<p>Since the admissions officer might have strongly different views.
e.g. atheist society, republican club</p>
<p>Depends. But i think political diversity is of some importance so i don’t think it would really hurt you that much. Are there similar organizations already active at the schools you’re applying to? Those groups need members!</p>
<p>If a school rejected you on the basis of extracurricular’s that reflect your beliefs then you probably wouldn’t want to be there anyway… I know I wouldn’t at least…</p>
<p>As long as the school isn’t religious, they can’t penalize you for “atheist society”. And there are lots of “campus Republicans” and “campus Democrats” clubs out there.</p>
<p>I put down all my democratic political work, which is a lot, and it made no difference in my admissions.</p>
<p>OP Your two examples aren’t extreme for most colleges. When I opened your thread, I thought you might say something like satan worship or being in a polygamist sect or something…</p>
<p>An Atheist club or (gasp) a Republican club are nothing to raise eyebrows</p>
<p>I realize my post sounded a little naive, but I also recognize that most universities (at least the top-tier ones) have slight, if not strong liberal biases.</p>
<p>on another note, i do have very unpopular views on things such as the meaning of life, romantic love, and having children, but i can’t really start clubs about those…</p>
<p>… having unusual or unpopular views isn’t so strange. However, having views and not being willing to challenge those by comparing & contrasting with others, being unwilling to debate others and to question your own views — those are rather limiting characteristics of someone wanting to go to top tier universities.</p>
<p>Forming unusual ideas is fine. Being closed and determined about their absolute truth is another. I hope you aren’t like that.</p>
<p>I met lots of people who were out of the mainstream just for sakes of being out of the mainstream. In reality they were unaware of how intolerant they really were of others. Rather sad</p>
<p>agreed completely.</p>
<p>In fact, I am the one who often seeks to discuss/debate with others. It’s just that my opinions are “strange” enough that 9 times out of 10, people will just dismiss them/attack me personally.</p>