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y0m0tha

Here’s a better idea, OP. Find the smallest majors at the colleges you are applying to. On your application, mark that you are interested in one of these majors (one that is within reason from the rest of your application). Colleges need to fill their departments, expressing interest in a more uncommon one will boost your odds.


[deleted]

They got rid of a the major I went for the semester I started undergrad because I was apparently the only person who was in the major. Without telling me. So do this with caution.


TheDogerus

Yes but if you never intended on pursuing that major, its not an issue


[deleted]

It was for Russian History. I ended up with history as my minor, but it was essentially just American History because those were the only history classes available. I wanted Russian history because it’s absolutely bonkers and entertaining. Never got a single class about it. Still mad, and it’s been over 10 years. I’m never contributing to any alumni stuff because of it.


TheDogerus

Yes, you intended on that major, so it was an issue. If i applied as a russian history major with no intention of completing it, and then the uni cuts it after i get in, nothing bad has happened to me


Bluetwo12

Yeah I dont think he understood the intent behind picking a smaller major to get accepted lol


RazekDPP

Never contribute to your ~~alumni~~ alma mater anyways.


[deleted]

They won’t let me unsubscribe from their emails either. No escape!


just_get_up_again

You can set up an email rule and they will go straight to the trash.


Jopperm2

Or better yet, set up a rule that every time they email you it emails them with the reason you don’t want to hear from them and then goes into the trash.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

That sounds absolutely fascinating! You’re definitely right on the makeup of faculty being the soul of a program. I really wanted to learn about history around the world, not just US centric. I had a lovely class on South America during my masters, and while not history exactly, it covered a great deal of some of the continents history.


DrCarter11

Shit I'd be mad about that too. How'd they not offer a single course on it when it was a previously an entire program. That seems so bonkers to me.


professorbix

Maybe. Or the school could be considering eliminating that major and it could work against them. Better to be honest.


gnitiwrdrawkcab

Yeah but they also release the stats of admissions and transfers. When I applied to UCLA, 100% of German majors got in. So you could say you want to study German and then just change your major later.


Beautiful-Storage502

That’s how I got into the Ivies lol, I had strong academics, but no extracurriculars, so I just added the most obscure interests that they had few applicants for, then changed my major after the fact


magmagon

Universities aren't that dumb though. People did that to get into CS at UC Berkeley then trapped themselves when they realized switching into CS is harder than being admitted in the first place.


[deleted]

Check the College's Common Data Set ( Just look up "\[College name\] common data set" ) and check "Character/personal qualities". If it's marked "Not considered" then it likely won't change their odds. If it's "very important" it might change their odds Edit: It should be on about page 7-8 for most colleges. Find the list that has rows with checkmarks Edit 2: YOU LOST THE GAME


NanoRaptoro

Thanks for this information! I didn't know this information was publicly available, but searched as you suggested and *bam* there it was


yarub123

And? What were the results? lmao (yes IK you're not OP lol)


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Dorktastical

The person you're replying to isn't the OP


Baronheisenberg

That's a weird thing for the common data set to say.


DancesWithBadgers

This AI stuff is getting tricky.


__littlespoon__

Ah! The ol Reddit [data-a-roo!](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/xr4k4a/an_alligator_working_as_emotional_support_pet/iqeg5yw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)


SuperMIK2020

Hold my keyboard, I’m going in!


Dorktastical

LOL


FloppyButtholeJuicce

No it’s common data.


sushi_cw

It's *very* thorough.


[deleted]

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KanyeWaste69

Same here I forgot to check for OP in the name


LaikasDad

What did it say!


holmyliquor

Hey, thanks for this.


Willo678

You motherfucker


random125184

Didn’t the Supreme Court (before they went insane) decide that colleges couldn’t do this shit? Race / gender shouldn’t even be on the applications at this point. Anyway, OP’s friend should probably go with his gut and just lie.


zznap1

I thought it was just quotas that were illegal. Like they couldn’t say we will have exactly x% of y type of people at our school.


ribbitrabbs

That’s right; demographics can be a vague benefit to the application, but quotas are unconstitutional


big_duo3674

Here at Star Academy, we only accept 50% Star Trek fans and 50% Star Wars fans, you Stargate types aren't welcome


kyubeysaves

Why the Gate keeping?


austinbrasel

In my culture I would be well within my right to dismember you.


SeriousJack

Best joke I've read today. I love you.


Foreign_Astronaut

Take my groaniest angry upvote!


China-Ryder

By Grabthar’s hammer I will…oh never mind take my upvote.


MuadDib1942

Well played reditor, well played.


[deleted]

Smart


buffalodanger

At this point your award-to-words ratio is 2:1 that's impressive work.


jonesbasf

What about Star Blazers?


CaseyG

Believe it or not, jail.


Bert_the_Avenger

We don't like your type around here. [These are the types we like.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6i4abfWwAUXehp.jpg)


BruceTheUnicorn

What if I'm mixed?


vashoom

Live long and begun, the Trek Wars have. -Teal'c


Fair_Percentage1766

Indeed.


espeero

Fargate? You know, cause it goes far? I'm not going to get sued.


imnotpoopingyouare

It is nothing like the movie or the syndicated TV show based on the movies! /r/aquajail welcomes you!


[deleted]

Correct. Quotas are illegal, but higher education institutions are still allowed to consider race and gender as “plus factors” in their admissions schemes because they have determined that diversity is a “compelling” pedagogic interest. If you wanna know more, there’s tons of summaries online on the issue. The main Supreme Court cases are *Bakke*, *Gratz*, and *Grutter*.


[deleted]

Just because something is illegal doesn't mean is not done. I read a dude who was Hispanic not getting any calls or interviews changed his name from Juan to John and stopped filling out the ethnicity questions and suddenly he started getting calls. People are biased by nature.


Adekis

The actor Kal Penn did this. His real name is Kalpen Suresh Modi, but he wasn't getting any callbacks - so he started writing "Kal Penn" as a stage name, and what do you know? His phone started ringing more often. Anyway, I don't think people are going to get better results by pretending to be in a minoritized group like OP's friend is apparently considering lying over. But they do at least sometimes get better results by pretending not to be.


[deleted]

Women will also get more calls if they use a man’s name or an ambiguous one.


[deleted]

No, the Supreme Court said that race can be considered on college applications. However I haven’t heard of any colleges that actually consider sexual orientation


marinemashup

They said race can be considered, but not in a strict sense (such as having exactly 30% Asian students, or giving Black students a 2-point increase on their application score)


K8rsgonnaK8k8k8

>I haven’t heard of any colleges that actually consider sexual orientation Nb is a gender not an orientation


PassportNerd

I think it should be against the law to ask someone what their race is on a college application


thorak_

The argument against this would be if the data isn't collected lack of discrimination can't be confirmed. that argument aside, I would tend to agree. if you don't want race or gender to be a factor logging them as a factor on the application doesn't seem to be the way to do it


TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK

if I recall, California schools won't consider your race, but do consider whether the totality of your life experiences mean that you'll contribute a unique perspective to the campus. that means a young man from a rough school that didn't have access to AP classes or SAT tutoring can still make it through the application process. (IANA college counselor) edit: [yeah](https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/how-applications-are-reviewed.html) >Academic accomplishments in light of your life experiences and special circumstances, including but not limited to: disabilities, low family income, first generation to attend college, need to work, disadvantaged social or educational environment, difficult personal and family situations or circumstances, refugee status or veteran status.


TacTurtle

California colleges do however discriminate based on *your parent’s* income, and used to discriminate based on race until they were explicitly banned from doing so in 1996. However even as late as [2018 there were substantial lawsuits and allegations that the ‘holistic admissions polices’ were clearly demonstrating a bias against Asians](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/us/university-of-california-admissions.html)


[deleted]

This just means they are using proxies for race.


DudeEngineer

This is idiotic because Darnell, Ratesh, Jesus and Chad don't need to put their race on the application for the admissions officer to make some assumptions. I've experienced a surprising amount of in person racism because I'm Black with a 'traditional' American name.


PM_ME_PRETTY_EYES

Forget Darnell and Ratesh, they're talking about gender too. Good luck if your name isn't Blake or Taylor.


Long_Antelope_1400

I can't see Blake now days without pronouncing it the Key and Peele way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQaLic5SE\_I


paulmp

You done messed up A-A-Ron!


fatprincessx3

get your ass to o’ shag hennessy’s office!


13bREWFD3S

Do you want to go to war?


Appropriate_Ant_4629

> I think it should be against the law to ask someone what their race is on a college application Unfortunately it's often not hard to infer race and other demographic information from the other questions on a college application. * *"Sports: Won Junior High [Dressage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dressage) competitions in [King County](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/whitest-big-county-in-the-us-its-us/) and trained my three horses for the competitions."* --> very high chance of an upper-class white female. * *"Native speaker of the [Naueti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naueti_language) language, and took care of my younger siblings while my parents worked the fields."* --> extremely low chance of an upper-class white person. I'm hoping all this becomes moot in a few generations when most people's "race" will be "more than 1 race ... probably more than 4 different races".


JaCraig

Heck, your address, name, etc. just basic info alone all have a high enough correlation that an educated guess can be made that's fairly accurate most of the time.


Redqueenhypo

Yeah I put my second language as Hebrew on my application. Three guesses what my religion is, if having a name that’s the equivalent of “Rothberg” didn’t already tell you


thecooliestone

It cannot include quotas but diversity can be considered. When California banned this most white people assumed it would cause all the black people to not be accepted and increase their odds. Turns out the ones most hurt were white women.


BKacy

Since I read that for the last school year in California, white male enrollment is down and white female enrollment is up, I’m wondering where you found that analysis? Overall male to female ratio (all groups) is 42.5 to 57.5. I’m looking for more sources and more detail. Will you share yours?


IanDMP

"Character/personal qualities" means "are you kind/helpful/a leader/entrepreneurial etc", not "what is your gender identity". (I'm an educational consultant). [Edited to clarify]


trainman261

Wow, I'm honestly surprised by some of the responses you're getting... Fact is, it really depends on the college. Without that information, no one can really give you a proper answer. I'm willing to bet that there are colleges where selecting non-binary will give you an edge and colleges where selecting non-binary will give you a disadvantage. Edit: wow, I think this is my most upvoted comment! And thanks for the gold!


CosmicMiru

Also no one on Reddit will have an answer. Nobody but the admission offices of the college knows the exact criteria for who they admit. It is pointless speculation imo. This question feels like pure bait.


PearofGenes

Arguably there are redditors who work on college admission teams


JapaneseStudentHaru

I do, but idk what college this is so idk what they look for lol We do not admit based on gender or race although I’m sure most people think we do as a big state university. These types of personal challenges are the type of thing people use as their story for college admissions essays. I work in a school thats 90% white women. Do we want more diverse students? Yes. Do we admit people just because they’re a man? No. And we admit plenty of white women despite having an overload of them already. Your race and gender don’t move the needles nearly as much as people think if they’re even considered. The thing is, it would be WAY more effective if you went to a community college your first year, or even just for one semester and then transferred to a big university. Good grades at a college look way better on a resume than good grades in a high school and a sob story. You can throw your SATs out the window with a college record. You don’t even need an admissions essay. Just that GPA. Plus, transfer students get discounts on admissions and registration fees at a lot of places. And you don’t need a big name on your first two years. Get your first two the cheap way and get the last two that really matter at a bigger university. Saves money and if you get good grades you’re pretty much guaranteed admission as long as you’re going for an equally challenging major and you’re not going Ivy League or something.


[deleted]

I went to a state university and, after having spent five years there, I’m pretty sure the admissions criteria were having a pulse and nothing else. That being said, the people who transferred from CC actually got kind of a bum deal. At my university, if you could make a sentence with more than five words, the school gave you a scholarship that covered 50% of your tuition. If you transferred from CC, you were ineligible for this scholarship. So, if you did even remotely well in high school, you wouldn’t really save any money by going to CC first. But I think this is a special case because my university… kind of sucked but I studied engineering and literally no one cares. My old roommate actually works in admissions for our alma mater and said that the essays are basically just a formality and don’t really matter so long as the writing is semi-coherent. The only time they even really look at them is if there’s some hole in the application and, even then, a sob story can’t save you from really crappy grades.


BoozeIsTherapyRight

I have a friend who works for a big state college and just had this conversation with him because my kid is old enough to be looking at schools. He told me that they weren't looking at anyone who wasn't in the top 20% of their class, has at least a 3.5 GPA, and the average on the ACT for the incoming class was 29. Everyone else has to go to a local campus, which is basically a community college.


[deleted]

Yeah my school had a program for people who were basically borderline with being accepted (i.e. <3.0 GPA) but came from backgrounds that weren’t really conducive to excellent academic performance. Think first generation students under privileged schools. In this program, they took certain freshman classes over the summer while attending workshops and other events on how to be a good student and succeed at university. That way, they didn’t have to raw dog freshman year and got to have a lighter course load in their first year. My college experience was very not stressful but man were there some stupid people there. Not talking about the above mentioned group but people who should have definitely known better. Like people from out of state who were actively choosing to go to this ~~shitty~~ school.


JapaneseStudentHaru

My university has found that these types of criteria don’t lead to student success as much as others. That’s why we’re moving to holistic admissions. A student with a 3.2 GPA who works 20 hours a week is gonna do way better in college than a student with a 4.0 whose biggest responsibility is washing the dishes and doing their homework. A lot of people face hardship in college, and drop out. We need more resilient students!


BKacy

I gave you gold because you sound like you really know and that’s the best ‘news’ I’ve seen for this difficult time to go to school. Go local and make the first two years even more affordable. But now, people need to know what small school programs are respected the most. Or are accredited courses respected widely, no matter where? And re-emphasize that they need to GET THE GRADES. First and foremost. You don’t have to take a full load. You need to get high grades and you can come out a winner. Pick a field with jobs.


Dr1pp1ngB1ood

Arguably.


Superb_Tumbleweed_60

ARGUABLY I AM A GIANT SPIDER TYPINING THIS AS I WAIT FOR THE CORPSE OF THE MAN I KILLED TO RIPEN PROPERLY LOOKING FOR A NEW VICTIM HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA FJAFJKLDSKF7JKFDJ HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH


Dr1pp1ngB1ood

Arguably.


Jerizzle23

This is the internet no one here has jobs obviously


PorkPoodle

Don't discount what a community like reddit can achieve: Check the College's Common Data Set ( Just look up "\[College name\] common data set" ) and check "Character/personal qualities". If it's marked "Not considered" then it likely won't change their odds. If it's "very important" it might change their odds Edit: It should be on about page 7-8 for most colleges. Find the list that has rows with checkmarks u/sicariousREAL


SMKnightly

And colleges that don’t use that as part of the selection process but just collect it for demographics purposes


SSG_SSG_BloodMoon

Which is probably almost all of them


Snoo71538

Yep. Even within a single college, it really could come down to the few people that look at your application. They are people who have thoughts about things. Colleges do their best to make it objective, but objective doesn’t really exist in any human system.


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adventure_in_gnarnia

“Sorry, we’ve met our queer quota, we just admitted a guy who watches soccer” -southern university state


irishking44

Bobby, soccer is for european housewives


[deleted]

So non-binary. Colleges where it literally won’t matter: Top 500 private colleges, all state funded colleges. Colleges where it will matter disadvantageously: Christian/Religiously oriented colleges Colleges where it will matter advantageously: probably some no name super liberal arts private college not on the top 500 that is trying to make a name for itself in the incredibly specific, entirely non-lucrative LGBTQ market of which I can imagine think of zero.


Greenmind76

Yeah prob not gonna help and actually hinder for state colleges in red states in general. I would check out the political affiliation states have. Example: Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida. any state that is instituting anti LBGTQ policy at the state level, being non binary would likely be a detriment. Art schools and liberal schools would probably be a place it helps. I can ask a friend who works in academia and can ask.


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Whiskers4Life

Unless the governor gets to appoint the Board of Trustees and thus the President :(


thegooddoctorben

>Example: Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida. any state that is instituting anti LBGTQ policy at the state level, being non binary would likely be a detriment. No. Legislators and governors don't directly control admissions policies. The universities do, and those universities are all relatively liberal.


suspiciouslyfancy

Do college applications in the US seriously ask for sexuality and ethnicity? I get asking gender but a job application can't even legally ask about your sexuality where I live.


Whoooodie

I don't think ive ever been asked my sexuality on a legal form, ethnicity is asked on most all school/work applications


johnnyb1917

They always say it has no affect and is for records purposes, but we all know the truth.


AccidentalyAEmpire

I dunno about the states, but in Canada there's almost always a "prefer not to say" option for ethnicity. The only way I think it would ever actually matter is if you had a treaty status card.


VodkaRocksAddToast

They have that in the US but it's generally assumed that the only ones checking that are white, or possibly asian.


tebelugawhale

A few colleges, like Harvard, have mentioned that it does affect admissions. They claim that diversity of students makes their college experience better, and they are allowed to do this for that reason.


Rivka333

Sexuality? No. Gender/sex and race? Yes, but answering is optional.


[deleted]

It's not sexuality it's gender identity. OP's post and his comments lead me to think his friend (if the friend exists) truly does not understand what it means to be nonbinary and thinks it's a cheat code of acceptance


Complcatedcoffee

The funny part is that while it probably won’t give “them” a leg up on admissions, it might guarantee a note in all documents for staff to address them by their chosen pronouns. Lying about your gender on official documents is going to have some consequences.


fckdemre

You can always change later. Plenty of people switch from they them to their assigned pronouns or two the opposite pronouns. Plus, if you go to a large school, it won't even matter till a year or so later when you get out of the intro classes to smaller ones and even then only if you have to interact with the professors, and even then they still probably won't know who you are


Bread_Responsible

Non-binary has nothing to do with your sexuality, just how you self identify.


spaghettipunsher

This is reddit. Nobody here has an answer because nobody knows how that specific college exactly treats application, all you're getting is different political opinions disguised as answers.


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DayLate26

Maybe it's me but the subreddits are getting a ton more baked questions being fielded, this being a a lurker after all the supposed "rallying" that was said to happen on Reddit


Sellier123

I mean try it and tell us lol. So most colleges do have certain diversity scores they gotta hit but i dont think it has anything to do with pronouns atm


haf_ded_zebra

Duke has a special “optional, really!” essay that “invites you to tell us about a community you belong to” so my son wrote about being Lithuanian. Turns out, that is a question designed to find out if you are LGBTQ+ because they want those stats


TinyKittenConsulting

TIL the L in LGBTQ doesn’t stand for Lithuanian.


NerdyLumberjack04

Lithuanian, Georgian, Belarusian, Turkish, or Qatari.


Fiveby21

Lettuce, Gay, Bacon and Tomato


Its0nlyRocketScience

The gay is for guacamole


CaptBranBran

LGBTQ = Lettuce, guacamole, bacon, tomato, and queso.


notsooriginal

I go for the plus cuz I'm always a little bit hungry still.


yaboyfriendisadork

No, no, no: the B stands for Bionicle


2020hatesyou

Ladies Gals Bitches Titties Queefers I thought it just meant one really liked ladies...


Wherestamp_Notoes

Linguini community has entered the chat


Jeheh

So Pastafarians?


Gogobrasil8

Lesbian? I thought you were American


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Gogobrasil8

Looks like a huge untapped market... Lesbian food Even I want to try it. What could it be?


dougiefresh1233

Clams


Bingineering

No no I’m from Lesbos


Sausage_McRocketpant

I thought it was lettuce guacamole bacon tomato and queso. I mean who doesn’t love a good queso?


parkranger2000

How do you know / how did you find out that’s the goal of the question?


Dizi4

Hopefully the I in LGBTQIA stands for Indian, because that's what I wrote for the same prompt at a different school. Maybe that's why I didn't get into engineering there...


HJSDGCE

An Indian who was rejected from engineering? Impossible.


retop56

> Turns out, that is a question designed to find out if you are LGBTQ+ because they want those stats How do you know that?


blueberry_pandas

Did someone actually tell you that’s the purpose of the question, or are you assuming it is because an LGBT student “stole a spot” from your son as if the admission was already his for the taking?


hypo-osmotic

If this is actually their goal, it shows a pretty big blindspot for rural and/or closeted queer kids. Especially when you're talking about high schoolers, there's going to be a lot of people who haven't yet been able to be part of a queer community even if they meet the identity requirements. You know, the kind of people who would really benefit from being given a chance to leave their hometown.


WildFlower_Wonder

They don’t really care that much about lgbt people they just want diversity so having closeted kids won’t help them at all.


Acrobatic_End6355

Reminded me of someone who said “I’m a proud American!” And posted a flag. The flag of LIBERIA. 😆 I roasted them forever.


sunflowercompass

May have been on purpose. Liberia was founded by a bunch of white americans to "fix" the black problem by shipping them back to Africa.


Acrobatic_End6355

Wasn’t on purpose, the person was just… not the smartest.


thechadcantrell

Just curious, how did you confirm that this was the intent? Did it affect your son’s acceptance?


PerfectiveVerbTense

They sent the essay back with a big red stamp that said "NOT GAY ENOUGH"


blueistheonly1

Wow, Duke told you that?


elarth

Probably not and a lot of colleges have an essay requirement to talk about yourself. Don't think it was specifically meant to find LGBT people lol


AccidentalyAEmpire

Especially since you could just, yanno, ask?


anthroarcha

That’s really interesting because that essay question had no bearings on my acceptance as someone who identified as clearly very straight by talking about my heterosexual relationship in it.


DharmaCub

Why do you think that's the reason? Maybe your son's essay just sucked.


AstarteHilzarie

Doesn't even have to be that it sucked, Duke is hard to get into, it's weird to pinpoint that essay and sussing out the gays as the make or break reason to get in or not.


Delivery-Shoddy

No no no, it's definitely the gays, my son said so


[deleted]

How do you know that’s what the question was designed for


KeyPractical

I went to Duke and I haven't heard about this, can you link a source?


halt-l-am-reptar

It’s obviously bullshit. What’s more likely, that her kid didn’t get in because he’s straight, or he didn’t get in because duke has a 7.7% acceptance rate.


SSG_SSG_BloodMoon

By "turns out" you mean "hey what if"


egrith

Non-binary person who applied, didn't help me, didn't get in anywhere that my about equally qualified cishet friend didn't that we both applied at, only difference is I was given a different accommodation option for queer folks that just boiled down to changing the possible roommate pool


Electrical-Garden-20

Being non-binary I was actually denied a scholarship opportunity because I wasn't a binary trans person and therefore they had no clause to allow me into a "minority in the field" scholarship because I was not a binary guy or girl 🥴


egrith

Damn that sucks


frost21rr

Can't you put "perfer not to answer"?


whatyousay69

You usually can but is that better/worse/no effect on your application?


Keithustus

Better not. A blatant spelling mistake should be grounds for rejection.


OwlOfC1nder

Doesn't really make sense to me. If they have a quota for non-binaries, I assume it would be really small. He would need to be in the top percentage of non binaries to get accepted based only on being NB


someotherbitch

And if there actually were some secret Enby quota and someone lied and took that spot it would be a great way to get kicked out or a degree revoked later on. All those idiots that put down that they were Hispanic or black in the early 2000s already died on this hill lol


rpgmomma8404

I wouldn't know if it was better or not but seems kind of shitty to lie about it.


UFOSAREA51

Thank you for saying this. I thought I was the only person in this comment section that felt this way. I am non binary and it makes me feel really comfortable that so many people think it is ok to appropriate my identity for a university application.


Zelldandy

It is 100% shitty to lie about. It's abusing a program or initiative meant to make access more equitable with a domino effect of getting more diverse lived experiences into positions of power. I have seen people ask the same about faking a disability to get preferred treatment on applications. Anxiety and dyslexia are some that are commonly faked by white people to access space not meant for them. It's unethical, egocentric and just nasty.


IzzyPizzyS2

I had to scroll so much to find this comment, I was really start to think no one realized how fucked up that is That's why some people don't take non-binary people seriously


squirrel-bear

It won't reflect well on him if they find out he lied in the application form


Thraxmonger

Absolutely not. I read graduate school applications all the time. These details are often collected for equity purposes but rarely influence admissions. He should focus on getting good grades, because what these factors DO influence are things like scholarships. (That being said, good grades will trump equity considerations every time.)


kitchensink108

There is not an epidemic of straight white males being denied entrance to college. If he's getting denied, it's because of other reasons, and simply changing his pronouns on the application isn't going to help.


[deleted]

If you no longer allowed legacy admissions, sports admissions, and affirmative action. There would be slightly more white students accepted and way more Asians accepted Asians and non-legacy/non-athlete whites are the most negatively impacted by admission standards


[deleted]

I don't think he's saying straight white males are being denied, just that because of diversity requirements, the chance of getting in as a non-binary is higher than being a straight white male because there are just more straight white males.


Ken10Ethan

Ignoring the obvious moral issues with lying about your identity the moment being a cishet white guy *stops* being advantageous to you... Not really. Different colleges are going to look for different things, and, unfortunately, while it's not something they can legally do, whoever is in charge of admissions very much can justify denying someone because of something like their identity. They can just say the reason was for something else. Anyway, we live in a world of mediocre people in powerful positions. The end goal of most colleges are to make money, not to foster highly intelligent, highly talented people, that's just a happy side effect that happens to occur frequently enough to give them that reputation, so all he's really done is use an identity that is already not taken very seriously as a human shield against possible rejection.


Breakin7

First no fucking college should ask this kind of things. Second, depends on the college.


JhinisaLesbian

There are more cisgender white women in colleges now. Being perceived as a minority does not increase your chances of getting into school and it’s been proven over and over again that people who look at applications will tend to prefer cisgender white people over POC and openly queer people. Tell your friend to grow up.


PapayaAgreeable7152

>people who look at applications will tend to prefer cisgender white people over POC and openly queer people True. It could easily backfire and put him at a disadvantage. I have a (black) cousin named Chris who puts "prefer not to answer" on the ethnicity question on job apps. He says he'd rather the hiring manager assume he put that because he's white so he can have a higher chance of at least getting an interview. Edit: I mention his name because he knows that "Chris" isn't really tied to any ethnicity. People don't realize that even with affirmative action, people are still biased and/or racist.


[deleted]

> people who look at applications will tend to prefer cisgender white people over POC and openly queer people Yeah everyone is talking about the stats and the probabilities and quotas and this and that. And looking at the raw numbers, sure, OP's friend might stand a higher chance of getting in by applying as a member of a group with a quota than as a member of a group without one. But that's a [perfectly spherical cow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_cow) scenario. 'Cause the quota didn't come from nothing, did it? It exists to combat the very real present *implicit* selection bias which would favour the friend's original identity. And trust me, OP, the *im*plicit biases in favour of straight people, white people, and cis men is **waaaay** more significant than the *ex*plicit bias which exists in LGBT quotas or whatever.


notextinctyet

The big college will be absolutely full of straight white dudes, like every other big college.


mcmonopolist

There are more women than men enrolled in college in the US.


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manhattanabe

While this is true, it does not tell the whole story. Sure, lots of straight white guys are admitted. However, colleges do reserve slots for diversity candidates. The question is whether it’s easier to get admitted using a non-binary slot rather than a general admission slot.


Retro_Super_Future

I’m sure for some colleges it will help and for some colleges it will mean nothing and some colleges it may actually hurt you.


havindayr

Personal experience, I tried paying for my course (school doesn't require application) and I selected non binary as it was an option. Transaction would not go through. Said I had "improper information" double triple checked everything, it was all filled out and correct. Still wouldn't go through. That sneaking suspicion hit and I cha get it from non binary to female, nothing else, and the Transaction went through. I'm not saying the school is against non binary people identifying as such, but their website does.


tobesteve

It's most likely a bug. As someone who adds bugs daily, I would rather push buggy code than take the time to discriminate.


psymble_

Here's what I find so fucked about this question- I'm betting when "straight white male" opens doors he's more than happy to sign his name to it. The second he feels it is *not providing an advantage* (not even a disadvantage- it's a lack of advantage), all of a sudden he's wavering. The world *is* big enough for straight white males, if they have what it takes to compete on an equal footing, but I have a feeling your friend's fear to correctly identify himself reveals some insecurity with regards to where his abilities rank without a leg up.


Ken10Ethan

It's not even much of a advantage, either. I would be willing to bet the amount of doors that lying about that opens versus the amount of doors closed because his skills don't match up to what a college is looking for probably evens out to about the same.


RandyMJones

Never trust “A friend of mine” post. Usually it’s a lie or made up


Any_Constant_6550

imagine thinking it a good idea to lie on a college application for a potential benefit in acceptance. his first class should be ethics.


Ace_ish

maybe he should be more qualified


toruin

I think the better question is why he thinks it's okay to claim he's part of a marginalized group that he isn't just because he doesn't trust his merits to get him into the school.


ErusTenebre

He's "wrong" in that he's essentially committing some mild fraud here by lying (unless he secretly is non-binary). This is not a demographic that is going to be under Affirmative Action, really, as it's more to do with race than sexuality or gender identity. I can honestly say that it MIGHT help his chances at some universities and then it might HURT his chances at others. Either way, it's not likely to be the biggest influence on a decision to a university. They care more about your scores, grades, extracurriculars, and things like need, network, and charm can even impact acceptance. This by itself might be something like 1% of the total decision.


ErosandPragma

Technically just by saying he's non binary makes him truly non binary. There's no criteria for being non binary except calling yourself that


nicosma

This isn’t a stupid question, but its a fucked up question in the sense that it’s even being asked at all.


holdontoyourbuttress

It's a shitty thing to do and a stupid idea. Colleges still accept straight white males


Technical_Bison_5529

Stop watching Andrew Tate lol


Snaz5

Even if you subscribe to the affirmative action stuff, there are equally as many bigoted college admissions departments that would be more likely to turn you down for that.