In this college application cycle, many American colleges are changing their Common App essays in response to the recent Supreme Court’s decision to revoke affirmative action.

But what do these new changes imply for the next batch of rising high-school juniors and seniors, and how will race factor into the Common App now?

Inside Higher Ed reports that over two dozen institutions have introduced new essay prompts this year, highlighting students’ views on diversity and inclusion, or an applicant’s background.

Top-tier schools like Yale and Princeton have postponed the release of their final prompts until later in August.

The Supreme Court’s decision prohibits universities from relying solely on race as a category when making admissions decisions.

However, schools are still allowed to consider race’s overall impact on students’ lives.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in explaining the Court’s decision, 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.”

The Common App will retain the same seven essay prompts from the 2022-23 application cycle.

This leaves college’s supplemental essays as the primary space for schools to provide applicants with the opportunity to discuss their race and how it may have impacted their childhood or life experiences.

Anurima Bhargava, a former civil rights lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice, clarified, “It’s not that diversity isn’t something that universities can pursue. It’s not that you can’t tell your own stories, stories of your racial experiences, about your identity or your background.”

Schools have taken a variety of approaches to revise their essays in response to the ruling, with many including words like “diversity” and “identity.”

For instance, Sarah Lawrence College’s new prompt directly references the Supreme Court’s decision: “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.”

On the other hand, Columbia University’s new question highlights the importance of diverse perspectives: “A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. Tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint, or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia’s diverse and collaborative community.”

Harvard has eliminated its optional essay and replaced it with five required short-answer questions, each limited to 200 words.

The first question addresses the value of diversity: “Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?”

Bryn Mawr asks students how they would get rid of “a social inequity overnight” using a superpower of their choosing.

UMass Amherst will ask students to consider how a community has shaped their view of the world and how that lesson could enrich the campus.

In response to these changes, college counselors are advising teachers, students, and parents to highlight students’ backgrounds, experiences, unique identities, and voices.

Jill Orcutt, the global consulting lead at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), reported, “As we talk with high school counselors, community college counselors and university and college admissions officers, we’ve heard them all say they’re going to embrace the opportunity they have to present and evaluate their applicants using those essays.”

Overall, admissions will place more emphasis on essays in the coming years.

Timothy Fields, senior associate dean of undergraduate admission at Emory University, explains, “The essay is going to take up a lot more space than maybe it has in the past because people are going to be really trying to understand who this person is that is going to come into our community.”

In the 2023-2024 application cycle, students will need to adjust to unexpected new essay prompts, particularly from private institutions.

While the absence of affirmative action may change how a student’s race is considered in admissions, they will still have the opportunity to highlight their identity and their views on diversity in many of the new prompts for the Common App.

Nayun Lee

Grade 11

Crean Lutheran High School