<p>I'm starting a chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a radical, national social action group, at my high school. A lot of the schools I plan on applying to (Brown ED, Columbia, Swarthmore, NYU, Wesleyan) are traditionally pretty "liberal", but will having SDS on my app put me at a disadvantage?</p>
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<p>No it won’t.</p>
<p>I’m happy to hear it. Anyone else?</p>
<p>No it won’t.</p>
<p>hmmm I remember this other guy on cc said he had republican activism, and got screwed by his interviewer who was hardcore democrat.</p>
<p>ugh. that would be terrible, but it seems like a rare occurence. as long as the adcoms don’t see SDS as crazy enough to reject me, i’ll feel alright.</p>
<p>You should also consider Pitzer and Pomona; they love radicals there.</p>
<p>Since you have a preference for radical ideas let me throw one at you. How about going to a balanced school where you will be challenged to defend your point of view and to listen to conservatives and moderates? You might actually learn something, maybe even change your mind about some core beliefs.</p>
<p>Or do you figure you’ve already done enough learning in that area?</p>
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<p>Amen.</p>
<p>I’m a libertarian, but my number one school would be Brown. It’d really force me to look at my values and reconsider, and that’s what I want from a college.</p>
<p>That is a good point, and I’m not totally oppossed to applying to other types of schools, but the social atmosphere at the more “liberal” schools is also really appealing, aside from just the politics. That’s not to say I’m not open to hearing other people’s points of view. I definitely haven’t done enough learning in that area, and I know my views will probably change as I get older.</p>
<p>“hmmm I remember this other guy on cc said he had republican activism, and got screwed by his interviewer who was hardcore democrat.”</p>
<p>How would he know if he got “screwed” by his interviewer? If the interviewer wrote on the report that the student shouldn’t get in because the student was a Republican, top colleges would ignore that report.</p>
<p>I’m a liberal Democrat, and I’ve written supportive reports on students who were conservative Republicans. I didn’t like the student’s politics, but I did like the students’ critical thinking skills, leadership skills, and academic achievements.</p>
<p>Being in SDS isn’t going to be a disadvantage at the schools the OP mentioned. Now, if the OP were considering Liberty or Bob Jones College, being in SDS would hurt in admissions.</p>
<p>I don’t see anything wrong with writing it down. I really cannot imagine you getting screwed over b/c of political beliefs.</p>
<p>Heck, Columbia HAS an SDS chapter (the others might too, but I know about Columbia’s because I have a politically active friend in grad school there).</p>
<p>I put my ACLU stuff on my college apps. It was even the subject of an essay or two. Didn’t seem to hurt me.</p>
<p>If you are so passionate about SDS, would you want to attend a school that would reject you because of that EC?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t (certainly not to Liberty or Bob Jones). Part of my reasoning in posting this thread was that my parents, who were in college when the old SDS was active, thought the organization could have a negative connotation with adcoms as it may have in the '60s. Like, my dad was really concerned that the anti-war platform could offend someone who had a relative die in combat. I know they’re just looking out for me, it’s just I’m pretty sure (especially from these responses) that adcoms won’t reject you for your beliefs.</p>
<p>I know people who have had relatives die in combat who are anti war. In fact, I know a woman who is anti war whose son died in combat. She was active in the antiwar movement even before her son enlisted.</p>
<p>I’ve met people like that too. Their concern was just the off-chance that an admissions officer got offended, but I think they’ve realized that chances of that happening are VERY slim.</p>
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Cite, please?</p>
<p>Any other thoughts on this?</p>
<p>@ bird rock: No statistics to cite, but common sense says that the student would not be a fit and that the admissions office would think that would be enough reason not to accept the student (assuming the student is an average applicant).</p>
<p>I don’t really intend on applying to Liberty, Bob Jones, Grove City, etc., so it hopefully won’t be an issue haha</p>