A Guide to the Duke LGBT Supplement

Reading through all of this, I kind of see that people are getting the sense that it's a zero sum game and that a word space provided toward a certain group that they're not a part of is an unfair disadvantage to them or other groups. As a gay gal who was conflicted on filling out a similar question on her ED app (I ended up not doing it) I don't intend to fill out this one (not really the time rn). I guess it kind of reflects well that they care enough and but I believe that not filling it out in no way detracts from my application as it doesn't define me.

I initially found it strange that Duke dedicated an entire prompt out of their 3 for this. Not to take away from other struggles, I think sexual orientation is different from all the other examples listed below in that it's more of an internal thing of hiding and maybe being in denial (sometimes I'd rather just be straight aight). I still find it peculiar that there's a whole prompt for this, but I don't think that it's there to lessen the hardships that other people face (thanks to the other optional prompt!). I think some schools recognize that there's more of a need to gently nudge people to talk about their LGBT identity and it's nice that they're doing so. Not answering the prompt since you're not in the LGBT community won't make or break your application, you guys are all wonderful people with other things that define you.

/r/ApplyingToCollege Thread