<p>I’m a high school sophomore and i was wondering if volunteering in Rick Perry’s campaign would help on my college resume. I plan on volunteering anyways so this isn’t just trying to improve my resume. My family is a Texan republican family, and my dad came home today and said that a doctor he works with, is a highly active conservative who knows rick perry. My dad said that the doctor would be willing to try to talk rick perry into letting me volunteer, and most likely with a bigger part. I’m an Austinite and plan on applying to the major universities of texas like UT or A&M, so would this be helpful or should I leave it off?</p>
<p>Why not take the safe route? Mention it for A&M, and leave it off for UT.</p>
<p>^ Like there are no Republicans at UT?! Granted, there are more at A&M, but there’s an active, healthy minority of political conservatives at UT. And admission officers are certainly “party blind.” </p>
<p>Working on a political campaign will be something you reflect in your college application under “extracurricular activities.” It is no more or less helpful than any other EC. (To be clear, throwing around Rick Perry’s name won’t get you admitted.) The important thing is that you don’t waste your time on ECs you aren’t passionate about, i.e., don’t do it just because you think it’ll look good. Do it because you love politics and believe in Perry. Campaign work is mostly long, tedious hours. But then there are those moments with the candidate, at rallies, on election night, etc. that make it all worth while. </p>
<p>You are lucky to live in Austin so you can be a part of Perry’s local campaign organization. Have fun with it!</p>
<p>My S was active in the Obama campaign – and just finished an internship for a Republican congressman. He can articulate very clearly why he supported each of these people. I wouldn’t vote for Perry if my life depended on it, but that wouldn’t impact how I’d evaluate the EC of working on a campaign – which is to say, very positively. You have to be true to what you believe; unless the candidate was David Duke, I say put it down.</p>
<p>I agree with TXArtemis and Pizzagirl: working on a political campaign is a worthwhile extracurricular activity. It isn’t particularly better than any other activity (short of running a meth lab or a prostitution ring), but it isn’t any worse either. If it takes up a lot of your time and energy, list it. I wouldn’t vote for Rick Perry either (not even if he were running against Stalin), but your political activism will be seen as a good thing, and if your location on the political spectrum isn’t the same as the admissions officer’s, it will not be held against you–not even at UT.</p>
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<p>I don’t think volunteering on a campaign is really all that competitive! There’s a lot of unglamorous work to be done. I also don’t think the decision whether to allow a teenager to volunteer for the campaign is going to be made as high up the chain of command as the candidate himself. Rick Perry has other fish to fry. I mean, remember, when he can break away from campaigning for President, he’s still supposed to put in some time as Governor of Texas.</p>
<p>Sikorsky is right…walk right in to your local office and ask what kind of help they would like. You will probably be put to work calling volunteers, dropping off flyers, staffing a booth at a fair or event, dropping off yards signs, or helping out a local appearance by the candidate. It is a fun experience regardless of the candidate if you are part of a well-organized campaign.
In terms of learning, you might get more responsibility on a local campaign.</p>