<p>I am thinking of majoring in political science. I have a real passion for it, have worked on numerous campaigns, and find it invigorating.</p>
<p>However, I'm wondering if colleges would expect a prospective polysci student to be involved in student government.</p>
<p>I'm not involved in my student government for 2 reasons:
1) It is basically a popularity contest + I'm a nerd = no wins
2) It's pointless. All student and class council do is make posters for things and talk to the student body once a year.</p>
<p>So, is this a problem for my applications? Should I be getting involved, or should I be fine?</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore, by the way. Prospecitve schools: Cornell, Harvard, Georgetown</p>
<p>Haha, our school is the exact same way. Elections are a joke, turn out to be a popularity contest. Even after they're elected they don't do much
I think most colleges have an idea how these "elections" run in High School. I don't think they'd hold it against you. Try to get other meaningful leadership postitions</p>
<p>Karmeron, if I could make a suggestion, could you volunteer to help with a local election -- handing out leaflets, getting petitions signed. Does your HS have a young demo or young repub organization? Show that you are aware of real issues, whether they be local or national (the local candidates will be greatful for whatever you can do, including answer phones). Where I live we do have "off year" elections for local officials. If you dont know, ask your parents or call your local board of elections. If no off year elections, see if your congressperson has a local office that you can volunteer at. If you are democratic, please pm me and if you live near NY, I will find out what is avialbilae. </p>
<p>These could be lifelong friends and associates.</p>
<p>Absolutely, contact your local dem org and whomever at your school is in charge of clubs. Forget SC. The rest of your life is ahead of you. People always remeber who volunteers for them. Volunteering is not just good for getting into college, it is good for life. Build up your "real life" volunteer expericence. I think being able to talk about zoning problems trumps whether there are soda machines in the senior lounge every day of the week. Pesonally, I would put this ahead of your inschool stuff, but that is just me.</p>
<p>Wow this is the same exact situation I'm in. I want to seem polisci-oriented, I'm a sophomore, and I'm not popular or well-known enough to win a student government election at my school. I contacted my local political party and asked if there were any opportunities for high schoolers, they said I could volunteer so hopefully that will give me a chance to build my involvement/presence with them. Start a Young Democrats club if your school doesn't have one. If you have county student government or state student government (check on Google), you could always run for that because the people who'll be voting for you won't even know you beforehand. You can also ask your student government sponsor if you can be appointed to any positions or just become a member or something so you can get involved with out being elected. You could even start a local organization for Teenage Democrats or something.</p>
<p>Being a Congressional Page would really help! I wanted to be one but it wasn't my Congressman's cycle. It's all about timing. However, it is hard to be page and a lot of it is politics. (A friend who lives on the west coast became a page because of close family ties)</p>
<p>It'd be good if you volunteered for a local politician and take a proactive part in the office.</p>
<p>Do you guys have a Senate department that passes the budgets for clubs, activities and people wanting money for the community? It is not a popularity contest, though it is within Student Council. I joined Senate for the same reasons- I thought poster making was silly and I didn’t feel like I was popular enough to be on Student Government. Senate was the best choice I made though.</p>
<p>Cheery: I’ve never heard of a Senate department. We don’t really have much of a student government, so I doubt there is one. I go to a smaller public school, so there aren’t many opportunities.</p>
<p>I’m applying to be a Page next year though! (Application is due next week. <em>gulp</em>)</p>
<p>We also have a student council member “at large” which is basically just someone who is chosen based upon academics (not election) and ends up doing a lot of the work. I’m thinking of applying for that.</p>
<p>Sorry to bump this post up, but Cheery_Girl can you tell me more about how the student leadership at your school works? What are the exact duties of the Student Government and the exact duties of the Senate? The Senate thing sounds really interesting, my school doesn’t have one…</p>