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Personal Statement advice...politics?

Hey there, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on a personal statement related issue.
I'll be reapplying for English at Cambridge this cycle, so am obviously busy wporking on my personal statement. I've done the 2/3 academic stuff and am now working on my 'other interests' section, but have hit a problem. As any of my aquaintances would testify, I am very political. I am a committed humanist with strong left-wing/liberal views and am keen on helping drug addicts/the homeless etc. This colours my reading and interpretation and is a huge part of my personality, so I've mentioned it. However, several people, including teachers on results day, have told me that this is a bad idea because the admissions people may have different views to me, so would take a dislike to my application.
I was wondering if people on here generally agree with that? I always thought of the personal statement as a way of showing who I am as an individual so I see mentioning issues that are important to me as part of it. Surely that can't negatively affect my application?
Sorry I've rambled, it's just I've recieved stupid advice from my school before, so want a second opinion :-)
Thanks x

Reply 1

The West Wing

Don't go over the top with it -> keep it to 1-2 lines at most and you should be fine.

Reply 2

Captain_cherry_tango

Thanks for the advice. That's all I've got in about it anyway so I should be fine then :-)

Reply 3

Richardmarcj

I wrote about my strong commitment to the Democratic Party in my PS, and it didn't seem to be a problem. As long as you indicate that you are open-minded to insight from other perspectives, even if you disagree with them, that's fine.

Reply 4

Flying Cookie

Students are generally one the most liberal fringes of society (correlation, huh, correlation?) so I expect that the teachers would be likely to appreciate your empathic and humane attitude rather than condemn it. Don't push it, but definitely mention it if you feel like it goes well in the context. Good luck :hugs:

Reply 5

Captain_cherry_tango

Thanks for all the help guys. Feeling much more confident in my statement now :-)

Reply 6

coldfish

Just be prepared to be able to talk about it at interview! If I were an interviewer I'd be really interested to hear how that had influenced your reading, and vice versa. :smile:

Reply 7

Xei

Just apply to King's, they're all communists!

Reply 8

Captain_cherry_tango

Xei

Just apply to King's, they're all communists!

Haha, actually, I am applying to King's. Not because of communism though :-)

Reply 9

Jahmez23

Captain_cherry_tango

Haha, actually, I am applying to King's. Not because of communism though :-)

joking aside, i'd say if you're applying to kings, that kind of ideology is really not going to be a problem!

Reply 10

Craghyrax

Admissions Tutors will have biases but they will make sure they don't allow these to affect how they consider your application. I would confidently write whatever you feel is relevant, but as TWW says, don't overdo it simply because when people exaggerate in statements its harder to take them seriously.

Xei

Just apply to King's, they're all communists!