Will heavy activism and activity with the Republican Party hurt one’s chances at a prestigious school and scholarships? My “spike” involves a lot of political work including paid positions and internships, but most are highly politicized. Will his hurt my chances? Should I address who I am in an essay? (Note: regardless, I will put this information in my resume because it’s who I am and I want a college to accept me for me. If they’d reject me for this, I wouldn’t want to attend anyway. However, I would like to know where I stand.)
No.
As to whether you would feel most comfortable at a liberal school, that is a different question. But even universities that are the bastions of liberalism have conservative students.
If it works into an essay prompt, sure. If it doesn’t, don’t force it.
Not at all! You’ve put a great amount of work towards something that you believe in. Colleges can’t just have students with one political view on campus- that wouldn’t be a very intellectually diverse environment. I wouldn’t feel pressured write an essay about it.
Honestly, I think everyone is so tired of politics and political divides, my advice is to stay clear of talking about it regardless of where you stand in the political spectrum. Write your essay about something refreshing and personal that will be a welcome respite for burdened application readers.
I do not believe it will, however some colleges could be a problem. Academia is very left-wing and can be a hostile place to opposing opinions. Try to avoid politics in the essay, as it could hurt your chances so don’t risk it.
“I do not believe it will, however some colleges could be a problem. Academia is very left-wing and can be a hostile place to opposing opinions”
I think this is true. I agree with doschicos and steer clear of talking about it.
Since it is something you have put a lot of time into and even been paid for, I would include it. Perhaps you can avoid talking about specific candidates or causes and just say “a political campaign”?
If it isn’t working on the campaign for one particular presidential candidate, I think there is some nostalgia on the left side (and maybe even the right) for the old-style conservatives.
If it is Trump related, I will definitely not include any reference or hint in my application because he is such a different kind of “politician”.
No, colleges are looking for a diverse group of students. And if it ends up that there is one outlier college where your Republican work/internships do hurt then that is probably not the right school for you anyway.
Try a more conservative school like Washington and Lee…
Try also schools with college republicans.
@zannah Well, I think almost every college has that group.
@Emsmom1 I’m not really interested in applying somewhere just so my views will be shared by everyone. I would prefer somewhere that welcomes all perspectives and has a diverse student body.
@hzhao2004 Most of the activity was for his primary opponents and for my Senator, so no problem there.
I agree with @doschicos above. I would not write your essay about your political self, unless that is what you are all about. While I don’t think any college is going to ding you for listing ECs that show political involvement as a Republican, I would not include any reference at all to the current president, because it’s too polarizing. Really. I simply can’t imagine he is very popular with many people who are likely to be on admissions committees, and I don’t say that because I think adcoms are all liberal. I say that because the current president seems to be against intellectualism, and I suspect that he is not a favorite of many elite colleges right now. It was only a few months ago that presidents at many top universities (Princeton, Harvard, Brown, Penn, etc.) signed a letter to the president against his travel ban.
Focus your essay on what you want an admission committee to know about who you are as a person. Your ECs will give them a clear idea that you are politically active, so do you also need to address it in your essay? If you choose to write about that anyway, focus on why you feel it is important to be politically active, and how it illustrates the kind of person you are, without bringing the politics into it. You will need to be a strong writer to pull it off.
College essays are not the best time to discuss views on controversial topics such as politics, religion, abortion, and so on. You run the risk of alienating people, and that’s not something you want to do when you are trying to get into college.
I guess I agree with most of what has been said. Mentioning that you worked for a Republican campaign or for a conservative cause as extracurricular activities will not be held against you. However, with the current political climate, I would definitely not mention politics in any essays. Sure, the majority of people reading them will probably be very fair, but there are no guarantees. If the person who reads your application happens to be extremely intolerant of conservative views, you’re screwed. So why risk it?
Colleges value diversity and will not hold your activism against you. Passion and activism are good things to come across in an appplication! I agree with above posters that your essay should not read like a political treatise or articulate a stance. This would also be true of a liberal student. Your essay should reveal who YOU are.
“Colleges value diversity and will not hold your activism against you.”
Boy, I think that statement is really naive. Colleges DO value certain kinds of diversity (racial, gender, geographic, socioeconomic, etc.), just not diversity of ideas. There is ample evidence in the news, especially over the last couple of years, that the student bodies at many universities is virtually monolithic and intolerant (or at least disrespectful) of diverse ideological viewpoints – viz. UCB, Yale, Dartmouth, Evergreen State College, Mizzou, Middlebury, Notre Dame … And the administrations seem pretty ok with that.
I really don’t think that AOs are actively looking for Republicans to make their campuses more politically diverse.
Yes, being truly active, not just rolling down the hall to some do-nothing club, when the bell rings.
Most kids have trouble knowing what to write, how to present themselves in a college app. This is not a hs essay about defending yourself.
Let the colleges see what they value. The attributes. Be the kid who gets off his duff.
Stay away from something harmful, illegal, odd enough to worry them. But being on one or other side on politics is not a show stopper.
I think, if you really knew about your targets, you wouldn’t have this concern.