Colleges rewrite essay questions to get around SCOTUS’ affirmative action ban

Colleges have found a workaround to the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling this summer. While schools are now prohibited from accepting students based on race, there is a way for administrators to learn about a student’s ethnicity — the college essay.

Colleges and universities across the U.S. are releasing essay prompts for student applications on Aug. 1, and some have been strategically chosen this year.

High school seniors will choose from a list of questions, many of which are worded to give a student freedom to discuss and disclose their racial background.

Happy #CommonAppDay! 🎉 The 2023-24 application is now live! Today's the day to start your college application journey. Visit https://t.co/qIdW6gxl17 to create your Common App account and kickstart your future. We're here to support you every step of the way! #FutureBeginshere pic.twitter.com/f4GpqWHb4f

— Common App (@CommonApp) August 1, 2023

Common Application, a nonprofit membership organization, supplies prompts for more than 1,000 institutions of higher education.

Here’s a list of some questions released before the court’s decision that students will choose from when applying to their dream school

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Some schools’ prompts are even more direct referring to the Supreme Court’s case inside the question itself. Students applying to Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York, can choose to answer the following essay prompt:

“In the syllabus of a 2023 majority decision of the Supreme Court written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the author notes: ‘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.”

Some colleges and universities have been transparent in their response to the court’s decision. Since they cannot approve applications based on race to diversify their campuses, they say their admissions officers who review student essays will work to create a diverse student body while following the court’s ruling.

Amin Abdul-Malik Gonzalez, dean of admission at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, says he will be taking time this fall for new training for the school’s admission officers.

While some argue the Supreme Court’s ruling to ban affirmative action will serve as a disadvantage for Black and Latino students, the justices ruled there is equal opportunity for all races with an end to affirmative action.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”