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University of Maryland’s 650-character leap into lawlessness or a legal loophole?

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For years, University of Maryland College Park emphasized grades and scores in its undergraduate admissions review process for first-year applicants.

Then, a few years back, the university that Testudo the diamondback terrapin calls home added some innocuous and incredibly short answer responses requiring students to complete sentences such as, “The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was…,”  “If I could travel anywhere, I would go to…,” and “Something you might not know about me is…” In past years students have had as few as 160 characters to complete such sentences.

Meanwhile, in 2020, Maryland suspended its requirement that first-year applicants submit either their SAT or ACT scores in order to be considered for admission.

Then, this past June, The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that race-based preferences in college admissions are unlawful. Within hours, University of Maryland College Park’s President Darryll J. Pines and Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice published a letter on the Maryland website about the role of race in college admissions. In it, the two said the court’s decision was “disappointing” and that Maryland’s “already-unassailable commitment to a diverse and inclusive campus must strengthen and grow within the bounds of the law.” They added, “Our Enrollment Management team and campus administration have been preparing for this moment, and we are confident in our path forward.”

When the University of Maryland College Park supplement to the Common Application went live in Early August, the ‘complete the sentence’ prompts returned, but their responses were all given new 650-character count limits and they were accompanied by a new prompt unlike any Maryland has included on its first-year application before. The new prompt reads as follows:

“Because we know that diversity benefits the educational experience of all students, the University of Maryland values diversity in all of its many forms. This includes (but is not limited to) racial, socio-economic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation. We are interested in hearing about your own individual life experiences. In a few sentences, will you please describe how you have learned, grown, been inspired or developed skills through one or more components of diversity.”

In summary, the prompt encourages applicants’ to show fealty to “one or more components of diversity” in up to 650 characters.

Then, in an email sent to counselors on August 11, 2023, James B. Massey, Jr., the director of Maryland’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, shared the following message:

“The University of Maryland remains committed to a diverse and inclusive campus. As President Pines has stated, ‘we will remain a national leader by encouraging and supporting students of all backgrounds as they apply, enroll and graduate from UMD. The educational value of campus diversity is one we will not sacrifice.’ Our office ‘will multiply our recruitment efforts focused on what UMD offers its students—a commitment to inclusive excellence where all have the opportunity to succeed.’ In addition, within our application we are providing an opportunity for students to share how they’ve learned, grown, been inspired, or developed skills through one or more components of diversity.”

Of course, the new short answer response about diversity is more than an opportunity; it’s a requirement. Since The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in June 2023 that colleges can no longer admit students on the on the basis of race, a number of selective public and private colleges, now including Maryland, have added new required or optional questions or prompts to their 2023-2024 first-year applications, so Maryland is not unusual in this respect. Yet, Maryland’s new prompt is noteworthy because of the way in which it is worded and because applicants are limited to responding in only 650 characters to a prompt that is itself 487 characters long. The high prompt to response ratio, the content of the prompt, the kind of information it is seeking students to provide, and the email to counselors heralding the new prompt combine to make it certainly feel as though Maryland is attempting to use responses to this prompt as a means to “remain” as it was before the ruling. Pines’ and King Rice’s letter stated that before the Supreme Court ruling in June, race was one of “26 unique factors” the university considered in undergraduate admissions. As of October, Maryland’s admissions website indicates it now considers “more than 24 factors” when making admissions decisions, including “Breadth of life experiences,” “Extenuating circumstances,” “Socio-economic background,” and “Special talents or skills.” Is Maryland simply planning to subsume into one of these or other factors considered in its admissions review process a racial experience discussed in an applicant’s response to this new diversity short answer prompt for a student’s self-reported race, which Maryland considered before June’s ruling? And, if so, is that actually legal?

Maryland’s admissions leadership is clearly trying to inspire diverse applicants to write about diversity inclusive of how race may have shaped applicants’ perspectives, character, and overall value systems. Yet, in doing so, how far will Maryland admissions leadership go in taking information provided in applicants’ responses to this prompt to curate what it deems to be a sufficiently diverse first-year class?

Maryland, and all colleges in the US, if they intend to follow the letter and spirit of the law, must adhere to The Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, which included this critical paragraph:

“At the same time, as all parties agree, 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. See, e.g., 4 App. in No. 21–707, at 1725–1726, 1741; Tr. of Oral Arg. in No. 20–1199, at 10. But, despite the dissent’s assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today. (A dissenting opinion is generally not the best source of legal advice on how to comply with the majority opinion.) “[W]hat cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly. The Constitution deals with substance, not shadows,” and the prohibition against racial discrimination is “levelled at the thing, not the name.” Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wall. 277, 325 (1867). A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination. Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivated him or her to assume a leadership role or attain a particular goal must be tied to that student’s unique ability to contribute to the university. In other words, the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race. Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they 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.”

Maryland has not officially stated how applicants’ responses to this prompt will be assessed. So, I emailed the following questions to Shannon R. Gundy, the enrollment management leader at Maryland responsible for all undergraduate admissions:

1. How was the wording of (the new) prompt determined? Who/what offices was/were involved in drafting and approving it to be included in this year’s first-year UMD College Park application?

2. How are University of Maryland College Park application readers/admissions officers being directed to assess student responses to this new short answer prompt?

3. With only 650 characters to work with, students have to take their experience(s) with an important and serious subject and condense it(them) into just a few sentences; therefore, what will be considered a strong response versus a weak response to this new prompt?

4. It certainly feels as though Maryland is attempting to harness many tools, including this prompt, in order to remain as inclusively excellent as it was before the Supreme Court ruling on race in college admissions was released this past June. Will the way students respond to this prompt in any way influence their chances of first-year admission at Maryland? And if so, how?

Gundy did not respond to my email. After three days, I emailed Hafsa Siddiqi, Maryland’s media relations manager, with the same questions. Siddiqi also did not respond to my email.

Therefore, because it’s not clear how responses to this prompt will be assessed by the university’s admissions officers starting in November (Maryland’s Early Action admissions plan, through which the university fills the vast majority of its first-year class, has an application deadline of November 1), members of the public have no way to know whether Maryland’s supplement to the Common App has taken a 650-character leap into lawlessness or into a legal loophole to June’s Supreme Court ruling.

While the court has stated it would be unlawful for undergraduate admissions teams to give applicants’ essay or short answer responses higher or lower consideration based on the racial background or backgrounds applicants choose to write about, what has also become clear since June is that many working in selective college and university admission, and the lawyers and consulting firms advising them, are now doing all they can to draw a distinction between a student’s “racial status” and a student’s “racial experience.” In doing so, certain admissions professionals at selective institutions have publicly stated that Roberts’ opinion gives their institutions the freedom to consider a student’s “racial experience(s)” as much as these institutions would like when making admissions decisions as long as the colleges don’t consider a student’s narrowly defined “racial status.” This perspective may ultimately have its own day in court.

In the meantime, with so few words with which to share anything much of substance in response to Maryland’s newest prompt, the general public – and first-year applicants to University of Maryland College Park in particular – would certainly benefit from knowing exactly how Maryland will be assessing student responses to this new diversity prompt, as 650-characters doesn’t really give anyone the chance to show and tell much at all about an experience, lessons learned, or skills built. Instead, Maryland’s newest application prompt is a recipe for students to only be able to share superficial tidbits about themselves or their experience(s), many of which are likely to only be skin deep.

Did University of Maryland take a 650-character leap into lawlessness or a legal loophole?

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For years, University of Maryland College Park emphasized grades and scores in its undergraduate admissions review process for first-year applicants. Yet, this August, when University of Maryland College Park released its supplement to the Common Application, the university added a new essay prompt about diversity for students to respond to in 650 characters or fewer. Considering the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down race-based preferences in college admissions, how the information provided in student responses to this new prompt is assessed by the university’s admissions officials will determine whether University of Maryland has taken a 650-character leap into lawlessness or a legal loophole to June’s Supreme Court ruling. Read the full article here.

The top 23 songs to listen to while completing your college applications in 2023 are…

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Picture it. You are all alone in your bedroom at 11:47 p.m. on a Tuesday night.

By day you are an overloaded high school senior year who feels dominated by IB or AP course assignments, juggling the responsibilities that come with leading four time-sucking extracurricular activities, and cramming to get an A in every class for your first quarter report card.

Unlike your classmates who could best be described as one or more of the following —

  • Ivy League legacies
  • Recruitable athletes
  • Paying unscrupulous consultants to write their applications for them
  • Paying dastardly ‘doctors’ to write faux concussion, migraine, or Crohn’s Disease sick notes for them in order to secure very real SAT or ACT extended time testing accommodations
  • Full-pay international students
  • Completely disinterested in college (and, as a result, probably far smarter than you give them credit for)

— you are going to have to actually earn your way into an Ivy on your own! So, you find yourself staring at your computer screen at nearly midnight and into the abyss that is the Common Application filled with various application supplements that you have yet to complete.

By night, you must shift into truly high gear. You need inspiration. You are tapped out from doing somersaults throughout high school but you can’t afford to get tired now when there are so few spots at America’s ‘top’ colleges for students who actually have to earn their way into them on their own – with their own wits and moxie. Your fate will depend on your wisdom and your will – and whether or not a lot of legacies et al. are applying to your first choice college this year.

You have to work for at least two more hours to draft essays if your final essay drafts will ever be of the quality that they need to be to get you in. You turn to YouTube (which is also home to the great CollegeMeister channel) for a song or a soundtrack to pump you up; yet, most of the tracks that pop up aren’t capable of taking you to the level that you need to be at in order to pump out what you need to pump out tonight – and every night – between now and November 1, the date when you aim to submit all of your college applications to your one Early Decision, five Early Action, two Priority, and two Rolling admission colleges.

You turn to Google to find inspiration and you type in, “College Application Completion Playlists” or “Motivational Songs” or “EDM Motivation” or some other search query that gets you to this blessed page where you find yourself right now.

Lucky you.

Without further ado, here they are – the top 22 tracks in 2023 to have playing in the background as you complete your college applications, especially the essays, if you are serious about doing all that you can do to get in by virtue of your work ethic alone:

23. T-Pain – Best Love Song ft. Chris Brown

You really do need to consider your college application supplemental essays as individualized ‘love songs’ to each college on your list. If you write a generic love note or song to a potential love interest, he or she is not going to take your seriously, and the same goes with colleges getting a generic supplement from you. This track underscores the point that you are in the love song writing business until you are finished each and every app that has supplemental writing.

22. Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

That feeling you get either when your writer’s block clears or you realize the sun is rising and school starts in two hours.

21. Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters – Destination Calabria

Because, let’s face it, even if you put in 200% effort over the coming nights, the “destination [is] unknown” and you very well may end up at Tulane or Wisconsin.

20. Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand Let Me Think About It (Extended)

“Give us your Top Ten List.” Come on Wake Forest! “Let me think about it.”

19. Better Off Alone

No. You won’t be better off alone. The very thought of a gap year “alone” scares/inspires you to complete a better application during the dead of night. Plus, you can’t afford a gap year to find yourself like Malia or your lax-playing buddies.

18. Gina G Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit

This one’s good because it reminds you that one day this will all be over. You can do it! “Just a little bit” more.

17. Viola Wills – If You Could Read My Mind

Why can’t the admissions officers “just read my mind” instead of forcing me to communicate well in 650 words or fewer? After all, you’ve likely endured an extremely poor education in English throughout your K-12 career due to too many English teachers being focused on serving up critical theory rather than traditional literary analysis, strong writing instruction, or any sort of celebration of the best works of Western Civilization. By the way, there are a lot of versions of this song, but we chose this one because Viola Wills put her soul into it – just like you will need to put your soul into your apps.

16. Lighthouse Family – High

“When you are close to tears remember, someday it will all be over, one day we’re going to get so high!” Enough said, but don’t do drugs, even if it’s legal.

15. Don’t Stop Believin’

Don’t stop believin’ that you will get in…unless you are honest and of Asian heritage, in which case, just stop believing because the Ivies value ‘diversity,’ which is code for ‘they have more Asians than they currently wish to accept.’ Your only hope is the Supreme Court.

14. The Jacksons – Can You Feel It [Audio HQ] HD

Can you feel the acceptance notifications coming your way?

13. Cass Elliot – Make Your Own Kind of Music (HQ)

Because, really, you do need to be true to who you are and utterly unique if you are going to have any chance of getting into Harvard, Princeton, or Yale without any of the characteristics mentioned in that bulleted list above.

12. One Day More! – Les Misérables – 10th Anniversary Concert

Only play this one on October 31 – or the day before you know you will be finished your dastardly applications once and for all.

11. Michael Ball, Alfie Boe – He Lives In You (From “The Lion King” / Lyric Video)

Indeed, you must, “have faith” and “he does live in you!” You need to draw on generations of your ancestors to find strength. After all, if they could get through famines, wars, living without an iPhone, you can complete a few college applications.

10. Avicii – Levels

You need a good feeling or two right about now.

9. Jason Derulo – “Want To Want Me” (Official Video)

“It’s too hard to sleep…” Please, Columbia and Brown, I just “want you to want me”…despite you preferring well-connected social justice activists and loaded legacies…or better yet, those who check both of those boxes. :-/

8. Deorro x Chris Brown – Five More Hours (Official Video)

Whether you are up against the deadline on November 1 with just five more hours to go or “you are just getting started,” this one works.

7. P!nk – So What (Official Music Video)

“So, what?” Even if I have to go to Emory, “I’m still a rockstar!”

6. Bob Seger – Hollywood Nights (Lyrics)

At least you can comfort yourself knowing that you are not Aunt Becky or a Desperate Housewife out in “Hollywood” bribing the powers that be at USC for the honor of living in South Central LA for four years.

5. Let It Be (Remastered 2009)

Try your best and all, but maybe it’s time to just “let it be” and settle for Barrett Honors College at ASU?

4. Eric Prydz – Call On Me (Official HD Video)

You can always “call on me,” CollegeMeister Craig Meister, the best and most refreshingly honest college admissions coach on the planet. Cue this EDM classic.

3. Kygo & Whitney Houston – Higher Love (Official Video)

Okay, it’s a visual knockoff of Eric Prydz’s song above, but the vocals are pure – early Whitney Houston – and the accompaniment is rock solid and by Kygo. It’s of course far more current, though also feels classic. Not to mention the lyrics are perfect for ascending to the ‘higher’ level that you to need to reach in order to at least get into Cornell or Dartmouth.

2. Joel Corry x RAYE x David Guetta – BED [Official Video]

You’d much prefer to be in bed yourself, but lyrics like, “And I got work in the morning, early, early in the morning,” and, “Oh, and why’d I gotta do this the hard way?” certainly resonate. Other lyrics…well…let’s just say, I don’t advocate for premarital coition. Overall, this song certainly gets one pumped up, though it’s hard to get out of your head.

1. Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam (Official Video)

Did you know that Kylie Minogue is beating cancer? Really puts things in perspective. As a former colleague once told me when I was a bit stressed helping all my high school seniors, “Craig, the college admissions process isn’t life or death.” Very good advice. With that said, I know what it feels like when you hear your own heartbeat – “Padam Padam” – in your head because of adrenaline or apprehension. This track will at least help you harness being so hyped up for good. How can’t you be productive when you have it playing?

P.S.: As you wait for your admissions decisions, or as an alternate to some of the options above, how about playing on loop  “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco?

P.P.S.: Do realize that the above list is completely subjective and somewhat satirical – just like the crazy college admissions process at America’s most selective colleges; therefore, I apologize in advance if your favorite songs didn’t make the cut, if you don’t get in where you want, and/or if you are offended. Life’s unfair like that. Just remember that if you don’t get in, you need to sing this one last song out loud whenever your friends – and frienemies – get into their top choices:

You will survive!

Princeton wants to learn about applicants’ “lived experiences”

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Princeton University has released its 2023-2024 supplemental essay prompts for first-year applicants, making it the final Ivy League institution to do so.

The most notable change in Princeton’s supplement from last year is the addition of a new essay of up to 500 words responding to a prompt inquiring about the applicant’s life so far and how it has shaped the applicant in a manner that will allow the applicant to contribute to Princeton’s campus.

2023-2024 Princeton Supplemental Prompts

A.B. and Undecided Applicants Only

1. As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in 250 words or fewer)

B.S.E. Applicants Only

1. Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (Please respond in 250 words or fewer)

Your Voice

2. Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What will your classmates learn from you? In short, how has your lived experience shaped you? (500 words or fewer; new prompt and expanded word count length this year)

3. Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals? (250 words or fewer; reworded from last year)

Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!

4. What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?

5. What brings you joy?

6. What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?

—

Since The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in June 2023 that colleges can no longer admit students on the on the basis of race, a number of selective colleges, now including Princeton, have added new essay prompts to their 2023-2024 first-year applications to inspire applicants to write about how their backgrounds – inclusive of race – have and/or will continue to inform their behaviors, perspectives, and priorities.

What remains uncertain is how such essays will be assessed by colleges’ application review committees. If keeping within the letter and spirit of The Supreme Court majority opinion, application review committees will not give applicants’ essays a higher or lower number of points based on the background or backgrounds applicants choose to write about in their essays.

The number of words students have in order to respond to Princeton’s new “lived experience” essay is also notably higher than any essay has been afforded on Princeton’s supplement in recent years when the highest number of words students could write in order to respond to any Princeton prompt topped out at 350 words.

As most high school seniors applying to Princeton do so through the Common Application, most Princeton applicants will also need to respond – and respond well – to one of the Common App’s main essay prompts in order to be considered for admission at Princeton.

Good luck to all those students applying to join Princeton’s Class of 2028. Start drafting!

Meanwhile, the 2023-2024 supplemental essay prompts for students applying to be first-year students at fellow Ivy League institutions Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, and Yale were all released in July or early August.

Northwestern University adds six new essay prompts to its application supplement

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Northwestern University Deering Library

Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois has added six new essay prompts to its 2023-2024 supplement to the Common Application for first-year applicants.

At the same time, Northwestern becomes the most selective Common App college to no longer require submission of the Common Application main essay in order to be considered for admission. Yet, if a student applying for first-year admission to Northwestern wants the university’s admissions committee to review his or her Common App essay, he or she can still include it when submitting the Common App to Northwestern.

Regarding Northwestern’s supplement, students applying via the Common App or Coalition App must respond to only one of the six new supplemental essay prompts, and applicants can only respond to up to two of the others. This means that smart applicants who want to make their case through their words will be writing three Northwestern-specific short essays (up to 700 words total) in their attempt to earn admission into Northwestern’s Class of 2028.

2023-2024 Northwestern University Supplemental Essay Prompts

The following question is required for all Common Application and Coalition with Scoir applicants (optional for QuestBridge applicants). Please respond in 300 words or fewer:

  • We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background, your identity, or your school, community, and/or household settings have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise?

The following questions are optional, but we encourage you to answer at least one and no more than two. Please respond in fewer than 200 words per question:

  • Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?
  • Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?
  • Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.
  • Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?
  • Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?

—

As most high school seniors applying to Northwestern do so through the Common Application, and most are applying to other highly selective private colleges that require the Common App essay, it’s likely that most first-year applicants to Northwestern will still want Northwestern admissions officers to read their Common App essay.

Since The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in June 2023 that colleges can no longer admit students on the on the basis of race, a number of selective colleges, now including Northwestern, have added new essay prompts to their 2023-2024 first-year applications to inspire applicants to write about how their backgrounds – inclusive of race – have and/or will continue to inform their behaviors, perspectives, and priorities.

What is not yet clear is how such essays will be assessed by colleges’ application review committees. If keeping within the letter and spirit of The Supreme Court majority opinion, application review committees will not give applicants’ essays a higher or lower number of points based on the background or backgrounds applicants choose to write about in their essays. Northwestern’s new essay prompts use the words “diverse” or “diversity” three times, “background(s)” three times, and “community” or “communities” four times.

Previously, Northwestern’s one and only – and now retired – supplemental essay prompt read as follows:

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

Good luck to all those students applying to join Northwestern’s Class of 2028.

Wake Forest Introduces Exclusive Early Action (EEA)

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Considering how much the word “inclusive” is bandied about these days, Wake Forest University would, at first glance, appear to be taking a big risk by creating a new Early Action admissions option that will be the exclusive domain of only certain applicants based on their demographics alone. Yet, that’s exactly what Wake Forest is doing while promoting its new Early Action admissions option as a tool to promote inclusivity.

On June 29, the day when The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that race can’t be a factor in admissions decisions, Wake Forest University’s President Susan R. Wente wrote, “We write to affirm that Wake Forest University will not waver in its commitment to creating and sustaining inclusive, diverse learning communities; our mission and values have not and will not change. We will continue to recruit and enroll academically qualified students of diverse backgrounds who seek an intellectual home at Wake Forest where they belong and thrive, and in compliance with the Court’s ruling.”

Just a few weeks later, Wake introduced a new essay prompt for first-year applicants to complete during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle that invites students to explain how their identity or lived experience will help them contribute to the Wake Forest community.

Now, Wake Forest has announced a new Early Action admissions option “specifically for first-generation students to provide an additional pathway of opportunity.” Those who are not considered by Wake to be first-generation college students may not apply to Wake using this new Early Action option, thus making it the very definition of exclusive, which is why for the remainder of this article, and in order to differentiate it from traditional Early Action options that do not prevent certain students from taking advantage of them, Wake’s new admissions option will be referred to as Exclusive Early Action, or EEA. Wake’s new Exclusive Early Action applicants must apply by November 15 and will receive their admissions decisions by January 15.

For years, Wake Forest has met 100% of the demonstrated financial need of eligible admitted undergraduate students while also offering Early Decision I (students apply by November 15 and get their decisions by December) and Early Decision II (students apply by January 1 and get their decisions by February 15) application options, both of which are officially binding in nature (meaning a student must attend – in most cases – if admitted), and Regular Decision (students apply by January 1 and get their decisions in late March/Early April), which, just like its new EEA option, doesn’t require admitted students to accept or reject their offers of admission until May 1. Yet, three pathways to opportunity, all of which are open to any and all potential applicants, were deemed insufficient to those making executive level decisions at Wake Forest. Why?

From Wake’s perspective, offering Exclusive Early Action is a way to get “first dibs” on in-demand first-generation students and avoid having to directly compare a cohort of such applicants to applicants with the perceived advantages associated with being born to one or two parents with degrees from four-year colleges.

A critical paragraph of the June Supreme Court majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, included this line:

“…universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today…'[W]hat cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly. The Constitution deals with substance, not shadows,’ and the prohibition against racial discrimination is ‘levelled at the thing, not the name.’ Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wall. 277, 325 (1867).”

US Census data from 2022 indicate that the percentage of adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more was 41.8% for the non-Hispanic White population, 27.6% for the Black population, 59.3% for the Asian population, and 20.9% for the Hispanic population. Thus, being a first-generation college student is a real, though imperfect, proxy for race.

Presumably, the upshot for students of applying EEA to Wake will not be learning of their decisions early, as many, though not all, first-generation students will want to wait to compare all of their offers of admission and financial aid. Rather, the upshot for students is that it is likely that the acceptance rate for EEA applicants will be higher than the acceptance rate for those applying in the competitive Regular Decision cycle, as most colleges that offer Early Action and/or Early Decision have higher acceptance rates for such options relative to their Regular Decision options.

Thus, for someone who really wants to go to Wake Forest but who doesn’t want to commit to attending Wake Forest until he or she receives all of his or her admissions and aid decisions, Wake’s new EEA option seems like a great chance to keep one’s options open and increase one’s chances of admission to Wake – and potentially elsewhere since it allows such students to apply to an Early Decision college or two and unlimited traditional Early Action (EA) colleges concurrently – all in one fell swoop. Of course, a lot of high school seniors would like to get in on this. But only some will be allowed to: those considered by Wake Forest to be first-generation college students.

Which brings us to who exactly Wake Forest considers a “first-generation college student.” Colleges have not agreed upon a standard definition of the term, especially since two parents of a child may have very different backgrounds and not all children live with or have relationships with both parents.

Wake, in a statement announcing the new admissions option, and on its admissions site, defines first-generation as follows:

“First-generation students are those whose parents did not graduate from a four-year accredited college or university. First generation can also include the children of parents who earned a degree in another country, immigrated to the United States, and are underemployed in the U.S. Whether domestic or international, if the student resides with and receives support from only one parent, the ‘first generation’ classification is based on that parent’s education.”

Eric Maguire, Wake Forest’s Vice-President for Enrollment Management, in response to an inquiry from the author of this article, further clarified that, “an international student can be considered first generation if their parents did not graduate from an accredited university or if they meet all three of the following criteria: earned a degree in another country, immigrated to the United States, and are underemployed. We would determine ‘underemployment’ based on the accepted definition as found in Merriam-Webster: ‘having less than full-time, regular, or adequate employment.'”

In 2007, right before Wake Forest became ACT- and SAT-optional in its admissions process, first-year student enrollment at Wake was 84% White, 6% Asian, 6% Black, 3% Hispanic, and 1% Native American. In Fall 2022, first-year student enrollment at Wake was approximately 63% White, 11% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 7% two or more races, 6% Black, 2% unknown, and less than 1% Native American. Only time will tell if the latest adjustments to Wake Forest’s first-year admissions process alters the racial or ethnic composition of its future entering classes or inspires other institutions to offer their own versions of EEA.

Wake Forest’s new supplemental essay prompt builds on a trend and guest stars Maya Angelou

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Since The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in June 2023 that colleges can no longer admit students on the on the basis of race, a number of selective colleges have added new essay prompts to their 2023-2024 first-year applications to inspire applicants to write about how their backgrounds – inclusive of race – have and/or will continue to inform their behaviors, perspectives, and priorities.

What is not yet clear is how such essays will be assessed by colleges’ application review committees.

If keeping within the letter and spirit of The Supreme Court majority opinion, application review committees will not give applicants’ essays a higher or lower number of points based on the background or backgrounds applicants choose to write about in their essays.

Yet, if an essay demonstrates certain personal attributes such as grit, perseverance, fortitude, superficiality, immaturity, or poor writing skills – all of which can be demonstrated by applicants of all backgrounds – such attributes can be cause to give applicants’ essays a higher or lower number of points.

The key, of course, will be for review committees not to assign certain attributes on the basis of race, but on the basis of reality, as in what the details included in the application demonstrate about the real character and disposition of an individual applicant. Any such attribute considered can’t simply be a proxy for race.

Enter Wake Forest University, which introduced test-optional admissions into its application process fifteen years ago. At the time, Martha Allman, then director of admissions at Wake Forest, said, “By making the SAT and ACT optional, we hope to broaden the applicant pool and increase access at Wake Forest for groups of students who are currently underrepresented at selective universities.”

On June 29, 2023 the day when The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that race can’t be a factor in admissions decisions, Wake Forest University’s President Susan R. Wente wrote, “We write to affirm that Wake Forest University will not waver in its commitment to creating and sustaining inclusive, diverse learning communities; our mission and values have not and will not change. We will continue to recruit and enroll academically qualified students of diverse backgrounds who seek an intellectual home at Wake Forest where they belong and thrive, and in compliance with the Court’s ruling.”

Just a couple weeks later, Wake revealed its 2023-2024 supplemental short response/essay prompts for first-year applicants, which includes a brand new prompt that guest stars famed American poet Maya Angelou:

1. Why have you decided to apply to Wake Forest? Share with us anything that has made you interested in our institution. (limit 150 words)

2. List five books you’ve read that have intrigued you.

3. Tell us what piques your intellectual curiosity or has helped you understand the world’s complexity. This can include a work you’ve read, a project you’ve completed for a class, and even co-curricular activities in which you have been involved. (limit 150 words)

4. Dr. Maya Angelou, renowned author, poet, civil-rights activist, and former Wake Forest University Reynolds Professor of American Studies, inspired others to celebrate their identities and to honor each person’s dignity. Choose one of Dr. Angelou’s powerful quotes. How does this quote relate to your lived experience or reflect how you plan to contribute to the Wake Forest community? (brand new prompt; limit 300 words)

5. Give us your Top Ten List. (The choice of theme is yours.) (limit 100 characters per line)

Of particular note is the new essay prompt built around a Maya Angelou quote that invites students to explain how their identity or lived experience will help them contribute to the Wake Forest community.

A relatively straight-forward approach many students may take when responding to this prompt will be for them to point to how their expression of their race, religion, or some other identity, experience, or value system will add new dimension or vitality to Wake’s campus; yet, by doing so, this has the potential (in cases where race is the focus of students’ responses) to come perilously close to students making an argument for Wake to do something Wake as an institution can no longer legally do – namely to admit someone on the basis of race.

In response to this prompt, I would encourage students write about attributes they’ve demonstrated that are not race-based, such as persistence, patience, and positivity so that they can be judged on these non-race dependent metrics. This doesn’t mean they can’t focus on these metrics or attributes in the context of discussing their race; race simply shouldn’t be the attribute at the center of students’ responses.

I wish Wake Forest admissions officers good luck with adhering to the law and internal directives when assessing these essay responses as part of their holistic review process, and I hope Wake reveals to the public how responses to this essay prompt will be assessed.

In related news, last week the university has announced a new exclusive Early Action admissions option “specifically for first-generation students to provide an additional pathway of opportunity.” To learn more click here.

Lafayette College Elevates Equity Over Extracurricular Achievements

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Lafayette College, a small private college in Easton, Pennsylvania with a reputation for solid undergraduate engineering and liberal arts programs, used the launch of the 2023-2024 Common Application as an occasion to get media attention for its decision – taken in partnership with the Common App itself – to review the common portion of the Common App in a unique way for those high school students applying to join Lafayette’s Class of 2028.

In an effort “to create a more equitable admissions process,” Lafayette President Nicole Hurd declared that her college, “will now only consider up to six activities rather than the 10 available through the application form.”

The common portion of the Common App, when initially conceived and launched, and for years thereafter, was common (in this context, meaning “the same” or “equal”) for all colleges that accepted it. Yet, in an equity-prioritizing environment, even standard English definitions (SAT and ACT analogy questions were earlier victims of the same ideology) are fair game for reconsideration. What, after all, does SAT stand for anymore? It once stood for “Standardized Aptitude Test.” Now it stands for literally nothing other than “SAT.” The powers that be at the Common App must have determined that the word “common” needed a rebrand. Maybe the word “common” was just exhausted from years of emotional labor trying to be something that it really wasn’t?

The clues, after all, where there. Several years ago certain colleges started opting out of reading the Common App’s formerly required essay. This change allowed Common App to bring on big additional members that were financially and strategically beneficial to have on board. Though the common portion of the Common App was showing cracks, at least when certain Common App colleges don’t require or review the essay with students’ overall applications, the writing page of the application explicitly names these colleges at the top of the section where students copy and paste or type in the essay if such colleges have been added to students’ Common App.

President Hurd, on her college’s extracurricular activities decision, went on to add, “We want to let students shine and not send them a message that holds them back or creates unneeded anxiety…The current application, which allows for up to 10 activities, can suggest to our students and families that quantity matters more than quality, that getting into college is about filling in blanks. Suggesting that students should pursue 10 activities while in high school and producing a great academic record does not make good sense to us. We want to make it clear to students that what matters to us are the activities and passions in which they are deeply invested.”

Setting aside the implication that a high school senior is unable to have been deeply invested in more than six activities from the summer before ninth grade through the beginning of twelfth grade, nobody completing the Common App’s activities page in recent years has been under the impression that anyone at the Common App or the majority of colleges that accept the Common App cares much about the actual quantity or quality of applicants’ extracurricular activities.

If the Common App did care about such matters, it would give applicants more space within the activities page of the Common App to list all of their activities (beyond ten for those who have more) and elaborate on the nature of their unique responsibilities or achievements within each individual activity entry. Yet, the Common App activities page limits applicants to a paltry 300 characters (not words, but characters) to describe each of their up to ten activities.

A significant number of students engage in more than ten extracurricular activities during the course of their years in high school. Many others could write far more than 300 characters about their various responsibilities, roles, accomplishments, and achievements within however many activities they choose to report in the Common App. Years ago, the Common App did allow students to upload a full resume to the common portion of the application, but since that option was eliminated only a small minority of colleges have continued to invite students to upload full resumes to their Common App supplements. Lafayette was once included in that small group of colleges.

Jenny Rickard, President and CEO of Common App, hailed the decision by Lafayette: “While the ‘activities’ section of the Common App is a great place for students to show colleges how they contribute to their families, school, and community, the focus should always be on the substance of the activities rather than the number…Common App data show that there are stark and substantial differences in the total number of activities applicants report across nearly every measure of race and income level.”

The Common App does allow all applicants to utilize an additional information section within the Common App’s writing page – a page best known for also being the location into which students copy and paste or type their essays in the personal essay section – to share additional details about whatever they like in up to 650 words. Most applicants do not take advantage of this opportunity and share nothing in this often-overlook field of the application.

Yet, as of August 4, 2023, nowhere on the current Common App or Lafayette supplement is there any mention that Lafayette will only be considering the first six activities listed on the activities page of the Common App. In fact, Lafayette College still has instructions on its supplement to the Common App that read as follows:

Share More: If you wish to provide details about your identity, background, experiences, and/or qualifications not reflected already in your application, please use the Additional Information short response option in the Writing portion of the Common Application.

The Common App went live for first-year applicants on August 1. Over 1.2 million first-year applicants used the Common App to apply to college last admissions cycle. This included a 31 percent increase by what the Common App refers to as underrepresented minority students and a 36 increase by what the Common App refers to as first-generation applicants over the 2019-2020 admissions cycle. Lafayette accepts applications for Early Decision (11/15/23), Regular (1/15/24), and Early Decision II (2/1/24) deadlines. The latest public statistics from the college’s website indicate that 11% of incoming students were first-generation college students, 25% were domestic students of color, and 8% were international in fall of 2022.

In promoting the college’s extracurricular activity-free (beyond six) decision on the news section of the college’s website but not on the application to the college itself, Forrest Stuart, Lafayette’s Vice President for Enrollment Management, added, “We believe that access and opportunity are about more than a strong financial aid and scholarship program…When we evaluate a student’s readiness for Lafayette, the depth of activities is more helpful than the raw number. For example, some students have ample opportunities to be involved in a number of activities. This is great. However, more and more students find their ability to spread themselves across a number of activities to be limited due to family, economic, and other obligations. As a college dedicated to helping students find affirmation and agency through this stressful application process, we are excited for students to share with us what matters most to them.”

Over twenty-four hours before the publication of this article, an email was sent by the author of this article to Stuart and his colleague, Lafayette Dean of Admission, Krista Evans, in search of responses to specific follow up questions. So far, that email remains unacknowledged. Should responses be forthcoming after publication of this article, they will be added here.

Taken to its logical conclusion, Lafayette’s decision to disregard students’ extracurricular achievements beyond the first six mentioned in the activities section of the Common App, if actually implemented, will certainly bolster the college’s “commitment to making college more accessible and the process more inclusive for students” if one interprets such a statement to mean a commitment to lowering the ceiling of how impressive certain applicants can appear while simultaneously suspending the concepts of evaluating holistically individual applicants and being able to accurately compare applicants to each other. Nothing was stopping Lafayette in previous years from putting a student’s stated extracurricular output into the overall context of what opportunities the student may or may not have had at his or her disposal, but apparently now that task should not fall on Lafayette’s admissions officers as it relates to extracurricular activities. Instead, simply no student will be allowed to share too much.

In the meantime, many high school seniors around the world are drafting their college applications now. It would be wonderful if Lafayette College became more proactive about communicating its new application parameters to prospective applicants who are currently filling out the Common App so these prospective applicants would be able to make informed choices about how best to proceed with their applications.

Rice University adds new 500-word required essay to its application

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Rice University in Houston, Texas has decided to add a new essay requirement to its first-year application that explicitly mentions race just weeks after The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that colleges can no longer admit students on the on the basis of race.

Previously, Rice only had two 150-word short answer response requirements on its supplement to the Common Application. Now, it also gives students a choice between responding to one of two new prompts in up to 500 words.

2023-2024 Rice Supplemental Essay Prompts

1. Please explain why you wish to study in the academic areas you selected above.

2. Based upon your exploration of Rice University, what elements of the Rice experience appeal to you? Required (150 words max)

3. Please respond to one of the following prompts to explore how you will contribute to the Rice community:

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The two prompt options from which first-year applicants have to choose are interestingly phrased. The first requires the respondent to show himself or herself sharing traditions, experiences, or perspectives with fellow future Rice students, while the second only requires that respondents share perspectives shaped by their background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity that inspires them to join a future community of change agents at Rice. The reason this distinction is important is that it could be read as meaning Rice will be assessing respondents to the first option based on what they choose to share with future fellow students while assessing respondents to the second option based only on their choice of

“At the same time, as all parties agree, 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. See, e.g., 4 App. in No. 21–707, at 1725–1726, 1741; Tr. of Oral Arg. in No. 20–1199, at 10. But, despite the dissent’s assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today. (A dissenting opinion is generally not the best source of legal advice on how to comply with the majority opinion.) “[W]hat cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly. The Constitution deals with substance, not shadows,” and the prohibition against racial discrimination is “levelled at the thing, not the name.” Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wall. 277, 325 (1867). A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination. Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivated him or her to assume a leadership role or attain a particular goal must be tied to that student’s unique ability to contribute to the university. In other words, the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race. Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they 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.”

I wish students good luck as they draft their responses, and I also wish Rice admissions officers good luck with adhering to the law, internal directives, and their consciences when assessing these essay responses as part of their holistic review process.

As the vast majority of high school seniors applying to Rice do so through the Common Application, most Rice applicants will also need to respond – and respond well – to one of the Common App’s main essay prompts in order to be considered for admission at Rice.

WashU unveils new supplemental essay prompts for 2023-2024 admissions cycle

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Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) has released new supplemental essay prompt options for students applying during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.

In addition being required to respond to the first prompt, which is a returns from last year, all first-year applicants to WashU will now have the opportunity to respond in 250 words or fewer to one of the additional three optional prompts.

2023-2024 WashU Supplemental Prompts

REQUIRED: 1. Please tell us what you are interested in studying at college and why. Undecided about your academic interest(s)? Don’t worry—tell us what excites you about the academic division you selected. Remember that all of our first-year students enter officially “undeclared” and work closely with their team of academic advisors to discover their academic passions. You can explore all of our majors and programs on our website. (200 words max)

OPTIONAL: 2. WashU is a place that values diversity of perspectives. We believe those perspectives come from a variety of experiences and identities. Respond to one of the following prompts to help us understand “Who are you?”: Optional (250 words max)

Option 1: Discuss a fresh perspective or opinion you brought to a collaborative setting or project.

Option 2: Describe a community you are a part of and your place within it.

Option 3: Tell us how your identity has impacted the way you view or interact with your community.

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This is the first time that WashU has asked applicants about their identity in an essay prompt, which is ironic considering The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in June that colleges can no longer admit students on the on the basis of race.

WashU also gives students the chance to upload a short video on the WashU Pathway portal after they submit their application, and within its supplemental instructions WashU notes, “If you prefer, you may focus your optional 90-second video submitted through the WashU Pathway on addressing one of these three questions.” Students who choose to submit a written response to one of the optional prompts may still opt in to sharing an optional video.

As most high school seniors applying to WashU do so through the Common Application, most WashU applicants will also need to respond – and respond well – to one of the Common App’s main essay prompts in order to be considered for admission at WashU.

Good luck to all those students applying to join Washington University in St. Louis’ Class of 2028. Start drafting engines!