Anyway, does anyone have any advice regarding disclosure in the essays, particularly the autobiographical one? I understand there's the notion that counseling centers enjoy more personal disclosure when compared to hospital-type settings. I am applying primarily to hospital/VAs and am unsure whether sexual orientation disclosure would be harmful. Obviously it wouldn't be a "I'm here and I'm queer" kind of thing, but more integrative with the flow of the essay.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Ask yourself if it is relevant for writing a strong, coherent essay...and if so, how does this personal disclosure make you an effective clinician? (I'm a mother which is a HUGE part of my identity but left it out for obvious reasons). Like I could say I'm hetero (unless i'm having a girl-crush that day...ha!), but it doesn't make me a more effective clinician by disclosing or considering my heterosexuality. So some skeptics could think the same (especially if they found other reasons to cut your application and needed one more). Perhaps, I would say my ethnicity does make me an effective clinician (I'm an immigrant who grew up in the U.S.). I also felt my familial relationships helped develop those qualities needed to be an effective therapist. When I thought about how I could stand 'apart' with these two factors (immigration-status and growing up in a large family), I linked it to some sort of theoretical, scholarly construct that seems utterly relevant (which was mentalization). So I felt my autobiographical essay shared a huge part of my identity but was also mindful of my scholarly ability to convey what I learned was unique about myself now that I was trained as a clinician. (And heck, yeah, I got 'deep' and put a lot of energy into this essay-writing task b/c it is the only way sites get a 'flavor' who you are without meeting you first).
If you are Queer and Here, fine...but is it relevant to your job? If you're Proud and Loud, great, but make sure that you are not being evocative in your self-disclosure as a means of finding those who will accept you as you are. [insert Kurt Cobain singing 'come as you are' right about now...]
This is about a job, clinical training, and working towards licensure. These interviewers are not your new BFFs who need to hear everything about you up front. You have to be wary of how/why you are self-disclosing what you are, and if it is relevant in making an impactful statement (and not just provocative). If you take this with a grain of salt and still want to disclose, then perhaps look at other factors (so you can really stand out) - like does your sexual orientation/identity as a gay-person impact your ability to work with diverse groups (uh...yeah.) or research interests (Essay #3 or #4)? If so, link it to some scholarly effort, so interviewers can see that not only it [being gay] is part of your identity, but will be advantageous to have you on their clinical team b/c of your sophistication and care for people with differing issues (or the depth that you possess for each individual b/c of your conscientiousness about your own deeply-considered experiences)...IMO.
Good luck!
BTW, I am also an intern at an VA/AMC consortium. I didn't get a massive number of interviews (6/16), but all my interviews were at very competitive, top-notch internships in the NYC area. And to preserve my ego-strength, I started to believe the other sites (who didn't offer me interviews) thought they didn't stand a chance to be considered by me b/c I was THAT good. Ha - talk about delusional narcissism - but it got me through some tough times, and I eventually matched at my #1 ranked. You do (and think) what you need during internship match time...to get you through it and hopefully come out on top.
*My response to you - typed on my cell on the train that was lost - was much more succinct, but I wanted to respond b/c I had an opinion on this issue based on past conversations with close friends.*