Will putting my involvement at LGBT groups in my school hurt my chances?

[breezyivey]

So I'm wrapping up the final touches on my application and I was wondering if putting down my involvement in multiple LGBT groups at my university will hurt my chances of getting accepted, especially since I'm part of the LGBT community myself. It's to my understanding that a lot of schools have a more conservative environment and I don't want to take that risk, but I'm fairly involved and it would add a bit more to my extracurricular activities.

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[allantois]

Tough question. It depends on the extend of your involvement as well as how strong your application is otherwise. You can also choose to disclose to schools selectively on your secondaries to places like Columbia, UCSF, Nova, etc (check that they include sexual orientation in their non-discriminatory admissions statement).

 

[Pro-Dentite19]

Despite what you see in the mainstream media these days, these social issues are still very touchy subjects. Officially no one would ever tell you that it would hurt your chances but you never know....med schools can be very conservative places....it might be better to play it safe.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

I would put it if it's been a large part of your undergrad experience and who you are. I would maybe compare it to putting heavy involvement with a religious group (excluding ones associated with Christianity, as those would probably be less of an issue in a conservative environment). My school's advisor said to leave stuff like that out "just in case". I left it in and have multiple interviews. Maybe do research on schools that seem LGBTQ friendly / emphasize diversity and apply to those. I know the ultimate goal is to become a dentist, but if you apply smart I think it'll be ok!

 

[allantois]

I would put it if it's been a large part of your undergrad experience and who you are. I would maybe compare it to putting heavy involvement with a religious group (excluding ones associated with Christianity, as those would probably be less of an issue in a conservative environment). My school's advisor said to leave stuff like that out "just in case". I left it in and have multiple interviews. Maybe do research on schools that seem LGBTQ friendly / emphasize diversity and apply to those. I know the ultimate goal is to become a dentist, but if you apply smart I think it'll be ok!

Huh what other religious groups are there: society of Zeus?

 

[Vistabane]

I applied to dental school last year and included my involvement in LGBTQ groups, like leading a queer women's group (and in all honesty, my interviewers could probably guess that I'm lesbian from my appearance haha). It didn't affect any of my acceptances and it was not mentioned by any of my interviewers. I applied to a wide range of schools too in terms of liberal versus conservative (Texas schools + Columbia, Harvard, UoP, etc). If it was a significant part of your college experience, I think you should put it. Also, if a school is going to reject you for your LGBTQ involvement in college, is that a dental school that you would want to attend?

 

[HatInTheCat]

If this is a part of your service to the community, then why leave it out? No one has to be gay/lesbian/trans to volunteer and do outreach with the LGBT community. I agree that leaving out the part of you being LGBT would neither harm or help your application.

I think from what I hear is that people want to use the "coming out" story to show how they overcome adversity. I think that's fine. However, that is not all of who we are! If schools claim diversity is what they value, then your experience with that demographic will work to your advantage.

Good luck this cycle!

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Huh what other religious groups are there: society of Zeus?

You're asking what other religions there are besides Christianity?

 

[BobbyBeavis]

Huh what other religious groups are there: society of Zeus?

Well we have Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism...

 

[BobbyBeavis]

It's probably far less of an issue, but I included my involvement in a Hip-Hop Club and have multiple interviews. As most know, Hip-Hop has some negative connotations due to the songs they decide to play on the radio...

 

[allantois]

You're asking what other religions there are besides Christianity?

Other than Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are barely religions (in fact western Buddhists do not like to call Buddhism a religion) as they do not create your typical Christian dilemmas about morality. I thought it was a weird pick against non-Christian religions.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Other than Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are barely religions (in fact western Buddhists do not like to call Buddhism a religion) as they do not create your typical Christian dilemmas about morality. I thought it was a weird pick against non-Christian religions.

I don't want to delve into this too far on someone else's thread, but any heavy involvement with a non-Christian religion (or atheism) could potentially rub admissions the wrong way in a similar manner to what OP was worried about. What about Judaism, Sikhism? You can never be sure about the tolerance of others.

OP, again, I'd say put down your involvement. But if you are extremely hesitant and would rather not, that's fine, too. It's your application.

 

[breezyivey]

Thank you so much for the responses! I don't want it to affect my chances since I'm applying fairly late even though I have a pretty strong application, but I added it anyway so it puts me well over 300+ volunteer and extracurricular hours so here's hoping it won't be too much of an issue.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Thank you so much for the responses! I don't want it to affect my chances since I'm applying fairly late even though I have a pretty strong application, but I added it anyway so it puts me well over 300+ volunteer and extracurricular hours so here's hoping it won't be too much of an issue.

Honestly, I think you will be more than ok. Good luck this cycle