Hey all, I’ve applied SCEA to Harvard and one of the major components of my application was working on a gubernatorial political campaign here in Texas—knocking on doors, making phone calls, training volunteers, etc. But the more I read after I applied, there were a bunch of recommendations to never write about religion or politics and that your admissions officer should never be able to guess your political affiliation after reading your application & essays. My essay made it very clear that I cared deeply about this candidate winning (mostly because of her feminism), but can that come back to haunt me later? Will I actually be penalized in this process for my politics? Maybe I’m just thinking too much about this because the wait of decisions is simply exhausting.
Your dedication of politics in particular a candidate at least may not help you too much as you expected in a common sense.
You’re overthinking this. The average Admissions Officer is a woman between the ages of 25 and 35 who graduated from the college you are applying to. Without knowing the content of what you wrote, I’m guessing that a 25-35 year old woman who recently graduated from Harvard would deeply care about the issue of feminism and agree with what you wrote. So relax.
Even if they didn’t agree with you, on substance, part of the culture of the Harvard admissions office will be respect for all sorts of political positions, and a desire to have many viewpoints represented in the student body.
Most of the stuff you read on CC about what never to address in your application essay is complete hogwash.
I know a guy who got into the hardest school he applied to (Cornell) in 1993. He also happened to be the youngest County Commissioner in the country for the Ross Perot for President campaign. Ross Perot was a 3rd party candidate in 1992 who got about 5% of the vote, and also offended many people, being a political newcomer (all political candidates offend many voters, by the way).
His major differentiator seemed to be his work on the Ross Perot campaign, and his unique role on it.
If you write about your political opinions well, and assuming they are not bizarre (like defending ISIS), writing about them will not hurt you. Doing the kind of work you have described for a legitimate political candidate, regardless of whether the candidate has Tea Party leanings or is an ardent feminist, can only be a plus. Admissions at the top schools are looking for people with commitment and fervor who make a difference, not for people who line up with their personal political beliefs.