Would religious view affect admissions?

It's fine. If it's something that's important to you then its a good EC.

 

There have been threads on this before and I don't think an adcom can (or will) hold your religious views against you. I'm an adamant atheist but I wouldn't roll my eyes at someone with significant commitments to a religious organization. Adcoms are reasonable people and I don't think they would let these petty views (**consciously**) affect their decisions. As for unconsciously, well there's no way of predicting or helping that.

 

We don't care and we're not allowed to discriminate against someone's religion, unless you're a member of ISIL.

Being a member of a SDA club might help for Loma Linda. But I don't think joining a Catholic club will help at Creighton, Tulane or MUCOM.

 

Look at it this way: When taking care of a patient, does the doctor ask about religious views? No. The only time it comes up is whenever you bring it up. Witnesses and their bloodless surgeries for instance.

 

If you want to join a club, join a club. You are not obligated to list every club membership on your application and if you prefer to keep your religious or political activities private, then you can just leave them off of the application.

If you do list them, they are not likely to have a negative effect on your application but as someone mentioned earlier, there is no telling what unconscious biases influence adcoms. Of course, this can work in your favor, too, depending on who gets your application which does add to some of the "luck" that seems to go along with getting an interview at one school but not at another.

 

Related to OP - I have significant religious affiliations, and the truth is, part of my desire to become a physician is grounded by this religious aspect of myself. Like others, I feel an inclination to understand the intricacies of the world - particularly the human body -, but this interest is partly informed by my desire to appreciate the work of a greater power. I have a hunch that adcoms don't want someone whose desire to become a physician is based on something that is often perceived as being flimsy and liable to fluctuation like religion is.

 

Absolutely, I agree. This is only part of my desire to become a physician, of course. There are other aspects of the career that fit my personality, but I didn't want to focus the crux of my comment around why I want to be a physician - rather, that certain aspects of the decision are informed by my religion.