JOB-HUNTING RISKS.  Bigger schools in metropolitan cities usually have strongest gay and lesbian networks. At New York University's Stern School of Business, which has more than 2,500 MBA students, the GLBT club boasts 180 members, including full- and part-time MBAs and alums. Columbia Business School's Cluster Q has 34 members. At University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, the school's q@Haas club has about 25 to 30 members, making it one of the largest minority groups on campus.

Big city schools can also draw more gay professors to their campuses. At London Business School, Jonathan Chang, co-president of the Gay and Lesbian Network, says he chose LBS because some subjects are taught by openly gay faculty members.

Whether to be out -- or not -- during the job-hunting process ranks among the top issues for gay MBAs. Despite companies' recent strides, some students question if it's smart to mention that they participate in a gay club or other affiliations with the gay community. They wonder if all pockets of Wall Street -- the male-dominated sales and trading areas, for instance -- are equally gay-friendly.

SAME SCREENING PROCESS.  Unfortunately, no clear-cut answer exists. Tracy Hobson, global diversity manager for Credit Suisse First Boston, says "if you've done something that affects your resume -- perhaps you organized a huge event for gay and lesbians -- highlight it. If it's going to highlight your skills as an investment banker, don't be afraid to mention it," she says. Students caution that MBAs should always check that a company's nondiscrimination policy mentions gay and lesbian rights.

When in doubt, companies say gay MBAs should tap into corporate gay and lesbian affinity groups, or attend a recruiting event geared toward their community. Brian Rolfes, director of professional development for McKinsey & Company in Canada and a founding member of Gays and Lesbians at McKinsey, or GLAM, say his firm's recruiting events for minority communities helps MBAs learn more about McKinsey's gay-friendly policies.

Like some other big firms, Lehman Brothers now takes its gay and lesbian network to B-school campuses to "encourage people to feel comfortable about coming to Lehman Brothers," Sormani says. Of course, "we help get [those students] in the door, but ultimately they go through the same [screening] process that any MBA goes through to get a job."

SPEAKING FREELY.  As president of the Columbia Business School student government, Ramon Vinluan, who is gay, addressed about 2,000 people during a recognition ceremony for graduates in May. He reminded his classmates that as they turn profits, they should remember people who need a lift. Then he asked for their help. "I'm afraid of waking up one morning to find out that Congress has approved an amendment to prevent me from marrying my partner, Bob."

Classmates approached Vinluan afterward to say they found his speech meaningful. He says being able to speak honestly at the ceremony was the "ultimate payoff" for choosing Columbia, where being gay isn't considered a problem. And at other B-schools, ongoing diversity efforts will hopefully help give GLBT students a more fulfilling B-school experience, where for so many others, the greatest reward is the ability to be themselves.

Gay and Lesbian Networks, by Campus

University (School)		Location		Club
Carnegie Mellon		Pittsburgh, Pa.		Out@GSIA
Chicago		Chicago, Ill.		GLIB (Gays and Lesbians in Business)
Columbia		New York, N.Y.		Cluster Q
Cornell (Johnson)		Ithaca, N.Y.		Out for Business
Dartmouth (Tuck)		Hanover, N.H.		Tuck Gay/Straight Alliance
Duke (Fuqua)		Durham, N.C.		Gay, Lesbian and Straight Alliance (GLSA)
Emory (Goizueta)		Atlanta, Ga.		Goizueta Gay and Lesbian Association
Georgetown (McDonough)		Washington, D.C.		GUPride (for entire university)
Harvard		Boston, Mass.		Gay & Lesbian Student Association
HEC		Jouy en Josas, France		N/A
IESE		Madrid-Barcelona, Spain		N/A
IMD		Lausanne, Switzerland		N/A
Indiana (Kelley)		Bloomington, Ind.		GLBT Student Support Services
INSEAD		Fontainebleau Cedex France, Singapore		Out-SEAD
London Business School		London, England		London Business School Gay and Lesbian Network
Maryland (Smith)		College Park, Md.		The Graduate Lambda Coalition (for all grad students at U Maryland)
Michigan		Ann Arbor, Mich.		Open for Business
Michigan State		East Lansing, Mich.		GLFSA (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Faculty Staff and Graduate Student Association) (for all graduate students)
MIT (Sloan)		Cambridge, Mass.		SloanLGBT
Northwestern (Kellogg)		Evanston, Ill.		GLMA (Gay & Lesbian Management Association)
Notre Dame (Mendoza)		Notre Dame, Ind.		N/A
NYU (Stern)		New York, N.Y.		OutClass: The Lesbian and Gay Business Association
Pennsylvania (Wharton)		Philadelphia, Pa.		Out for Business (Out4Biz)
Purdue (Krannert)		West Lafayette, Ind.		Queer Student Union (for entire university)
Queens University		Kingston, Ontario, Canada		EQuIP (The Education on Queer Issues Project) (for the entire university)
Rochester (Simon)		Rochester, N.Y.		N/A
Rotterdam School of Management		Rotterdam, Netherlands		N/A
Stanford		Stanford, Calif.		Out4Biz
Texas (McCombs)		Austin, Texas		MBA OutSource
Toronto (Rotman)		Toronto, Ontario, Canada		Rotman Gay Straight Alliance Club
UC Berkeley (Haas)		Berkeley, Calif.		Q@Haas
UCLA (Anderson)		Los Angeles, Calif.		Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Business Alliance
UNC (Kenan-Flagler)		Chapel Hill, N.C.		Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies (GLBTA) Association
USC (Marshall)		Los Angeles, Calif.		Gay and Lesbian Association
Vanderbilt (Owen)		Nashville, Tenn.		Lambda (for entire university)
Virginia (Darden)		Charlottesville, Va.		Gays, Lesbians & Friends at Darden
Washington (Olin)		St. Louis, Mo.		Spectrum Alliance (for entire university)
Western Ontario (Ivey)		London, Ontario, Canada		N/A
Yale		New Haven, Conn.		Q+ Gay/Straight Alliance
York (Schulich)		Toronto, Ontario, Canada		LGBT Club (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Club)

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