Hello everyone. This is my first post on CC. I am looking forward to many fruitful discussions based on the content I’ve read over the past few weeks.
My goal is to be admitted into the McIntire school at UVA.
So here’s my question:
Is showing political affiliation dangerous on an admissions application? Am I unknowingly entering myself into a coin toss depending on the opinion of admissions staff that reviews my application? Specifically, I’ve been presented to volunteer at a conservative leaning political think tank organization after meeting one of their top legal team who happens to be UVA Alumni. I don’t disagree with the organizations views but i wouldn’t call myself a conservative either.
I’m seeing this as an opportunity to learn a lot, meet a lot of intelligent people and best case scenario get a great letter of recommendation. The flip side is heavy involvement in a conservative organization that will consume time and energy i could spend on some other extra curricular.
Many people will answer with the stock answer of “schools are looking for diversity and welcome a wide range of views.” Which is true… sort of.
If you were passionate about the views, mission and work of the think tank that’s asking you to volunteer, then it would likely be worth taking some risk to pursue this. After all, these views would be an integral part of who you are, your core, and you wouldn’t want to hide that anyway. But since you aren’t into it and are just looking at this as an opportunity to mingle with intelligent people and get a letter of recommendation, why do that with something that you’re not only not truly committed to but which is risky politically as well?
With the recent events in Charlottesville and the increasing polarization on both sides of the political spectrum, it would be naive to think that political affiliation is a neutral issue that won’t cause any positive/negative association in the mind of the very human people who will be reading your application. No matter how open a person tries to be, if the first glance at your app reminds him/her of having to avoid the skinheads that descended on the town to riot, that just can’t be helpful to you.
If all you need is to mingle with smart people and get good LORs, it would be very easy to find that at an organization that doesn’t pose this type of risk and which you are truly interested in. Pass on this.
I applied to the University of South Carolina Honors College, and quite clearly expressed that I was quite liberal. In fact, one of my essays was about me organizing and leading a protest against a Trump cabinet member. Despite that, I was admitted into USC Honors College in the first wave, given scholarship notification, and am in the running for a full ride; USC, it seems, welcomed my opinion, which is probably among the minority of applicants. I know your situation is the opposite, but I really think you will be fine. If anything, it might help you.
I would like to think it wouldn’t matter. But to be on the safe side, review your write-up of it, to play up the critical thinking and to play down the ideology.
“Is showing political affiliation dangerous on an admissions application?”
No.
If you want UVA, surely you know there are plenty of conservatives. And plenty of liberals and everything in between. Right?
Since we don’t know the organization, how extreme (or not,) we can’t advise if it would send up red flags.
As a UVA McIntire grad with a current student at UVA, I’ve witnessed a very liberal agenda from the Pres there and down. I’d say go ahead and volunteer but I wouldn’t disclose the name of the organization – no way. We lean conservative but would never reveal it in an application. The current UVA pres is so liberal she issued a dozen or more offers for counseling after Trump won the election- even the liberal students were overwhelmed by her message of OMG the sky is falling. In college applications generally, I’d stay away from any conservative leaning words/messages. The reviewer could be a huge liberal and if they don’t like the org, their biases may come through against you. Good luck! The McIntire school is worth concealing this for!
First of all, we ask first-year applicants for two recommendations from school officials (one counselor and one teacher). We turned the non-academic recommendation function off in the Common App for a reason.
Second, it’s recommended that transfers send an academic recommendation. The person should have taught you in a college course.
Okay, now to a student’s political affiliation. It doesn’t even sound like you’re writing an essay about your work. I’ve seen students list volunteering/interning for all sorts of candidates, politicians, and political organizations. We don’t spent hours analyzing activities. If a student is involved in something political, the take away is that they like politics. That’s it.
If this work is going to be part of an essay, know that I’ve read applications from all over the spectrum. I don’t have to agree with someone’s take on something to think they wrote a solid essay.
@Curiousity2 You’re exaggerating a bit with the “dozen or more” comment. All of the President’s messages to the community are archived on the UVA website. Here are the messages from around the 2016 election:
Let us remember that it was a very stressful time in Jan. 2017 for international students at UVa and other universities. Students from many countries were afraid that if they went home for break, they would not be allowed back into the US. Some students from universities that started the semester later than UVa (such as MIT) were temporarily blocked from coming back to their university.
As a result of that issue and many others, many other US universities are seeing a big decrease in the numbers of international students. Unfortunately, some other US universities had become financially dependent upon international students.
Goodness, don’t let a bunch of strangers on the internet dissuade you from engaging in this opportunity. If you sanitize your life experiences based on how others will perceive you you will miss out on a Lot of good opportunities to grow.