Moss wrote:
During my undergrad I was very involved in campus political groups. I have ties with many high-level members within my state and local party politics. I have done a significant amount of volunteering and running events for politicians. The party I have ties with is one of the major two national US parties.
I was thinking about how this would impact the admissions process. Does an adcom view this on par with "regular" volunteerism activities, a la Habitat for Humanity, or is this in a different (likely lower) tier of EC activity.
Furthermore, is it a big risk labeling myself as such a staunch supporter of one political party -- if the adcom's beliefs don't mesh with mine I could be dinged due to bias, subconscious or otherwise.
I have not been as actively lately as I was during my undergrad, but I have been thinking about becoming more involved. From an admissions perspective, is political involvement a strong net positive, strong net negative, or does it not make much difference either way?
I think heavy involvement in any activity is great. Political involvement has the added benefit of giving you connections to people with power, which can improve your ability to be a difference maker post MBA. It doesn't really matter which party because a)there will always be important people you have connections to and b) the parties switch back and forth a lot.
You run the risk of having an adcom read your application that doesn't agree with your opinion, but the only way this is really a problem, I think, is if for some reason they find your statements offensive. If your "what would you bring to campus" story is about how you outfoxed the stupid democrats, or how you saved the country from the greedy republicans, that probably hurts you. But that's not really a problem with your opinion as much as it's a problem with being a jackass. As long as you show respect for people with different views it shouldn't be a problem.