Gay in Vet School?

[InfiniVet]

I wonder how many gay people are in vet school.

I'll bet theres no statistic for it.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Bill59]

http://www.lgvma.org/

 

[AuburnPreVet]

I was wondering the same thing - it seems to me that gay people are under-represented in medicine as a whole, but even moreso in vet med. But, who knows...

 

[msmrtrthnyllb]

Texas = Steers and queers, no?

 

[Capella]

Yayness for gayness!

I've always heard the stereotype that many lesbians want to be veterinarians so they can castrate males of various species. I was always told this by gay men so go figure.

 

[kate_g]

This is *totally* anecdotal, but one of the students at Wisconsin, commenting on a (female) prospective's question about the chances of dating (men) while in vet school, said that of the men in her class, a third are married, a third are gay, and all but one of the straight, single men are currently dating someone seriously. Because of the nature of the conversation, women's preferences were not discussed. So based on that totally unscientific study, a third of the men in vet school are gay.

 

[AuburnPreVet]

YAY! Except they've all fled the south.

 

[Capella]

YAY! Except they've all fled the south.

Mwahaha. Never been to Atlanta I take it?

 

[AuburnPreVet]

To some extent that was a joke - Atlanta & Miami being two huge exceptions. Atl is only about 90 miles away from AU

Edit: I guess Miami really isn't considered to be in "the south"...

 

[Fairyblastt]

I've always wondered if there are lots of other ppl who had to seriously think about where they were applying, like for example, what queer person isn't concerned about going to school in Georgia or several other of the schools which are situated in the midwest/south?

And here's a silly question, for the ppl this would apply to, did anyone put a volunteer/community involvement on their app that would basically out them to whoever were making the first cut?

I was warned against it, and now am wondering if perhaps my apparent lack of community involvement looked rather odd on the application...

 

[UpstateNY27]

I wonder how many gay people are in vet school.

I'll bet theres no statistic for it.

Well, let's hope that there is at least some! I am gay, and although I love my straight friends (men and women), I would love to have a couple of gay friends around and experiencing similar situations for the next four years

Actually I had a conversation about this with the dean of admissions and Penn and he suggested, in very unspecific terms, that a gay student population does exist. Moreover, he suggested that it is a welcoming place for it.

However, I was most impressed with Cornell's gay/lesbian student group. They, along with all of the other student-run groups, were involved in open-house weekend. Afterwards we all went to a local hang-out and shared a couple of beers. They also informed me that, although not huge in numbers, there are several gay and lesbian students at the school.

 

[hoodle]

I certainly am thinking about where to apply- I won't apply anywhere that doesn't feel inherently safe, at least by reputation. Lucky me, I never wanted to go to the south anyhow - but no way would I be applying to mississippi, missouri, tennessee etc even if I wanted to go.

 

[UpstateNY27]

And here's a silly question, for the ppl this would apply to, did anyone put a volunteer/community involvement on their app that would basically out them to whoever were making the first cut?

QUOTE]

For some of the answers to the questions in my supplemental essays, I was explaining some life circumstances where the information of my sexuality needed to be presented in a clear manner. So I guess there are schools where they don't automatically "cut" you on the first round based on those answers. Besides, I would want to get cut from the schools that would do it anyway.


As for applying to schools in the South, I actually applied for a spot at Tennessee and had every intention on attending, if it came down to that!

 

[AuburnPreVet]

For those of you to whom this thread applies: are you male or female?

 

[cyrille104]

Being gay didn't affect the application process for me. I didn't mention it in the application because it had absolutely nothing to do with any of my extracurriculars or career goals. It makes up only one part of who I am, and my application was better filled with information about the other aspects of my life. I would have gone to the south because I really don't care what other people think/say, but I hate the south for other reasons, so I didn't apply .

I think gays are underrepresented in all fields of science. In my experience, gays are disproportionately in the arts and humanities. I was told by a gay student at Penn that there are only 1-3 gay men per class. I'm a guy, by the way...maybe it's time for a new male/female poll.

 

[UpstateNY27]

I think gays are underrepresented in all fields of science. In my experience, gays are disproportionately in the arts and humanities. I was told by a gay student at Penn that there are only 1-3 gay men per class. I'm a guy, by the way...maybe it's time for a new male/female poll.

I used to think the same thing. I did my undergrad in chemistry, and I still am under the impression that I was the only gay person in the whole dept. of a school of more than 45K/students (I'm just talking about the chemistry dept.). However, now I am in a toxicology grad program of only 30 students and 6 of us are gay.

Cyrille, let me know how you have to let me know how you like Penn.

 

[cyrille104]

I did my undergrad in chemistry, and I still am under the impression that I was the only gay person in the whole dept. of a school of more than 45K/students (I'm just talking about the chemistry dept.).

Me too, but for me this makes my homosexuality seem even less relevant

 

[aggiegolf]

I'm gay too. That's so funny that so many of us replied to this.

There are a few gay vet students at A&M that I'm friends with. I wasn't provided the luxury of attending school there, so I'm starting vet school in the caribbean in May.

Geographical region has never been an issue for me. I'm straight acting and "blend in" pretty easily. So the conservative nature of the caribbean doesn't really bother me. It can't be much worse than rural Texas.

I've always hoped to have a gay friend joining me in veterinary school. Or date one .


And for you UPenn guys, I might be going there for my clinical year. I'll be sure to say hayyyyyy.

 

[aggiegolf]

On my first application attempt, I never mentioned it. I didn't see how it would be relevant.


But on my second attempt, I applied to multiple schools and decided to experiment a bit. I told Cornell I was, hoping that their liberal nature might help me out. But it didn't.


All in all I don't think it improves or worsens your chances. They're mostly concerned with GPA and GRE.


I did get put on the top section of the wait list at Glasgow though. That's a step up from my first time around! LOL.

 

[Capella]

You guys have a lot of misconceptions about the south. Most people nowadays have a live and let live attitude towards "the gay lifestyle" as it's called. Many think it's wrong or its gross, but they'll immediately say "But it’s a free country." Others that have a problem are only passive aggressive about it because they're chicken poo. But then again, I live in Arkansas, which is an odd ball of the south because most people have a moderate attitude towards things. I small percentage of nuts makes us seem an intolerant state.

I've noticed that most of the wacko Christian extremism has taken hold in the Midwest. For example, in Arkansas I hardly ever see anti-abortion billboards. Most Arkansans are pro-life, but we see no need in smacking pictures of fetuses up on the interstate. Cross the state lines into Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and it seems like there is one for every 5 miles of road. Many are tactful, but many are not. And then there's Texas, the armpit of the United States, but let's not go into that…

 

[runnerDC]

And here's a silly question, for the ppl this would apply to, did anyone put a volunteer/community involvement on their app that would basically out them to whoever were making the first cut?

I mentioned it by way of my volunteering with an gay arts organization after grad school. I didn't even think about doing it or not doing it; I just listed it as I did other things I've done in my life. I doubt it hurt or helped either way.

Also, academic institutions are comparatively very open places to be out (most, anyways). Colleges and universities were amongst the first to offer unmarried partner benefits to their faculty, staff, etc, and to include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, etc. So I do believe that gay people are nothing new to them, and admissions folks likely don't bat an eye, if they even take note at all.

 

[lap4423]

While I am not gay, during my undergrad I found out that my father was gay.

It was a hard time for my whole family. While my brothers and I were okay with it, his family was not as forgiving (raised Catholic ). I did put it down in my explanation to explain a particularly lackluster semester because I knew I should support him because he was happy now but I was getting bombarded from all ends and it consumed me for a few months there. Then, I finally figured out his family was just never going to change and just ignored them if they brought up the subject and finally was able to fully concentrate on my schoolwork.

Now whether that subject swayed them one way or another, I have no idea. First time around, no acceptances. Second time, two waitlists.

 

[Emio]

While I am not gay, during my undergrad I found out that my father was gay.

It was a hard time for my whole family. While my brothers and I were okay with it, his family was not as forgiving (raised Catholic ). I did put it down in my explanation to explain a particularly lackluster semester because I knew I should support him because he was happy now but I was getting bombarded from all ends and it consumed me for a few months there. Then, I finally figured out his family was just never going to change and just ignored them if they brought up the subject and finally was able to fully concentrate on my schoolwork.

whoa! similar situation here, but it wasn't during my undergrad. my dad's family is incredibly unsupportive, despite the fact that the majority of them are gay. and to go along with what runnerDC said, he works at a university near Chicago, and every one adores him there. i mean, he's a pretty cool guy anyway, but academia does seem to be more supportive than other places.

good luck with the waitlists, lap!