LGBT University Applicants

As Tanya Caldwell of “The Choice” blog on college admissions reports, University of California officials have proposed asking students their sexual orientation after they’ve been admitted. This is in the hope of being able to further identify the diversity within their incoming class and also to be able to reach out to these students so that they can feel at home at the university they attend.

Should a question on the Common App ask students if they identify as members of the LGBT community?

The universities that have led the charge to reach out to LGBT university applicants have been Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Elmhurst College in Illinois (a college, interestingly, affiliated with the United Church of Christ which supports gay marriage). The Common Application has denied requests to put a question on the application that asks students to identify their sexual orientation, although, according to Caldwell’s article on “The Choice,” the board of the Common App declared in 2011 that they might revisit the issue “later this decade.”

Do you think colleges should ask students their sexual orientation? Do you worry that it might put applicants in an uncomfortable position since they may not be out to their parents who are reviewing their applications? Where do you stand on the topic? Let us know your thoughts by posting below!