Should I include being HOA president as part of my activities?

[nathansoz]

I'm putting together my experiences for an app next year and wondering about including a specific one. I live in a community that has an HOA. Our municipality requires us to have an HOA, nobody wanted to run it, and so I volunteered. I wasn't able to find anything online about others including this experience, so I wanted to get people's thoughts.

Pros:

• I'll probably put ~100 hours into this by the time I apply in June next year. It's a lot of budget stuff, finding vendors, running meetings, etc.
• It is a leadership position (non-profit board of directors)
• I am uncompensated, so it is volunteer work.
• It directly serves my local neighborhood.

Cons:

• It is an HOA. People hate these things. I run a chill one, but that doesn't mean the adcom member reading my app doesn't have an axe to grind with theirs.
• I have better volunteering (hospice) and leadership (director level at work) experience, so I don't really *need* these hours.
• It just makes me stick out more as a nontrad(?)

Thoughts?

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[xffan624]

It shouldn't be the focus of your application but I think it's a unique, not frequently seen, activity. I would emphasize the organizational aspects and dealing with conflict/differing viewpoints (positively of course) as those are the most applicable IMO.

 

[nathansoz]

It shouldn't be the focus of your application but I think it's a unique, not frequently seen, activity. I would emphasize the organizational aspects and dealing with conflict/differing viewpoints (positively of course) as those are the most applicable IMO.

Totally wouldn't make it the focus of the app. Just making sure it is a reasonable thing to include as one of my 15 experiences.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Personally I'd see being a HOA leader as a negative based on personal experience. 😂

 

[xffan624]

Personally I'd see being a HOA leader as a negative based on personal experience. 😂

Seems like that's playing to stereotypes. I'm not a big fan of HOAs as a concept but if you live in a neighborhood with one, it makes more sense to have some control over it and make it a positive thing for the neighborhood than just complain about it. I don't live in in a neighborhood with one, but sometimes I understand their appeal when I see the proliferation of RV/random trailers/boats parking on the street that's in my neighborhood and other issues that an HOA would address.

 

[nathansoz]

Personally I'd see being a HOA leader as a negative based on personal experience. 😂

Someone has to do it, and I'd rather it not be the person who writes in every other day about their neighbor's grass not being 100% green.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It definitely is different from being president of the premed club.

 

[ablanco]

If you have the space and you think it's interesting and can talk/write about how it's interesting I suppose it could be good. This is coming from a guy who legitimately put watching movies as their hobby.

 

[esob]

It's a legitimate activity and unique. I would suggest that you add it if you have space.