How To Write the New Supplemental Essay Prompts Post-Affirmative Action

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that affirmative action may no longer be utilized for college admissions, it has been three weeks. According to the ruling, students can still discuss their race in an essay as long as it is "concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability."

Some universities have taken further steps to understand a student's background in the little time since the decision was made by establishing a supplemental essay prompt that specifically addresses this. For the majority of candidates this year, University of Virginia just requires one extra essay. It's a fresh one that is unmistakably in response to the SCOTUS decision:

What about your upbringing, viewpoint, or experiences will you or the people around you at UVA find to be a source of strength?

Wake Forest University has added a new supplemental essay question that gives students room to describe their origins. The suggestion from Wake Forest uses the recently trendy term "lived experience" as a strategy to avoid using the word "race," Forest's challenge includes the recently trendy phrase "lived experience," which also provides students the freedom to write about a variety of topics besides race:

Pick one of Dr. Angelou's wise sayings. How does this quote apply to your personal circumstances, or describe the way you hope to make a contribution to the Wake Forest community?

Students who want to write about their history have a choice at other universities like Sarah Lawrence College. This year's Sarah Lawrence supplement offers three suggestions, one of which clearly alludes to the SCOTUS ruling:

Using instances from your life, a trait of your character, and/or a special talent you possess, explain how you think the Court's ruling may affect your plans to pursue a college education.

The use of extra essays as a "catch all" method by colleges to capture diversity is evident. Colleges want to ensure they can notice race and other types of diversity in the application if they can't see the race boxes. But for students, understanding what to do, where to include their backgrounds, and how to approach the main college essay and supplemental essays can be very perplexing.

Here's how to approach essays if you want to highlight your color, ethnicity, background, or other unique characteristic in your college application, given how much universities are looking at a student's background.

1. The following advice is for a student who discusses race (or another aspect of diversity) in the primary college essay:

If a college requires an additional essay about background, students should pick a different element of their lives to avoid "hammering" repetitive themes. In fact, this is an opportunity to exhibit variety and originality. Diversity is about more than simply race. It may have to do with intellectual variety, geography, physical differences, social background, religion, one's family, and other factors. Even the kind of roof someone has over their head or the area they live in can reveal a lot about a student. The student might provide even more details about themselves to their application by writing the additional essay about something other than their race.

2. For a student who is underrepresented (geographically, socioeconomically, racially, etc.) and who does not discuss their history in the primary college essay:

In one of these additional essays, it will be crucial for the student to discuss their underrepresented background. This might be the only way a college ever learns about a student's particular background. Additionally, it will be crucial for the applicant to make reference to their background elsewhere in the application if at all possible since not all universities will require a supplemental essay or one that discusses their experience. For instance, a student from a Hispanic background who wins the College Board's National Hispanic Recognition award should mention this in the "Honors" part of their application.

3. Advice for a student in the majority who believes they have nothing to say in their extra essay about their history or real-life experiences:

Every single student has a special story about their upbringing to offer. Before claiming they have nothing to write about, the student must be prepared to spend some time reflecting. It might be their parents' union, a disabled sibling, their hometown, their place of education, the language of their ancestors they so desperately wish to learn, their height, their mannerisms, their sense of humor, their silence, or even their voice. This is a time for students to demonstrate to institutions and to themselves that they are more than just their resumes.

Colleges may no longer measure diversity by using racial boxes. However, the SCOTUS decision gives students and even schools a lot of leeway in how they define diversity. It is obvious that diversity is still a major focus in college admissions as institutions continue to reveal their additional essay prompts for the upcoming year. However, different people interpret diversity in various ways. It will be up to students to highlight any unique qualities in their applications so that colleges will do the same.