much of the response from prospective LGBTQ students depends on a campus's overall attitude toward the community, Sullivan said.

He said he has not seen extensive effort from admissions officials to attract students who practice alternative lifestyles. Instead, he emphasized it is more the job of the individual campus to position itself as friendly to the LGBTQ community, at which point applicants will feel comfortable applying.

"I have seen more of an effort on campuses in general to create a more welcoming atmosphere," Sullivan said. "Society itself has been moving to that position that is accepting."

The AACRAO has no official position on whether schools should give preference to students who identify themselves as in LGBTQ, Sullivan said.

Some institutions have found the best way to reach out to an underrepresented minority is through making themselves known through a college fair as welcoming.

On May 18, more than 40 colleges and universities set up booths at a college fair in Boston aimed specifically at gay and lesbian youth. Schools in attendance ranged from small liberal arts colleges like Grinnell College in Iowa to Harvard and Brown universities.

But despite much effort and the best possible outreach efforts, Sullivan questioned whether it is possible for admissions officials to ever construct a class that reaches an ideal level of diversity.

"Mathematically, since minority groups are minorities, you can work relatively hard and be not as successful," he said. "(You) attract more majority -- white and straight -- than minority, be they Native-American, Hispanic, African-American, gay, lesbian."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.