The University of Pennsylvania, alma mater to America’s ninth president William Henry Harrison, would like more homosexuals on campus, please and thank you. In what’s being called a first (okay, a second), UPenn is specifically looking for LGBTs to matriculate at its Ivy League playpen of higher ed. For the low, low price of $34,868.00 per year!
Following the lead from Dartmouth College, UPenn wants to beef up its classrooms with folks who throw fabulous dinner parties in their dorms and are always there at the dining halls with hilarious one-line zingers. But how to find homosexual high school students when UPenn’s application doesn’t ask about sexual orientation?
“Penn is identifying gay admits through information they provide on their applications — groups that they are members of, or statements they make about themselves in their essays,” relays Inside Higher Ed. “One question on the Penn application asks applicants about the communities they would like to be active in at the university, and the answers include academic interests, social and cultural organizations, and — for some students — gay life at the university.”
Ah, classic data mining! It’s the very stuff credit card companies engage in to see if you’re a credit risk. Or interested in HRC’s Visa card.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
All joking aside, this is an effort we fully support. The same way universities should actively recruit from all underrepresented demographics, so too should The Gays be included on this list.
But rather than rely on whether potential students mention a gay-straight alliance on their application, or use their coming out story for their college essay, just approve the applications that are scented and use a heavier paper stock and raised lettering. And any field hockey players. It’s not like we’re hiding from you, admissions folks.
(photo via)
Edgar Díaz-Machado
“For the low, low price of $34,868.00 per year!”
Yeah…. most of us are on really, really nice financial aid. Not cuz of merit, but because we’re poor as hell.
merkin
This is a terrible idea. First of all, unlike race, sexual orientation can be hidden or faked–at least on paper. Want to get into Penn? Write an essay about how hard it was to come out to your strict Pentacostal parents. (I used to work in an admissions office–they never check).
Secondly, students should be accepted to colleges based on MERIT. An argument could be made for affirmative-action admissions in decades past, but I think we’re moving past that. Especially with gays–is there ANY college campus where we’re not well represented? The problem with quoatas is when you don’t fit one. Try being an Asian applying to Stanford or a Jew trying to get into Brown. Sorry, we’ve got plenty of those! But are you a Pacific Islander applying to Tufts? BINGO!
Chitown Kev
I’m cool with Penn doing this, although I wouldn’t want them to set a quota on gay and lesbian students or anything like that; it’s just part of an overall admissions picture.
@merkin:
I am concerned about the whole verification thing too.
Actually, considering the university, that may be where the recommendation from a high school counselor and/or 2 teachers comes in. At least the bullshit can be winnowed down to an extent.
DR
This is also terrible because a gay kid may not fit the stereotypes Penn is using to try and decipher who is and isn’t gay. The quietly gay captain of the football team or the young girl who was homecoming queen may not set of Penn’s “gaydar”, and how does it benefit us as a community to rely on outdated stereotypes to figure out who is and isn’t gay. Maybe these kids are the ones who would really benefit from getting into Penn where they can shine not just academically, but socially as well.
Chitown Kev
@DR:
But all the information in that application package is confidential or Penn could be liable to a lawsuit. But, yeah, that captain of the football team would have to “come out”
(Although then if you are accepted, a school could send you campus materials pertaining to gay clubs…that could be dicey).
And if I were an admissions officer, I would look at the other application materials for some sort of verification. And if it isn’t included there then I have to go with my instincts.
Most students even waive their right to see the recommendations.
terrwill
@Chitown Kev: Kev, I think we can come up with a few “verification techniques”….. : p
Chitown Kev
@terrwill:
LMAO.
4 Douche BFs from my 20s (I am smarter now)
Money better spent on somewhere else.
Jimmy Ramirez
I Wonder If This Applies For Their Grad Programs?? HAHA
Ben
$34,868.00 is actually pretty reasonable, considering the rocketing tuition rates of liberal arts colleges. The top Ivies charged something like $50k when I was college-shopping five years ago.
DR
But Kev, if the captain of the football team or the homecoming queen isn’t “out”, no one could put that in an admissions letter or recommendation. That’s the problem. the kids who aren’t out are the ones who will need the support the most. The out kids will gravitate to the gay social life of Penn and in Philly, it’s the not-out kids who need to be supported and welcomed.
Chitown Kev
@DR:
DR, but I think you are mischaracterizing this entire venture by Penn as “gay affirmative action.” I went and read the links a little more carefully.
I think that Penn is seeking gay and lesbian students that have already 1) been involved in GLBT related extracurricular activities (for that matter, it wouldn’t have to be a gay student) AND they want to know whether that student wants to continue those activities at Penn.
So simply being a gay or lesbian isn’t enough (probably) to give you an advantage.
Now if you were President of the Gay-Straight Student Alliance, that’s where your advantage would come in under this scenario.
Chitown Kev
@DR:
And, (particularly since Penn is private) Penn has just as much right to show a preference for students who can become student leaders in gay and lesbian activities on campus as it does to give extra favor, say, if they reeaaally need a couple of linebackers on the football team (although if I remember correctly, Ivies don’t give out athletic scholarships).
DR
I did read the link, Kev. They specifically said they weren’t looking for the typical gay guy or girl, and specifically said that participation on GSAs, for example, wasn’t enough since those are rising in popularity. On the other hand, they want some sort of coming out story, which will, as a rule, only benefit the kids who are already out.
L.J.
I applaud both Penn’s and Darmouth’s goal to have more gays as members of their student body.
I’m not so sure about the method. These are such highly selective, competitive Ivies that I could envision an applicant portending to be gay just to gain an edge on admissions.
They are both prestigious private schools, and they don’t need for us to suggest how they reach their goal.
Chitown Kev
@DR:
Perhaps being out at that age and in the face of societal homophobia indicates some degree of maturity?
PJR
Check out this article from the Daily Pennsylvanian – UPenn is starting outreach to *admitted*, self-identified LGBT applicants. They are reaching out to prospective students who are already out, in order to convince them to come to Penn – not to give them a leg-up in the admission process.
http://thedp.com/article/admissions-flag-lgbt-apps
Chitown Kev
@PJR:
Let’s remember too that while Penn is the cream of the crop as far as universities because it is an Ivy, it is not the cream of the crop as far as Ivy League schools go.
Of course, the Big 3 being Harvard, Yale, and Princeton and I think that Brown has always been able to attract gay students as well. Throw Columbia in the mix.
Penn is probably the second, third, or even 4th choice for many of the students that apply there.
PJR
@Chitown Kev: Right, so good on Penn for reaching out to LGBT students in order to convince them to choose Penn. My point though, was to counter the misperception in these comments that this program was some sort of “gay affirmative action” rather than outreach to an already admitted group of prospective students. While the original article certainly doesn’t help with this confusion as it seems to sacrifice facts for “funny”, the “Higher Ed” article linked in the story clearly states “admitted applicants who are gay” several times.
DR
@Kev:
So does being captain of the football team or other activities. The fact of the matter is they’re trying to draft out gay students, for whatever reason, when they ought to be ensuring the campus will be friendly and welcoming to non-traditional-gay students.
Pete
Philadelphia is great for going to college. Philadelphia has one of the best “gayborhoods” in the country. I hope lots of gays and lesbians visit Philly’s gayborhood, centered around 12th and Spruce, with its own hotel (Alexander Inn), restaurants ( Knock ), gym with day memberships for visitors (12th Street Gym), great massages (behind 12th St gym at Camac Center , and lots of fabulous shopping on Walnut or South Streets, and coffee shop to make friends, Brew Ha Ha on 12th Street. Philly still has a really good gay newspaper, Philadelphia Gay News (see epgn.com ), and one of the best agy book stores ever, Giovanni’s Room, at 12th and Pine, (see giovannisroom.com ). I love to visit the gayborhood, and also see old friends at U Penn.
benlayvey
@Chitown Kev:
“Penn is probably the second, third, or even 4th choice for many of the students that apply there.”
Do not downgrade my prospective school!!! I don’t think ANYONE with a big brain [ and trust, you need one to even consider it] makes a third choice of UPenn, same goes for its b-school Wharton which ranks foremost among the World’s business schools.
@Jimmy Ramirez: My sister graduates from their school of Dentistry this May and she says it does apply to their grad schools as well. But you still have to get the coveted 720+ on your GMAT if you are considering Wharton.
L.J.
@@benlayvey: You are correct about Penn not being the first choice for quite a few who end up there. Many students on the Penn campus will admit that they applied to all or most of the Ivies, and that they matriculated at Penn only because they were not accepted by their true first/aecond choices such as HYP,etc.
The terms sometimes used are “Upper Ivy” and “Lower Ivy”
For example Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are considered upper Ivy, while schools like Penn and Dartmouth are considered lower Ivy. I am not trying to dis these very fine schools in any way, it’s just a fact.
Chitown Kev
@benlayvey:
Oh, as far as Wharton is concerned, you are right; I believe that wharton even offers an undergraduate program and for those students that know that they want to go into some aspect of business, Penn would be a first choice type of thing.
And no matter what department you study in at Penn, you do have to be pretty smart to be admitted.
But on the prestiege level in terms of the Ivy League, L.J. is correct (and that would be true if Penn was in competition with, say Stanford or the really, really good state schools like Berkeley, U of Michigan, and U of Texas). And that’s not a dis.
The thing I remember about Brown, for example, is that Brown has an incredibly flexible undergraduate curriculum (I don’t think there are any required courses) that has made that school an attractive choice for the extremely smart, offbeat kind of student.
Blaisen
This is hilarious really, they are already an Ivy League Gay mecca! I live just outside of Philadelphia and to be honest I have yet to meet a single man who attends UPENN who is straight.
ugh
@chitown kev:
if you have to say that you “believe” that wharton offers undergrad education, you’re not the right person to speak on penn’s prestige.
please see this year’s rankings. penn’s star has been rising for a while.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings
also, penn accepts half its class through ED — strong indication of preference for penn. penn admissions also cares a lot about an applicant’s desire to go to penn — unlike most other schools i applied to, there were *several* penn specific essay prompts. (choose a professor with whom you’d like to conduct research, etc.) i know a lot of penn students who were accepted to hyp and turned it down.
penn is a leader in civic engagement, undergraduate research, business education, its english dept is among the top 2 in the country, etc. etc.
anyway, please stop using penn’s prestige level from 20 or even 10 years ago. the number of applications to penn jumped this year. penn is growing and flourishing at a rate other ivies don’t care to match, because they ride off a well-established “name.”
and, to finally to say something on topic, penn is a beautiful and welcoming place for lgbt students…as is philadelphia.
Virginia
I wish that meant they’d accept more lesbians…