Essay Prompts About ‘Background’ Double After SCOTUS Decision
It has been a busy summer for higher education and no topic has dominated the headlines more than the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in college admissions. Of course, much ink has already been spilled in response to the decision, but we were curious about one of the ways this decision is impacting admissions in the current cycle…
In the wake of the decision, conversations shifted to figuring out how colleges can and cannot consider race in admissions. After all, while the decision effectively ended race-conscious admissions practices, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that “nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”
Therefore, colleges can create the space for students to talk about their backgrounds (including race) in the free-form parts of the application - i.e., the essay. Just how many colleges are doing that?
We reviewed essay prompts for nearly 100 of the more selective and high-profile colleges in the country. While these institutions don’t represent the whole of higher education, it’s fair to focus on them for two reasons. First, as more selective colleges, they are more impacted by the Supreme Court decision. Second, higher-profile institutions often serve as weather vanes for other colleges - they set examples that others often follow.
Of the colleges reviewed, a majority (58%) explicitly asked about an applicant’s background in essay and short answer prompts:
Many of the prompts asking about background follow a similar pattern: the college states its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and then requests that the applicant share about their background and how it would contribute to to the diversity of the college community.
Some were more indirect while others, like Sarah Lawrence College, called out the SCOTUS decision and even quoted the John Roberts statement:
In a 2023 majority decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected the applicant’s life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.” Drawing upon examples from your life, a quality of your character, and/or a unique ability you possess, describe how you believe your goals for a college education might be impacted, influenced, or affected by the Court’s decision.
In professional terms, we call that a baller move.
Of course, essay prompts about diversity are nothing new. But their frequency is. Compared with the prior year, questions asking about a student’s background nearly doubled from 31% in 2022 to 58% this year.
Naturally, there is still much to figure out and we will learn more as the cycle continues, but essay prompts are one of the clear ways colleges can suss out this information within the confines of this shifting landscape. Clearly, many are taking advantage of it.