Should I mention my political beliefs in personal statement

Hello,

Im writing my personal statement for a Computer Science course. Now I am heavily involved in UKIP, and have made multiple websites for the Party that have been used in national elections. Would mentioning UKIP in my personal statement harm my chances since most are very left wing and remain.

Honest Answers Please!

Thanks
-Nick

Reply 1

username1391301

17

It shouldn't do, but considering you're applying to Universities; probably yes.

Reply 2

Reality Check

22

Are you political views relevant to the course that you've applied to? Will discussing them and using up space in your PS make your application stand out and increase your chances of an offer?

If the answer to both of these questions is 'no' (and it is, by the way) then no - I wouldn't make a point of mentioning them. Instead, use the word count for more useful things related to the course, your interest in it and why they should offer you a place.

Reply 3

johnTroy1

8

The last thing you want is the reviewer in the admissions team to be heavily against UKIP and their policies. Might lower you chances of acceptance if there are more qualified applicants for a competitive course.

Reply 4

njharris97

OP

2

Thanks for replying. It's really difficult for me because most of my experience in web design is for UKIP websites. And I think it would raise many questions if I don't mention what I made them for.

Reply 5

Castro Saint

18

It's not even relevant...

Reply 6

Plagioclase

21

Original post by njharris97

Hello,

Im writing my personal statement for a Computer Science course. Now I am heavily involved in UKIP, and have made multiple websites for the Party that have been used in national elections. Would mentioning UKIP in my personal statement harm my chances since most are very left wing and remain.

Honest Answers Please!

Thanks
-Nick

I would not recommend it - not just because it's a political party but because it's not hugely relevant. If you want to talk about it just talk about how you've designed websites for major clients but please bear in mind that web design really does not have very much to do with computer science so you definitely do not want to give admissions tutors the impression that you don't actually understand what you're applying for.

Reply 7

njharris97

OP

2

Original post by Plagioclase

I would not recommend it - not just because it's a political party but because it's not hugely relevant. If you want to talk about it just talk about how you've designed websites for major clients but please bear in mind that web design really does not have very much to do with computer science so you definitely do not want to give admissions tutors the impression that you don't actually understand what you're applying for.

Thank You. I will do that.

Reply 8

beautifulbigmacs

19

The web design experience is relevant. Who it is for isn't relevant.

In this regard, talk about all the computer experience you have that is related to ukip but don't mention ukip directly. Just refer to ukip as something like "a cause I believe in" or "a client in the community"

Use language to your advantage to get your point across. Don't mention ukip because it could inspire a bias towards you.

Reply 9

njharris97

OP

2

Original post by beautifulbigmacs

The web design experience is relevant. Who it is for isn't relevant.

In this regard, talk about all the computer experience you have that is related to ukip but don't mention ukip directly. Just refer to ukip as something like "a cause I believe in" or "a client in the community"

Use language to your advantage to get your point across. Don't mention ukip because it could inspire a bias towards you.

Thanks.

Reply 10

S1939

8

Why are you scared? You've got your country back! Independence!?

Spoiler

Nope!

Original post by njharris97

Hello,

Im writing my personal statement for a Computer Science course. Now I am heavily involved in UKIP, and have made multiple websites for the Party that have been used in national elections. Would mentioning UKIP in my personal statement harm my chances since most are very left wing and remain.

Honest Answers Please!

Thanks
-Nick

2 things:

1. Never mention political beliefs in a personal statement, its not needed.
2. UKIP...lol

Reply 13

njharris97

OP

2

Original post by S1939

Why are you scared? You've got your country back! Independence!?

Spoiler

Ignoring the sarcasm. YEY!!!

Reply 14

oShahpo

20

Actually I think it is quite relevant to some universities which place some emphasis on extra-curriculars. Maybe don't mention the name of the party, but say that you have developed and ran websites for a certain political party.

*In fact, it's VERY relevant given that web dev. is quite important for comp scis.
(It might not play an important part of the degree, but being a good web developer is a good indicator of programming fluency).

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 15

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Web design has zero relevance for a compsci degree.

If you like designing websites try applying for graphic design.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 16

username1628823

19

Just say you designed websites for a political party. You don't need to say which one.

Reply 17

njharris97

OP

2

Thank you for all your replies. It's all been very useful. Although I should mention that when I said web design I include creating such as HTML/CSS/PHP and all that.

Thanks again.

Reply 18

Juno

20

Original post by njharris97

Thank you for all your replies. It's all been very useful. Although I should mention that when I said web design I include creating such as HTML/CSS/PHP and all that.

Thanks again.

Then make sure that - if you do put it in your statement - you explain it well enough that people know what you mean. Don't just assume that the reader will guess correctly. Make sure everything is explicit so that it says what you want it to say