Since the title of this Forum is "Ask an Admissions Counselor," I was wondering if anyone knew of bias in the selective universities based upon Extra-Curricular involvement with controversial organizations.

Sure, volunteering with that pro-life group may have been a worthwhile effort, but if you are applying to Columbia, should you put that on your application?

Though I doubt many schools would discriminate on the basis of that, it is possible. However, they may try and say that another reason factored into their decision. If you think you have been the victim of such discrimination, I would throw the tolerance argument right at them. After all, most college apps. say in fine print that the institution does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, etc. Another thing to consider is, if you feel uneasy about putting a volunteering experience on an application to a university because of possible admissions bias, do you really want to go to that university?

As to the question if a victim of such discrimination of such a bias would really want to attend that university, the answer is pretty much always yes.

I am talking about the most selective colleges out there. (i.e. Ivy League caliber, etc.)

The top schools are pretty much without exception liberal.

However, even though it is Ivy League, which means very liberal anymore, why go to a school where you may not feel comfortable because of bias against your views just becuase it is elite? I am sure that you can find a more conservative school that will have a good reputation. Also, if you are just going for your Bachelor's, I would not be so selective as I went to a small school and got good grades and am now in grad. school, so the small schools can be just as good, if not better.