college application essay on racism

SCOTUS Says You Can Discuss Race in Your College Essay. Should You?

The us supreme court banned colleges’ affirmative action admission practices, raising a question about students writing about race in their college essay.

Although the Supreme Court says college application essays may discuss race and disadvantage, BU experts say inauthentic or traumatic recollections won’t cut it. Photo by Delmaine Donson/iStock

Should You Discuss Race in Your College Essay?

“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.” — Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

“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. …Universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”—Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

Confused? So are many in higher education. When the United States Supreme Court sacked affirmative action racial preferences in June, Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion, while spotlighting applicants’ personal essays, also put vague guardrails around their use. And anyway, not every young person who has suffered racial discrimination wants to revisit it in their essay, that critical part of applying to college where students tell their story in their voice. 

After the SCOTUS decision, the advice from Boston University admissions and college guidance experts is this: your story must always be authentic. It can be about discrimination or other challenges met and dealt with, but it need not be. And it shouldn’t be , if writing about it means revisiting traumatic experiences.

“The essay for us is just going to continue to be as important as it always was,” notwithstanding the new legal landscape, says Kelly Walter (Wheelock’81), BU dean of admissions and associate vice president for enrollment. She has discussed the ruling with the University’s legal office, she says, and her office has tweaked BU’s two essay question options applicants must choose from. (The University also asks potential future Terriers to complete the Common Application for college, which has its own essay requirement.) The tweaks were partly in response to the court ruling, Walter says, but also to ensure that the questions conveyed to students “what BU stood for, and that we value diversity. We thought it was very important to put that out there front and center, and for them to be able to specifically respond to our commitment, our values, as it relates to one of these two essay questions.” 

Those questions are:

Reflect on a social or community issue that deeply resonates with you. Why is it important to you, and how have you been involved in addressing or raising awareness about it? What about being a student at BU most excites you? How do you hope to contribute to our campus community?

While the chief justice exhorted students to share discrimination episodes in answering such questions, recent alum and current student Erika Decklar (Sargent’22, SPH’24) says that may not be comfortable for some. She is an advisor with BU Admissions College Advising Corps (CAC-BU) , which gives college application counseling to low-income and other marginalized high schoolers.

“In my experience,” Decklar says, “students from marginalized backgrounds gravitate towards writing college essays on traumatic experiences, whether they are comfortable sharing these experiences with admissions counselors or not. We have always advised and encouraged students to write about a topic that highlights their strengths, personalities, and passions—whether it is a ‘resiliency’ essay or an essay about their culture, values, or a unique passion.”

After the SCOTUS ruling, Decklar says, her advice to students has not changed. “We should continue motivating students to write about a passion, something that makes them unique, but not coach them to write about their traumatic experiences.” 

Katie Hill, who directs CAC-BU, says applicants sharing in their essays what makes them special “does not require them revisiting their pain. If students so choose, we can help them write about their families and cultures, what is beautiful and makes them proud to be” of that culture.

Students from marginalized backgrounds gravitate towards writing college essays on traumatic experiences, whether they are comfortable sharing these experiences with admissions counselors or not. Erika Deklar (Sargent’22, SPH’24)

But what BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) students do not need, Hill says, is to hear from their advisors that in order to get into college, they need to open themselves up beyond their comfortable boundaries.

Walter agrees that an applicant’s story need not be an unrelenting nightmare. It’s true that some of them “are sharing things about their personal lives that I’m not sure I would have seen 20 years ago,” she says. “Students are certainly talking about their sexual identity in their essays. And some will say to us, ‘I’m telling you this [about my identity], and my parents don’t know yet.’” 

But she can reel off the opening lines from three of her favorite essays over the years that were hardly gloomy. One began, Geeks come in many varieties. “We laughed. It makes you want to keep reading,” she says. Then there was the woman who started, Life is short, and so am I.  

The third: By day, Louis is my trusty companion; by night, my partner in crime. “Doesn’t that make you want to read more and find out who or what Louis is?” Walter asks. (He was the applicant’s first car, a metaphor for this woman’s passion for the independence it conveyed, preparing her for the next step of going to BU, where she indeed matriculated.)

The essay is so important because it’s a given that applicants to BU can manage the academics here. “We have 80,000 students applying for admission to Boston University [annually],” Walter says, “and I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of them can do the work academically. We’re also shaping and building a class.

“For some, it may be leadership. For some, it may be their cultural background. For others, it might be writing for the Daily Free Press. We really want to think about a wide variety of students in our first-year class.” The essay fills in blanks about applicants for admission, along with teacher and counselor recommendations, their high school activities, and their internships or jobs. 

That’s not to say there aren’t lethal don’ts to avoid, most of them emphasizing the necessity of having a proofreader.

“We often get references to ‘Boston College,’” says Patrice Oppliger , a College of Communication assistant professor of communication, who solicits faculty reviews of applicants to COM’s mass communication, advertising, and public relations master’s program before making a decision.

And need we say, do your own work? Walter recalls an essay from a couple of years back where the applicant discussed life in Warren Towers. “And I was like, wait, you couldn’t have lived in Warren Towers, you’re not here yet. And it became very clear that the parent, who was an alum—I think in an effort to help—was telling her story. And somehow no one [in that family] caught that.”

So writing about dealing with discrimination, race-based or otherwise, is fine if it’s not traumatic for you to revisit— and if it’s authentic. Authenticity also includes avoiding over-reliance on artificial intelligence in crafting your essay. According to Admissions’ AI statement ,

If you opt to use these tools at any point while writing your essays, they should only be used to support your original ideas rather than to write your essays in their entirety. As potential future Terriers, we expect all applicants to adhere to the same standards of academic honesty and integrity as our current students. When representing the words or ideas of another in their original work, students should properly credit the source.

“We want to think about not just who will thrive academically at BU,” Walter says, “but also who will enrich the University community and make diverse contributions.”

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How to Talk About Race on College Applications, According to Admissions Experts

R afael Figueroa, dean of college guidance at Albuquerque Academy, was in the middle of tutoring Native American and Native Hawaiian students on how to write college application essays when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious college admissions processes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional .

Earlier in the week, he told the students that they shouldn’t feel like they need to talk about their ethnicity in their essays. But after the June 29 Supreme Court ruling , he backtracked. “If I told you that you didn’t have to write about your native or cultural identity, you need to get ready to do another supplemental essay” on it or prepare a story that can fit into short answer questions, he says he told them.

For high school seniors of color applying to colleges in the coming years, the essay and short answer sections will take on newfound importance. Chief Justice John Roberts suggested as much when he wrote in his majority opinion, “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.” That “discussion” is usually in an essay, and many colleges have additional short-answer questions that allow students to expand more on their background and where they grew up.

“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,” says Timothy Fields, senior associate dean of undergraduate admission at Emory University.

Now, college admissions officers are trying to figure out how to advise high schoolers on their application materials to give them the best chance to showcase their background under the new rules, which will no longer allow colleges or universities to use race as an explicit factor in admissions decisions .

Shereem Herndon-Brown, who co-wrote The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions with Fields, says students of color can convey their racial and ethnic backgrounds by writing about their families and their upbringing. “I’ve worked with students for years who have written amazing essays about how they spend Yom Kippur with their family, which clearly signals to a college that they are Jewish—how they listened to the conversations from their grandfather about escaping parts of Europe… Their international or immigrant story comes through whether it’s from the Holocaust or Croatia or the Ukraine. These are stories that kind of smack colleges in the face about culture.”

“Right now, we’re asking Black and brown kids to smack colleges in the face about being Black and brown,” he continues. “And, admittedly, I am mixed about the necessity to do it. But I think the only way to do it is through writing.”

Read More: The ‘Infamous 96’ Know Firsthand What Happens When Affirmative Action Is Banned

Students of color who are involved in extracurriculars that are related to diversity efforts should talk about those prominently in their college essays, other experts say. Maude Bond, director of college counseling at Cate School in Santa Barbara County, California, cites one recent applicant she counseled who wrote her college essay about an internship with an anti-racism group and how it helped her highlight the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islanders in the area.

Bond also says there are plenty of ways for people of color to emphasize their resilience and describe the character traits they learned from overcoming adversity: “Living in a society where you’re navigating racism every day makes you very compassionate.” she says. “It gives you a different sense of empathy and understanding. Not having the same resources as people that you grow up with makes you more creative and innovative.” These, she argues, are characteristics students should highlight in their personal essays.

Adam Nguyen, a former Columbia University admissions officer who now counsels college applicants via his firm Ivy Link, will also encourage students of color to ask their teachers and college guidance counselors to hint at their race or ethnicity in their recommendation letters. “That’s where they could talk about your racial background,” Nguyen says. “Just because you can’t see what’s written doesn’t mean you can’t influence how or what is said about you.”

Yet as the essay portions of college applications gain more importance, the process of reading applications will take a lot longer, raising the question of whether college admissions offices have enough staffers to get through the applications. “There are not enough admission officers in the industry to read that way,” says Michael Pina, director of admission at the University of Richmond.

That could make it even more difficult for students to get the individual attention required to gain acceptance to the most elite colleges. Multiple college admissions experts say college-bound students will need to apply to a broader range of schools. “You should still apply to those 1% of colleges…but you should think about the places that are producing high-quality graduates that are less selective,” says Pina.

One thing more Black students should consider, Fields argues, is applying to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). (In fact, Fields, a graduate of Morehouse College, claims that may now be “necessary” for some students.) “There’s something to be said, for a Black person to be in a majority environment someplace that they are celebrated, not tolerated,” Fields says. “There’s something to be said about being in an environment where you don’t have to justify why you’re here.”

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Home — Application Essay — Scholarship — Racism and Reform: College Admission Essay Sample

Racism and Reform: College Admission Essay Sample

• University: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

About this sample

Words: 258 |

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 258 | Pages: 1 | 2 min read

My hometown has been recently dubbed "The most segregated city in America." This past July, Baton Rouge made headlines after white policeman killed a black man. Two weeks later, an ambush on policemen left three officers dead, with the shooter claiming his "necessary evil" was aimed at reforming America's police force. The city was in an uproar; after years of the city sweeping racial tension under the rug, the issue of racism in Baton Rouge was finally emerging into the open. But even the progressive efforts were segregated. White people stayed on their side of town and hoped that acknowledgement of the issue was sufficient, while black people protested and cried out for justice.

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I want my city to change so that will cross the tracks, come together, and discuss ways to overcome the deep rooted racism. We need real reform and concrete action to bridge the gap between the failing public school system and the predominately white private schools, between the impoverished neighborhoods and the middle class suburbs, between the peaceful Black Lives Matter protester and the White policeman who sees her as a potential threat. I wish it didn't take the deaths of four people for my neighbors to realize that racism in my city is real, but acknowledging the issue is the first step. I hope that my city continues onward in the discussion of race and prejudice, and I hope that everyone here realizes that the color of your skin does not determine the state of your soul.

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Students shouldn’t shy away from talking about race in college essays, Biden officials say

Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S.

High school students shouldn’t shy away from talking about their race or ethnicity in college application essays, according to new guidance issued Monday by the Biden administration.

Similarly, school counselors, mentors, and employers should feel free to mention a student’s race in a college recommendation letter, the guidance states.

“The Supreme Court’s opinion recognized what we know to be true: That race can be relevant to a person’s life or lived experience and may impact one’s development, motivations, academic interests, or personal or professional aspirations,” Vanita Gupta, a top-ranking Justice Department official, told reporters on Monday. “That impact can still be considered in university admissions.”

The guidance package may offer some clarity as many high schoolers and school staff are trying to make sense of how the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down race-based affirmative action affects what they should tell colleges about themselves and whether it’s advantageous — or risky — to talk about race in their applications. 

In June, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion that college admissions officers could look at how race had affected an applicant’s life “through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

But some high school counselors have expressed concern that the Supreme Court’s decision could be confusing for students of color and lead some to avoid talking about their personal identities. 

The new guidance suggests, consistent with the court’s decision, that colleges may consider a student’s individual experience of race or racism, even though they cannot give advantages to students solely because of their race. 

The guidance is not legally binding, and what is and isn’t allowed likely will continue to be decided by courts.

Still, the guidance may shape how colleges and students respond to the ruling.

According to the guidance, admissions officers can consider how a student’s experience with racial discrimination or the racial composition of their neighborhood or school affected them and how that may influence what they’d contribute to the college.

For example, one student could write in an essay “about what it means to him to be the first Black violinist in his city’s youth orchestra.” Another student could detail how she overcame “prejudice when she transferred to a rural high school where she was the only student of South Asian descent.” A third applicant might discuss “how learning to cook traditional Hmong dishes from her grandmother sparked her passion for food and nurtured her sense of self.”

And a school counselor could write in their recommendation about “how an applicant conquered her feelings of isolation as a Latina student at an overwhelmingly white high school to join the debate team.”

“Students should feel comfortable presenting their whole selves when applying to college, without fear of stereotyping, bias, or discrimination,” two top Biden administration officials wrote in a letter . 

Colleges can still tailor recruitment to reach students of color

Though the Supreme Court’s ruling is about college admissions policies, some states and colleges have interpreted the decision to apply to financial aid . Missouri’s attorney general, for example, said that colleges cannot award scholarships that consider a student’s race or ethnicity, leading the state’s flagship university to eliminate a prestigious diversity award.

That left some education equity advocates worried that officials would point to the Supreme Court ruling to limit a slew of other efforts aimed at increasing racial diversity on college campuses.

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The Biden administration’s guidance is silent on scholarships — a top education department official said that was because the Supreme Court decision didn’t address scholarships — but it explicitly states that colleges don’t have to “ignore race” when they are identifying prospective students through recruitment efforts.

Colleges can target their outreach to schools and districts that predominantly serve students of color, the guidance states. They can also recruit from high schools that historically haven’t had many students apply to the college — which could be a strategy for recruiting students of color without considering race directly. 

Similarly, colleges and universities can also continue to run mentorship or pipeline programs meant to help prepare students from certain schools to attend that college. 

That could look like a summer enrichment camp designed for students who attend public high schools near the college. Colleges are also allowed to set aside slots for students who participate in those pipeline programs, as long as it was open to a broad group of kids — such as all juniors at a certain high school.

“Although this decision changes the landscape for admissions in higher education,” Gupta said, “it should not be used as an excuse to turn away from longstanding efforts to make those institutions more inclusive.”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at [email protected].

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Deputy Chancellor Dan Weisberg made the comments after a Brooklyn superintendent suggested his district, which includes affluent neighborhoods, would have flexibility with the curriculum mandate.

Access & Affordability

Applicants write about race in their college essays despite end of race-conscious admissions.

When the Supreme Court ruled this summer that race-conscious admissions practices are unconstitutional, Chief Justice John G. Roberts clarified that colleges were not, however, forbidden from considering an applicant’s discussion of race, “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.”

Whereas an applicant’s race/ethnicity—typically available through students’ responses to demographic questionnaires—may no longer be provided to college admissions officers, that information may still be addressed in other application materials, including students’ activities, teacher recommendations, or essays. With that caveat in mind, some school counselors and institutions are encouraging applicants to express that identity and its influence in their college essays, The Washington Post reports.

Related : The end of race-conscious admissions leaves more questions than answers >

Writing about race within the law

To support their pursuit of a diverse student body, some colleges are providing essay prompts that call on students to talk about their identities, how they might add to the diversity of college campuses, and the role of difference and diversity in their lives.

Lee Coffin, Dartmouth’s dean of admissions and financial aid, told the Post that this does not mean that colleges and universities will suddenly place more weight on applicant essays. Rather, “the door remains open to holistic review, and to the storytelling of identity when it’s part of a student’s lived experience,” he said.

“As a practical matter, one can’t imagine an alternative in which colleges were somehow required to black out any discussion of race,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, a non-resident scholar at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, according to the Post . However, he continued, to avoid further litigation by groups that oppose affirmative action, it will be important for colleges to consider racial discrimination as they would other experiences of hardship, including poverty.

Related : End of affirmative action not an excuse to end diversity efforts, Biden  Administration says >

Some student counselors, meanwhile, say they are advising applicants to write about race and ethnicity only if it is an authentic part of their identities and demonstrates their unique qualities. Scott Albert Johnson, a college admission counselor in Jackson, Mississippi, tells the Post , “I would never advise a student to discuss race or any other aspect of their experience in a way that feels inauthentic or is designed to outsmart the process.”

One piece of a much bigger puzzle

Colleges also are looking well beyond application essays in their efforts to sustain and grow campus diversity. In October, the Department of Education released a report calling on states, education advocates, and postsecondary institutions to consider a series of actions —such as increasing financial aid for low-income students and recruiting applicants from historically underserved communities—that would build diverse college student populations.

“Colleges and universities may have lost a vital tool for creating vibrant, diverse campus communities, but this report makes clear that they need not—and must not—lose their commitment to equal opportunity and student body diversity,” Miguel Cardona, United States Secretary of Education, said in the report. “Our country’s future depends on it.”

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Early application numbers show increases, especially among students from underrepresented backgrounds.

A new report on the state of first-year college applications as of Nov. 1 shows a 41% increase in applicants since 2019-20, growth driven in part by a surge in the number of underrepresented minority and low-income students, as well as applicants who would enroll as first-generation college students.

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Black Student Racialization in College Admissions Essays

Description of research project:   

This project examines how Black students’ narrative strategies vary by institutional type, gender, and pre-college experiences or how the relationships with—and the predisposition of—key admissions personnel shape the way that students describe their identities in college admissions essays. Specifically, this work investigates how Black undergraduate students enrolled at a historically and predominantly white institution (HPWI) and a historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) make sense of expectations to disclose trauma in admissions essays, and the sense-making of the admissions officers who encounter them. This project leverages insights from 57 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 37, Black undergraduate students and 20 admissions officers at private, four-year universities across the United States. Data for this project also include qualitative textual analysis of undergraduate participants’ personal statements. 

Description of work assignment:

Research assistants will develop their own independent research skills by contributing to the project’s literature review. Responsibilities may include identifying and summarizing literature on college admission, race and racialization, trauma narratives, and Black racial identity; preliminary coding of interview transcripts using an established codebook; and weekly meetings with supervising graduate student. This process will provide students with practice in locating and analyzing critical insights in data to contribute to a broader topic and project. All work will be conducted remotely.  

Supervising Faculty Member:  Elizabeth Armstrong

Graduate Student:  Aya Waller-Bey

Contact information:  [email protected]

Average hours of work per week:  9-12 hours a week

Range of credit hours students can earn:  3 credit hours

Number of positions available: 2 

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Tips for the Lehigh Essay on Anti-Racism

Written by Sara Calvert-Kubrom on October 20th, 2020

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• Tell us how you have taken steps to educate others and/or yourself on anti-racism?
• What’s one way you think your life would have been different had you been born another race?
• What would you want to be different in your own country or community to respond to issues of inequality, inequity, or injustice?

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Racism in schools – Admission Essay

Is racism is schools self perpetuating? In my essay, I run through my thoughts on racism on school and how it may be perpetuating itself. It is my opinion that there is a culture within the school and community that makes racism both inevitable and ongoing.

There is a culture of ignorance and the appreciation of idiocy that seems to inflict a lot of people that may be classed as a minority. The hatred of white people seems to perpetuate ignorance and idiocy, which then leads to yet more racism.

A black person that wants to study may be called white. Another black person may ask, “Why are you being so white?” when found to be studying. If racism didn’t exist, then this sort of comment would have no effect. Sadly, a lot of black people are racist against white people and so feel insulted when they are told they are acting white.

On the other hand, a person that has just come from Africa, and is black, will happily spend all day in a library and school in order to get a good education. They are not so racist. Even if African people were racist against white people, they see that being called white is not as bad as the consequences of not having an education. Coming from a country as poor as Africa, an African person knows that a poor education will mean poverty in the near future and maybe in the long-term future.

People that do not get an education tend to live their lives in ignorance and on welfare. This then makes white people racists against black people as they see a lot of them on welfare and not contributing to society. Such ignorance and idiocy in the black community will also lead to more black people committing crime, which may explain why most prisons are predominantly full of black people.

The racist culture does not only affect people’s educations, it also spills over into college life. People with racist parents may take on their parents’ personas and may act rudely or aggressively towards people of another race. This tension then makes more people racists as they experience racism first hand. In their mind, such ignorance, malice and hatred is uncalled for and that is used as a reason to hate the race of the person doing the hating. It is a big negative circle that spins onwards and perpetuates racism in schools.

Racism is self perpetuating. If black people were not so insulted by being called white, then they study more and get better jobs to help cast off the stereotypical view that black people are lazy scroungers. People that are already racist are helping to perpetuate racism by their actions. The people that racists target are making their victims racist against the race of the attacker. This is yet another cycle of racism that perpetuates itself. In college I will not be surprised if I see quite a bit of racism–though I do expect there to be less in college than in the real world where ignorant people are more commonplace.

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How to Write the Brandeis University Essays 2023-2024

Founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community, Brandeis has provided world-class educations to historically-discriminated groups in education like Jews, racial minorities, and women. Despite its religious foundations, the university is non-sectarian and welcomes students of all (or none) faiths. Now, Brandeis is consistently ranked as a top 50 university in the country and is well known for its Heller School of Social Policy and Management.

Brandeis only requires general applicants to submit one essay; however, international students and students applying to the Myra Kraft Achievers Program are each asked to submit an additional essay. Because most applicants will only be submitting one essay, you need to make sure your essay stands out enough to impress the admissions committee. In this post, we will cover how to write each Brandeis essay to maximize your chances of acceptance.

Read this Brandeis essay example to inspire your writing.

Brandeis University Supplemental Essay Prompts

All Applicants: Brandeis was established 75 years ago to address antisemitism, racism, and gender discrimination in higher education, and today, the university remains dedicated to its founding values of inclusivity and justice. How has your educational experience shaped your perspective on these values? (250 words)

International Applicants: What excites you the most about being an international student at Brandeis University? (250 words)

Myra Kraft Achievers Program Applicants: What makes you a good candidate for the Myra Kraft Achievers Program and Brandeis University? (500 words)

All Applicants Prompt

Brandeis was established 75 years ago to address antisemitism, racism, and gender discrimination in higher education, and today, the university remains dedicated to its founding values of inclusivity and justice. how has your educational experience shaped your perspective on these values (250 words).

Brandeis prides itself on its foundation as an institution that has promoted inclusivity since day one, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that their essay question is centered around diversity and inclusion.

Before you begin writing, it’s important to understand the prompt fully. There are two key things to take notice of:

• The first thing is “your educational experience.” This means that you need to draw from your own personal experiences to answer the prompt. It shouldn’t be an English-class style essay picking apart different perspectives on justice—you need to use your own lived experiences to support your opinions.
• The second thing is how the prompt specifically asks for educational experience. Don’t make the mistake of limiting yourself to only experiences in the classroom—educational experiences can take the form of independent research, books, academic extracurriculars, conferences and contests, volunteer work, summer programs, and more.

The other notable phrase in the prompt is “your perspective.” This goes back to the aforementioned idea that you need to draw on your personal experiences to explain your position on the topic of inclusion. Admissions officers don’t want to hear about the dictionary definition of inclusion or how an acclaimed civil rights activist viewed it. They want to hear directly from you.

In this sense, the essay can be thought of like an English-class essay because you are required to take a stance on what values like diversity, inclusion, and justice mean to you, and to support your opinion with evidence from your own experience.

While some students might find it easy to think of an example where they encountered or overcame antisemitism, racism, sexism, homophobia, or xenophobia, other students might not have a personal story come to mind so quickly. However, this essay isn’t optional and for many students it’s the only opportunity for Brandeis to hear their voice directly, so you’ll need to come up with something.

Even if you aren’t directly related to such a situation, think about a time you witnessed the harmful effects of discrimination or the positive effects of inclusion. By engaging in a brainstorming exercise to recall moments involving the topics of the essay, you’ll hopefully be able to trigger memories that are more meaningful to you. If you still have nothing that directly involves you, it’s okay to use a story where you were on the periphery—just compensate for your lack of action in the example with extensive reflection on the situation.

Remember, your educational experience could be in the form of a debate you participated in on the effects of public housing policy on exacerbating racial discrimination, or a book you read about the psychological dynamics behind mass genocides—it doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical interaction you had with others. As long as you communicate that you’ve had some academic exposure that has influenced your perspective, you can choose just about any educational experience to support your essay.

We can’t really tell you how to write about your perspective on Brandeis’s core values because your perspective has to come from you ! However, we can give you some tips to keep in mind and things to emphasize in your essay.

• Don’t lie about your opinion. There is no one right or wrong way to approach the nuances of inclusion and justice. Obviously, you should regard inclusion as a good thing—Brandeis doesn’t want to admit closed-minded or prejudiced students—but your take on it could vary from others. Be authentic and true to your beliefs; believe us, it’s easier to tell when someone is lying in an essay than you might think.
• Tie your perspective to the experience you discuss. For example, a student who attended a summer program in another country and experienced what it felt like to be welcomed by people from other cultural backgrounds should share that she thinks inclusion is critical to forming relationships that otherwise wouldn’t occur. It wouldn’t make sense for her to write about her experience and then talk about her views on why religious tolerance is important. Make sure there is a natural logical thread running through your essay.
• It’s better to be more focused. You aren’t expected to provide a dissertation on the importance of all types of inclusion in just 250 words. Home in on a particular issue you feel strongly about that also relates to your experiences. The more focused your topic is, the more detail you can provide and the more your genuine passion for what you’re saying will shine through.
• Highlight how you personally embody the values. Going beyond the experiences that shaped your perspective, demonstrate to the admissions committee that you live by values of justice and inclusion. Explain how simple choices in your life are guided by these values or share how you’ve grown from embracing these values. This will show how ingrained Brandeis’s core values are in you, making you shine as an applicant.

If you have the space at the end of your essay, a nice way to conclude is to explain how you will carry these guiding principles with you to Brandeis. Go deeper than a generic response that says something like, “I will continue to prioritize inclusive communities as a Brandeis student.” Instead, aim for something more descriptive like, “Whether it’s prioritizing minority voices in articles I write for The Justice or inviting all my hallmates to the weekly floor dinners I’ll cook, I’ll strive to make every student feel welcome.”

International Applicants Prompt

What excites you the most about being an international student at brandeis university (250 words).

Essentially, this prompt is asking, “Why do you want to attend Brandeis as an international student?” Brandeis prides itself on its diversity and wants to continue enriching its campus culture with different perspectives. As an international student, your admissions reader wants to know why you most want to be a part of that community and to bring your perspectives to Brandeis. In other words, this is essentially a standard “Why This College” prompt with an international twist, meaning a lot of the same advice applies.

Before answering this prompt, you need to do your research. Read up on the major you’re planning to pursue, learn about student organizations that exist on campus, look into research opportunities , and figure out how you can get involved in campus life .

Whichever angle you choose for your response, make sure to reference something specific to Brandeis, whether that’s a club you are eager to join, an accelerated BA/MA business program that perfectly suits your academic goals, or the University’s commitment to volunteering and tracking service hours that inspires you.

When it comes to planning your response—a brief 250 words total—you need to first realize that the question does not simply ask why you want to attend Brandeis, but what makes you most excited to be there.

Think about how your life experiences so far can contribute to the overall Brandeis community and how you feel like your perspective will be represented on campus.

For example, if you are pursuing International and Global Studies, you can write about having lived abroad in the regions you will be discussing in class. You can share that you feel as though you can provide a firsthand perspective on how locals view the issues in question and that you know that perspective has a place at Brandeis, which places a lot of emphasis on International Studies, both domestically and abroad.

Continuing the above example, you might also write about how Brandeis would provide you with a home base to conduct your studies of globalization, and that the importance that Brandeis places on interning and studying internationally would allow you to continue your understanding of the globe.

If you are planning to work toward the accelerated BA/MA business degree that Brandeis offers, for example, you can discuss your country of origin’s economic system and fundamental financial practices, and describe how learning about the American market at Brandeis through such a specialized program would give you important insight that your peers at home may not have.

Or, if you are a future Studio Art or Theatre Major, you can share how you’re excited to share your country’s folklore through the art you complete in the program. You can get specific about what your country’s culture, art, or history may look like, as well as note exactly which programs you’re excited to participate in. For instance, you can write about how you’re excited to showcase your work in Brandeis’s 10-day Festival of Creative Arts, and to bring your culture to an American audience.

What you’re most excited about may be outside the classroom! Spend some time perusing the extracurricular offerings at Brandeis. And remember, don’t just name-drop—do thorough research on these organizations and write about why they excite you. Consider the following example:

Perhaps you were heavily involved in your local women’s rights advocacy club back in high school in Taiwan. Write about the challenges you faced in trying to change the perception of women as homemakers that is ingrained in the local culture and how you addressed them. Then detail how Brandeis offers a plethora of opportunities to continue helping women, such as Brandeis’s chapter of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, and the International Business Women Leadership and Networking group.

If religion and spirituality are important to you, see if you can find an organization that practices your faith. Talk about the way your religion’s practices vary from country to country, and the specificities that your country brings to worship. Tell the admissions committee how you’re excited to foster a better understanding of your belief system among your peers.

Alternatively, if you find that your faith is not well represented at Brandeis, tell the admissions committee how Brandeis’s spirit of diversity and inclusivity makes you excited to bring your religion to its campus. Talk about how you might start your own religious student organization to bring together a new community of people and to educate the rest of the student body about your beliefs.

Brandeis sports a variety of cultural societies, from the German Club to the Taiwanese Student Association. Do other students who hail from your country of origin have a place to come together and promote their culture? If not, think about creating such a space! You can frame your aspirations in terms of multicultural understanding and dialogue, and share some ideas you may have for spreading your culture on campus—whether it be through film screenings, dinners, or anything else that strikes your fancy.

Perhaps you come from a country where journalists are marginalized and free press is stifled. You may wish to join a media organization on campus to let your voice be heard and to advocate for the continued protection of free speech in the United States. You can write about how you’re excited to share your perspectives with your classmates and to discuss the importance of giving everyone an opportunity to voice their opinions and beliefs by grounding the discussion in your own experiences at home.

Although you don’t have a lot of room in your response, don’t be afraid to combine the various academic and extracurricular excitements you have to form one cohesive essay. Just remember to ground your response in the unique perspective that your origins will allow you to share with other students!

For example, you can first delineate how you’re excited to provide insight into your country’s domestic policy in the classroom, and then pivot to your plans for joining Brandeis’s Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance to piggyback off your previous experience in your home country.

Myra Kraft Achievers Program Prompt

What makes you a good candidate for the myra kraft achievers program and brandeis university (500 words).

Founded in 1968, the Myra Kraft Achievers Program is an important manifestation of the University’s commitment to social justice. Each year, 20 students are selected from a pool of approximately 200 applicants.

According to the program mission statement found on the Brandeis website, the Myra Kraft Achievers Program “is targeted toward students who have developed the skills for college success by practicing leadership in their life experiences.”

Typical participants in the Myra Kraft Achievers Program have not had the opportunity to participate in rigorous academic programs such as AP and IB courses while in high school. This program enables these students to enroll in small classes with strong academic support and challenging coursework, and to explore new possibilities in their lives.

The Myra Kraft Achievers Program offers exclusive academic opportunities in writing, quantitative reasoning, science, social science and computer science. Students take a combination of undergraduate courses at Brandeis and non-credit-bearing courses designed for the college level.

The key criteria that the program is looking for in its applicants are:

• Showing determination and focus in difficult circumstances
• Demonstrating leadership potential practiced in life experiences
• Commitment to the pursuit of a postsecondary education

In crafting your response to the program prompt, you want to make sure that the necessary qualities above shine through on your application. This prompt gives you the opportunity to show the admissions committee why you would be a good fit for the program by highlighting your academic and leadership potential.

Don’t worry if you are someone who lacks the conventional list of extracurricular activities and leadership roles. In fact, the Myra Kraft Achievers Program is looking for unconventional students who show promise and potential despite lacking the resources to pursue their interests in high school.

When responding to this prompt, think about the character you have developed in high school while challenging yourself to push for higher academic success, despite not receiving adequate support to do so. How will this grit you have cultivated help you succeed in college?

Below you will find some ideas for how you can best exemplify the aforementioned program criteria and discuss them in your essay:

Determination and Focus

If you are someone who has to take on caretaker duties in your family, such as looking after younger siblings or grandparents while your parents work, you can detail this experience in your response. Highlight the time-management hurdles you encountered while trying to balance your schoolwork and your household duties, and show the admissions committee what you’ve learned through this experience.

For example, you could describe how your study time was compromised because your sister with a peanut allergy accidentally ingested peanuts and you had to take her to the emergency room. Despite your lack of sleep and underpreparedness, you made sure to catch up on the material you missed, so even though you didn’t do well on the quiz the next day, you still aced the final exam. What did this experience teach you? What quality or strength did this train you to have?

If you had to work while in high school in order to provide for yourself or to contribute to your family’s income, write about this in your response. Your ability to take on adult responsibilities while remaining a full-time student at such a young age will undoubtedly impress the admissions committee, even if your grades may have not been optimal as a result. In fact, describing your commitments beyond the classroom will help to justify your academic performance, if necessary, and will make you a stronger candidate for the program.

If you or your family are migrants, fleeing poverty, war, or another hardship, this prompt is an opportunity for you to relate your experience to the program admissions. Tell the story of how your life has been affected by the turmoil in your environment, and highlight your determination to receive a quality education in spite of it.

For instance, if you’ve been unable to attend school for long periods of time due to political or economic instability, but have continued to read and study independently, write about your motivation and explain what drove you to push forward.

Leadership Practiced in Life Experiences

Leadership does not always mean becoming the captain of a sports team or the president of a school club. Leadership potential can shine through in your daily life.

For example, if you had to be a role model for your younger siblings, and guide them through school as your parents were absent, you have shown leadership potential. Discuss all the tasks you performed while caring for your siblings, all the lessons you’ve taught them, and all the guidance you’ve provided. This can be as small as teaching your younger brother to play basketball or helping your sister with homework every day.

In a similar vein, if you’re someone who comes from an underprivileged community, and you have taken the time to mentor younger kids in your school or neighborhood, then that is also a testament to your leadership qualities. You don’t need to have been a part of an after-school program or a community service organization—leadership doesn’t need to occur in a formal setting. If you’ve helped or pushed others to reach a goal, then you’ve demonstrated the kinds of qualities the Myra Kraft Achievers Program is looking for in its cohort.

Commitment to the Pursuit of Education

Even if you’re someone who lacked access to rigorous coursework, you can still underscore your commitment to higher education in your response.

Think about any interests you have. Have you ever taken the time to research a particular topic you were passionate about? Have you sought out a film screening or an exhibit on something that interests you?

Perhaps you frequent the local natural sciences museums because you’ve always been curious about geology or evolutionary biology. Maybe you never miss an independent film showing in your town because your aspiration is to become a movie director or a set designer in the future. Or, are you an avid reader who has read a myriad of political autobiographies in hopes of learning the skills needed to one day lead your community as its mayor or House representative?

Any initiative you’ve shown beyond the classroom to educate yourself and broaden your horizons is evidence of your passion for education and of your desire to keep learning.

As you think about these three key aspects of a Myra Kraft Achiever, remember that the core purpose of this prompt is to understand why you want to be a part of this group of students. Think of this as any other “Why this College?” essay you may have written. Your response should be well researched, and should reference specific aspects of the program that appeal to you and opportunities they present to each cohort. Of course, it should also demonstrate why you —with your past experiences, values, and skills—would be a good fit for the program.

Where to Get Your Brandeis University Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Brandeis essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Effects Of Racism On College Admissions Essay Sample

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Higher Education , Race , America , University , Diversity , Acceptance , Students , Education

Words: 1600

Published: 02/19/2020

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When it comes to college admissions requirements, the number one question that confronts the United States now is whether or not to consider race as factor when accepting a student applicant for higher education purposes. The nation is divided on its stand considering that on one end of the debate are supporters who say college admission requirements should be based solely on merit and not merely on racial qualifications. It coincides with the belief that everybody must be given equal and fair chances at higher education, instead of making it available to only a select few in the social spectrum. Therefore, colleges and universities should not look at race, gender, ethnicity, or economic status when accepting student applicants. However, at the other end of the debate are those who support the move to include racial considerations when deciding acceptance into a college program. This is because supporters believe that a racially diverse student body can better prepare the students to handle situations where people come from various culture and ethnicities, especially in the workplace. In addition, a racially diverse population also provides for avenues for students to be exposed to different ways of thinking, different experiences, and use of critical thinking, among others, when dealing with school life and in the future, their work life. Despite the clamor to abolish racial discrimination especially in college admissions, it does not appear to end soon as there are still colleges that practice it, although carefully, and there are clashing opinions as to which side better prepares the students for the future. A big number of Americans believe that race should not be a big issue when it comes to college admissions. As evidenced in a Gallup Poll conducted June 13-July 15, 2013, two-thirds of Americans believe that merit should have more weight over issues such as race and gender. This means a college or university accepts students according to their scholastic standing, even if it means only a few minority applicants are admitted into the college programs. On the other hand, the remaining percentage of people included in the survey believed that racial and ethnic background are important and should be considered in the decision whether to accept a student or not in the campus. The reasoning behind this is to “promote diversity on college campuses” (Jones), considering that there is a possibility of low admission rate to none for some racial groups. While more than 50% of whites and Hispanics favor that applicants are evaluated based only on merit, the blacks are divided in their beliefs as some think that college acceptance into programs should be based on merits alone, while some think that colleges must ensure to include a certain percentage of application slots are allotted to various racial groups. Those who believe there is some semblance of fairness to this set up want to ensure that the educational system also benefits from a racially diverse student population. Those who push for acceptance to college programs based on academic achievements say everyone who intends to apply to a college must be upheld to the same standards when choosing their colleges. If the university’s thrust is on quality education, then all applicants must be subjected to the same rigorous manner of selection instead of accepting or rejecting an applicant on the basis of his or her racial identity. Humans cannot choose their racial makeup and consequently, students have no control on their race. However, they have a hand on their performance and achievements in school, thus, accepting or rejecting them based on their academic merits is a fair way of determining whether they meet the standards of their chosen college. On the other hand, including race, gender, and social class as a determinant of acceptance in colleges has its own merits as well, according to supporters of this idea. Using race as factor for college acceptance prepares students and the college as well, to appreciate diversity in order to succeed in the 21st century economy. In essence, this is covered in a policy called affirmative action, which was “developed by some higher education institutions in an attempt to diversify their student bodies racially, ethnically, and socio-economically” (Novoa). Supporters of this policy are one in saying that the main purpose of affirmative action is to provide equal opportunities to individuals belonging to various backgrounds “to learn at an institution that has historically accepted individuals of a certain background or income bracket” (Novoa). Ivy League schools, for instance, accepts students whose parents or relatives also attended the same school and those who belong to families from the higher socio-economic classes. However, those poor, but deserving students do not stand a chance against the wealthier group considering the huge disparity in income, including the high amount of money needed to finance the education. In this sense, they are more at a disadvantage. With globalization becoming the norm for economies and countries to thrive, collaboration becomes the key to flourishing in a diverse environment (Costello). To do this, it must start in schools and colleges where minority students get the opportunity to interact and learn from fellow students coming from a different background. However, these days, the issue on racial discrimination persists because instead of providing opportunities for interaction, schools segregate students according to racial groups. While some sectors point out that focus should be placed on elevating student achievement instead of focusing on diversity as a benefit of this educational set up, studies reveal that schools that promote diversity by “[increasing] racial integration and mix low-income and middle-class students” (Costello) become training grounds for “African-American and Latino children to close the achievement gap in math and reading, according to data from the National Coalition for School Diversity” (Costello). This provides opportunities for high school students from various races to gain acceptance into colleges of their choice. As well, in studies conducted in the 1970s, there was an observable steady increase in the number of black women enrolling in colleges, gaining acceptance to colleges (Karen, 1991, p. 221), and performing better than male students. Karen (1991) also points out that the socioeconomic status between black males and white males account for a small discrepancy between the two sexes, and because of classification struggles, blacks were more likely to have attended college back in the late 1970s (p.227). This resulted to increases on the top level of higher education in terms of admissions and enrollments from blacks and women, in general. But the observable changes were apparent at the bottom level of the system whereby the blacks had more access to higher education and had higher potentials of becoming accepted in elite educational institutions (p. 228). Therefore, if allowing race to become a factor when considering acceptance into college programs can bring positive results to the educational institution, the student applicant, and fellow students, why then are sectors of society against it? Case in point is Abigail Fisher who filed a law suit against the University of Texas – Austin in 2008 on the manner of selecting students into the programs. In her civil rights lawsuit, she claims she was rejected on the basis of the university’s racial preference and thrust, that is, affirmative action, despite the fact that the university already had a race-neutral plan based on high school class ranking. Fisher claims that “the individualized, discretionary admissions policies violate her rights, and favor African-American and Hispanic applicants over whites and Asian-Americans” (Mears). On the other hand, the University of Texas – Austin argues that their admission policy ensures a “measure of non-subjective diversity” (Mears) considering that it guarantees automatic acceptance into the university’s main campus in Austin students who graduate among the top 10% of the graduating class. As evidence, about three-fourths of the university’s students were accepted in this manner. Because Fisher did not belong to the top 10% of the class, she had to compete with all other applicants vying for a spot in the university (Mears). The university further asserts that apart from the academic achievement, they also assess “test scores, community service, leadership and work experience [including] unique experiences and background [to be able to] provide the best environment in which to educate and train the students who will be [the] nation’s future leaders” (Mears). Political and educational leaders are pushing the issue in the forefront, and their reactions on the role race plays in college admissions require the full attention and support of all concerned. For now, there is nothing left to do but wait for the verdict; and for colleges that use those factors as basis for acceptance to traverse the narrow line of decision-making with care.

Costello, M. (2012). Diverse schools are essential for the nation’s success. Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/diverse-schools-are-essential-for-the-nation-s-success Jones, J. M. (2013). In U.S., most reject considering race in college admissions. Gallup Politics. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/163655/reject-considering-race-college-admissions.aspx Karen, D. (1991). The politics of class, race, and gender: Access to higher education in the United States, 1960-1986. American Journal of Education, 99(2), 208-237. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1085525 Mears, B. (2012). Justices to re-examine use of race in college admissions. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/08/us/scotus-college-admissions-race/ Novoa, K. (2007). The pros and cons of affirmative action in the college admissions process. Education Space 360. Retrieved from http://www.educationspace360.com/index.php/the-pros-and-cons-of-affirmative-action-in-the-college-admissions-process-27403/ Thomas, G. E., Alexander, K. L., & Eckland, B. K. (1979). Access to higher education: The importance of race, sex, social class, and academic credentials. The School Review, 87(2), 133-156. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1084799

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The Supreme Court Killed the College-Admissions Essay

The end of affirmative action will pressure high schoolers to write about their race through formulaic and belittling narrative tropes.

Nestled within yesterday’s Supreme Court decision declaring that race-conscious admissions programs, like those at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, are unconstitutional is a crucial carveout: Colleges are free to consider “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life.” In other words, they can weigh a candidate’s race when it is mentioned in an admissions essay. Observers had already speculated about personal essays becoming invaluable tools for candidates who want to express their racial background without checking a box—now it is clear that the end of affirmative action will transform not only how colleges select students, but also how teenagers advertise themselves to colleges.

For essays and statements to provide a workaround for pursuing diversity, applicants must first cast themselves as diverse. The American Council on Education, a nonprofit focused on the impacts of public policy on higher education, recently convened a panel dedicated to planning for the demise of affirmative action; admissions directors and consultants emphasized the need “to educate students about how to write about who they are in a very different way,” expressing their “full authentic story” and “trials and tribulations.” In other words, if colleges can’t use race as a criterion in its own right, because the Court has ruled doing so violates the Fourteenth Amendment, then high schoolers trying to navigate the nebulous admissions process may feel pressure to write as plainly as possible about how their race and experiences of racism make them better applicants.

Turning personal writing into a way to market one’s race means folding oneself into nonspecific formulas, reducing a lifetime to easily understood types. This flattening of the college essay in response to the long hospice of race-based affirmative action comes alongside another reductive phenomenon upending student writing: the ascendance of generative AI. High schoolers , undergraduates , and professional authors are enlisting ChatGPT or similar programs to write for them; educators fear that admissions essays will prove no exception . The pitfalls of using AI to write a college application, however, are already upon us, as the pressure to sell one’s race and race-based adversity to colleges will compel students to write like chatbots. Tired platitudes about race angled to persuade admissions officers will crowd out more individual, creative approaches, the result no better than a machine’s banal aggregation of the web. Writing about one’s race can be clarifying, even revelatory; de facto requiring someone write about their racial identity, in a form that can veer toward framing race as a negative attribute in need of overcoming, is stifling and demeaning. Or, as the attorney and author Elie Mystal tweeted more bluntly yesterday, “Why should a Black student have to WASTE SPACE explaining ‘how racism works’”?

Read: Elite multiculturalism is over

Such essays can feel prewritten. Many Black and minority applicants “believe that a story of struggle is necessary to show that they are ‘diverse,’” the sociologist and former college-admissions officer Aya M. Waller-Bey wrote in this magazine earlier this month; admissions officers and college-prep programs can valorize such trauma narratives, too. Indeed, research analyzing tens of thousands of college applications shows that essay content and style predict income better than SAT scores do: Lower-income students were much more likely to write about topics including abuse, economic insecurity, and immigration. Similarly, another study found that girls applying to engineering programs were more likely to foreground their gender as “women in science,” perhaps to distinguish themselves from their male counterparts. These predictable scripts, which many students believe to be most palatable, are the kind of stale , straightforward narratives—about race, identity, and otherwise—that AI programs excel at writing. Language models work by analyzing massive amounts of text for patterns and then spitting out statistically probable outputs, which means they are adept at churning out clichéd language and narrative tropes but quite terrible at writing anything original, poetic , or inspiring .

To explore and narrativize one’s identity is of course important, even essential; I wrote about my mixed heritage for my own college essay. Race acts as what the cultural theorist Stuart Hall called a “ floating signifier ,” a label that refers to constantly shifting relationships, interactions, and material conditions. “Race works like a language,” Hall said, meaning that race provides a way to ground discussions of varying experiences, support networks, histories of discrimination, and more. To discuss and write about one’s race or heritage, then, is a way of finding and making meaning.

But molding race into what an admissions officer might want is the opposite of discovery; it means one is writing toward somebody else’s perceived desires. It’s not too dissimilar from writing an admissions essay with a language model that has imbibed and reproduced tropes that already exist, blighting meaningful self-discovery on the part of impressionable young people and instead trapping them in unoriginal, barren, and even debasing scripts that humans and machines alike have prewritten about their identities. Chatbots’ statistical regurgitations cannot reinvent language, only cannibalize it; the programs do not reflect so much as repeat. When I asked ChatGPT to write me a college essay, it gave me boilerplate filler: My journey as a half-Chinese, half-Italian individual has been one of self-discovery, resilience, and growth . That sentence is broadly true, perhaps a plus for an admissions officer, but vapid and nonspecific—useless to me, personally. It doesn’t push toward anything meaningful, or really anything at all.

Read: The college essay is dead

A future of college essays that package race in canned archetypes reeking of a chatbot’s metallic touch could read alarmingly similar to the very Supreme Court opinions that ended race-conscious admissions yesterday: a framing of race “unmoored from critical real-life circumstances,” as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent; a pathetic understanding of various Asian diasporic groups from Justice Clarence Thomas; a twisting of landmark civil-rights legislation, constitutional amendments, and court cases into a predetermined and weaponized crusade against any attempt to promote diversity or ameliorate historical discrimination. Chatbots, too, make things up , advance porous arguments, and gaslight their users. If race works like a language, then colleges, teachers, parents, and high-school students alike must make sure that that language remains a human one.

College Application Checklist

Find the right college for you., junior summer: ─do before applying to college checklist.

• Set up a professional-sounding email address.
• Create a balanced list of reach, match, and safety colleges.
• Go to the application website.
• Note the regular application deadline.
• Note the early application deadline.

Junior Year: Take Tests and Other Exams for Admission

• Find out if an admission test is required.
• Take an admission test, if required.
• Take other required or recommended tests (e.g., AP Exams, IB exams).
• Send admission test scores, if required, with your application.
• Send other test scores.
• Retest by summer of junior year or fall of senior year.

Early Senior Year: Get Letters and Essay Ready.

• Request recommendation letters. Provide a résumé for reference.
• Send thank-you notes to recommendation writers.
• Start the essay drafting and revision process 2 months prior to the application deadline.
• Draft initial essay.
• Proofread essay for spelling and grammar.
• Have 2 people read your essay.
• Revise your essay.
• Proofread your revision.

Fall of Senior Year: Make a Campus Visit. Apply for Financial Aid.

• Interview at the college campus, if required.
• Submit FAFSA® if eligible.
• Submit CSS PROFILE if needed.
• Make a note of the priority financial aid deadline.
• Make a note of the regular financial aid deadline.
• Submit college aid form if needed.
• Submit a state aid form if needed.
• Check the college's financial aid website to see if you need to submit any additional institution forms.

Submit the Application. Pay Fees by Deadlines.

• Complete college application.
• Save copies of your application and application materials.
• Pay application fee. Submit an application fee waiver if eligible.
• Submit application.
• Request high school transcript to be sent.
• Request midyear grade report to be sent.
• Confirm receipt of application materials by checking your application status online.
• Send additional material if needed.
• Tell your school counselor that you applied.
• Receive letter from admissions office.

Senior Spring: Make Your Selections.

• Apply for housing and meal plans, if applicable.
• Receive financial aid award letter.
• Accept financial aid offer.
• Notify whichever colleges you’re not planning to attend.

What things do you need to provide in the college application process?

When applying to college, you’ll need to provide information regarding personal details, your academic background, your extracurricular activities, and achievements you want to highlight. You’ll also need to submit standardized test scores and letters of recommendation, if required. Along with that, you’ll want to submit any required essays, making sure they highlight your aspirations and your personality. You can even strengthen your application by including additional information about yourself and a résumé.

Most colleges will require an application fee. If you require financial assistance to cover this fee, ask your school counselor about application fee waivers.

What are five things you need to know about college application process?

When navigating college admissions requirements, consider these five points:

• Go through each college's admissions requirements, including transcripts, test scores, essays, and recommendations.
• Pay close attention to submission deadlines to ensure you deliver all required documents on time.
• Familiarize yourself with the admissions criteria, including academic performance, extracurricular activities, and personal attributes.
• Check out the available financial aid options, such as scholarships and grants. Follow the designated application timelines.
• Visit the colleges you're interested in. Take advantage of any interview opportunities to express your interest and gain valuable insights into the institutions.

Is the admissions process the same for all colleges?

The admissions process can differ between institutions. Colleges you apply to may ask for standardized test scores and recommendation letters. Or they may have more specific requirements. Before you even begin an application, you’ll need to review the admissions guidelines of each college you plan to apply to and personalize your application to their needs.

How important are extracurricular activities in the college admissions process?

Participating in extracurricular activities can significantly influence the college admissions process. Colleges seek students who aren’t only academically accomplished but also have a diverse range of interests and a demonstrated dedication to their passions. Being actively involved in clubs, sports, community service, and leadership roles can positively impact your application and highlight your potential contributions to the college community.

Are interviews required for college admission? How should I prepare for them?

Colleges may require interviews as part of their admissions process, or they may not require them. You’ll want to verify the specific requirements of each college. If a college recommends an interview or it’s mandatory, make sure to prepare yourself thoroughly. Practice answering common interview questions, research the college, and think about how to express your objectives and interests effectively. Interviews offer a chance to present yourself in a more personal and engaging way, so take advantage of this opportunity.

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I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school really thought about my application. What I learned surprised me.

• I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school thought about my application. 
• Most of my scores weren't that impressive, but they really liked my genuine attitude and excitement.
• Reviewing my application reminded me how far I have come as a student. 

"Brian spoke so fast it was electrifying."

This was the first quote from my Yale interviewer. She wrote those words in my admissions file, a document I finally got my hands on three years after being accepted into Yale University .

I remember that interview like it was yesterday. It was a Zoom call — my application cycle happened at the crux of pandemic remote learning — and I was wearing my father's old, oversize dress shirt. The interviewer was lovely. Some of my answers to her questions probably didn't make sense, and she was right. I definitely forgot to breathe in between my sentences.

But viewing my admissions file years later gave me a peek into what my interviewer was actually thinking that day, and I learned what really got me into Yale.

I reviewed my application as a junior with the registrar

Every student in the US can review their college admissions file under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I emailed my university registrar, and within 45 days, a member of their support staff reached back out to schedule a virtual meeting. Picture-taking and recording were not allowed, so I jotted notes by hand.

There was very little verbal interaction between me and the staff member. She screen-shared my admissions file and let me read in silence. Something told me she understood the emotional weight of this moment for students, and I appreciated that. It is intimidating for any teenager to package their identity into a 650-word common application essay and a questionnaire — but it is arguably even more so to witness retrospectively how everything was judged.

I got a behind-the-scenes look into Yale admissions when they read my application

Each aspect of my application was rated out of nine points. My readers gave me a six for my extracurriculars and for my first teacher recommendation. They gave me a seven for my second teacher recommendation and my counselor's recommendation. I received an "outstanding" for my interview and a 2++ for my overall rating. The overall rating is given on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest, and pluses were a good sign.

Related stories

In all, my ratings weren't exactly bad, but they weren't extraordinary either. The numbers on the pages stared back at me — cold, formulaic, and transactional. It felt strange to be reduced to a system of numbers, knowing that something as qualitative as extracurricular activities could still be broken down and scored.

Beyond the ratings, however, what truly stood out were the comments left by the admissions officers . Many of the comments were on my character, my essays, and the possible contributions I would make as a student.

"I teared up reading Essay 1," one reader wrote of my common application essay. Another said of the same essay: "His Chinese New Years are untraditional in that they remind him of his family's financial struggles."

I got emotional. All the memories of writing that essay came flooding back. I remembered how difficult it was to start it. I knew there was no easy way for someone to understand me without first knowing my background. I wanted to prove that I deserved a seat at the table where legacy students and the wealthy continue to outnumber their first-generation, low-income peers like myself.

I kept reading and found more comments from admissions officers that moved me: "He treats his mom well;" "He seems to have a truly good heart;" "One of the most intelligent, sincere, jovial students ever met;" "I have no doubt that Brian would push his peers at Yale to stand up for what's right;" and "I come away with compelling impressions that the student would contribute significantly to the undergrad community."

I searched for a negative comment. There were none.

I didn't deserve this, I muttered under my breath. Here I was, a junior in college, no longer a 4.0 student , my post-grad plans murky, balancing two part-time jobs and hoping to make it out of midterms alive. It felt good knowing that someone had rooted for me to be here.

The process reminded me how far I have come

Coming from an underserved household where no one had gone to college, I had always looked at the Ivy League application process skeptically.

Without the resources to enroll in SAT test prep and the financial safety net to pursue unpaid leadership positions and resume-boosting activities at school, I had doubted the "holistic" admissions process many colleges boast. My critiques about Yale remain numerous.

But at least in their comments, the admissions committee gave me grace in that they reviewed my application in light of my circumstances. I might never know exactly what happened in that reading room. Still, a couple of lessons ring true, based on my own viewing experience and my conversations with others who had done the same: Good character and potential are the key; I didn't need to be perfect.

And finally, I — not anyone else — needed to give me the fighting chance of applying in the first place.

"GPA is outstanding, especially in context," an admissions officer said. "This is a home run."

• Main content

Does the US college essay still have value?

Now that it has moved so far from its original purpose – and is often written by AI or a ghostwriter – what purpose does the US college application essay actually serve?

Warren Emanuel

• More on this topic

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AI will change the world. Already, we can see ways in which widely available AI tools are shaping education , from enhanced curricular design to renewed focus on academic integrity in schools and universities.

So it stands to reason that the link between these institutions – the college application – would be similarly affected. And yet AI is hardly the only force acting upon the college application. The United States Supreme Court’s decision to ban the use of race in admissions decisions too will reshape what information universities request from applicants and how students choose to provide it.

Given the dynamics at play, it seems an appropriate time to re-evaluate the college essay and its intended purpose. 

The US college essay: a brief history

For the purposes of this exercise, let’s consider the college essay as the primary essay or personal statement required by the Common Application or by individual universities as part of the university application in the US.

It is important to note, however, that the term “college essay” is an oversimplification. In the US alone, there are myriad forms that the college essay or personal statement can take, including the Common Application essay. Yet not every applicant will use the Common Application to apply to university, or there might be university-specific supplemental essays required along with a personal statement.

Furthermore, there are key differences between the US college essay and the UK personal statement. 

An inauspicious beginning

The origin of the application essay is not one that reflects well on US universities. The application essay traces its roots to early 20th-century antisemitism, with the “character-based application” used predominantly as a tool to keep unwanted minority groups out of prestigious institutions. Those curious to learn more might read The Chosen ,  by sociology professor Jerome Karabel.

The college application essay, of course, evolved. And so for several decades, along with a combination of academic transcript, standardised testing and letter of recommendation, it remained a tool by which admissions offices throughout the US could assess an applicant’s preparedness to succeed at that particular institution.

Embracing the mass

Marketing guru and social thinker Seth Godin frequently writes about our historical movement towards the mass: mass production, mass communication, mass marketing. Perhaps curiously, the college essay was included in this shift.

The Common Application, a convenient and free application form accepted by more than 1,000 schools globally, requires one primary college essay. It offers students a choice of six essay prompts, and a seventh, “topic of your choice”, each with a word limit of 650 words.

Until somewhat recently, there were only five prompts, and a limit of merely 500 words. Applicants thus had to embrace the mass, to find a way to stand out slightly within a rather rigid mass-market application structure.

For decades it worked. It was imperfect, but it worked. The college essay retained a dual purpose of articulating academic and intellectual preparedness through the use of grammar, syntax, styles and mechanics, along with values and interests (drivers of fit) through content.

Tipping point

Like so many practices and processes before it, the college-admissions process reached a tipping point fuelled by the confluence of globalisation, ranking systems, cost, prestige and shifting cultural values.

Colleges and universities no longer had to sort through applicants to assess who was qualified to attend. Instead, they had to sort through the qualified applicants to determine which of them fit the institutional values and needs in that particular year, all while shaping (somewhat) diverse communities.

Preparedness remained an integral purpose of the college essay. Yet more than ever, an applicant’s voice, interests and values needed to shine through, so that admissions offices could assess the nebulous concept of fit.

Increasingly, applicants were instructed to “be unique” – which, while well intentioned, is not particularly helpful advice. The college essay peaked in importance, required to convey so much more than perhaps originally intended.

The college essay, disrupted

The US Merriam-Webster dictionary should consider “disrupt” the word of the year, to reflect the current infatuation with disrupting absolutely everything. Of course, sometimes we need a little disruptive behaviour. Other times, disruption occurs before we fully consider the implications.

It was fascinating to read that Duke  University – and likely other institutions – no longer assumes that applicants write their own college essays . This invites many questions:

• Is it OK if applicants are not writing their own essays?
• Who (ghostwriters) or what (AI) is writing them?
• How does an admissions committee assess preparedness if essays are inauthentic and testing is optional?
• What is the new purpose of the essay?

Contrary to any inclination towards fear or scepticism, there is ample reason to believe that the college essay, which has undergone multiple evolutions already, can still be beneficial to both applicant and admissions office. Consider the following questions:

• Is the applicant able to use modern tools, including AI, with integrity?
• Does the applicant share meaningful lived experience in a thoughtful and reflective way?
• Can the applicant convey authentic personal values and interests?

Within these rhetorical questions, the current purpose of the college essay is found. Certainly many applicants will continue to pen their own essays without AI assistance for years to come.

But even for those who use AI or rely on a ghostwriter, it is worth remembering that the shift away from preparedness as the primary purpose of the college essay began long ago, and that values, interests and voice still have merit. 

Friday, April 12

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Admitted students talk role of ChatGPT in essays amid changing admissions policies

Princeton admitted students to the Class of 2028 on Dec. 14 as part of its Single Choice Early Action round.

Louisa gheorghita / the daily princetonian.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is receiving a growing focus at Princeton, serving as the subject of the Class of 2028 Pre-Read and spurring the creation of the Princeton Language and Intelligence Initiative (PLI) in September 2023. ChatGPT’s growing popularity has recently sparked conversation about its place in the classroom and whether it can be accurately detected .

Questions about the role of AI in essay writing and the weight essays should hold in the admissions process remain, during an admissions cycle already upturned by the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action. These concerns have already resulted in Duke University’s decision to abandon the practice of scoring applicant essays.

The newly admitted Class of 2028 is the first Princeton class to have access to this controversial technology during the admissions process. The Daily Princetonian spoke to admits on their perspective on the usage of generative AI during the college application process, and a professor with expertise in the field.

All three incoming members of the Class of 2028 interviewed by the ‘Prince’ said that they had not used any form of AI in their essays, though one student experimented with AI during the essay-writing process.

They expressed that they felt the personal focus of the essay made it an ill-fit for AI assistance. 

“I don’t really know what it would help with because you’re supposed to write about yourself, and it doesn’t know anything about you,” Jacob Emerson ’28 said.

Jamie Creasi ’28 expressed a similar sentiment. “There’s no way for it to communicate the challenges I’ve experienced, or what kind of life I have,” she said.

Hemant Sharma ’28 described his experience with attempting to use AI. He found that his essay “lost its emotional touch” so he ended up reverting to his old essay. “[ChatGPT] just made everything worse,” he said.

The University shares this position. In a written statement to the ‘Prince,’ University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote, “An essay generated by an AI platform is unlikely to be as rich and nuanced as a student’s own words.”

The ‘Prince’ spoke with Associate Professor of Computer Science Arvind Narayanan about ChatGPT's writing abilities. Professor Narayanan said that while AI may be capable of writing a passable essay, it likely would not be any easier than writing an essay without AI assistance. 

Professor Narayanan said, “If the use of AI assistance causes [the college admissions essay] to matter even less, I see it as an entirely positive development,” finding the essay to be “an exercise in performative authenticity.” 

The new admits differed in opinion about regulating generative AI use in the college admissions process. Creasi likened the usage of ChatGPT to a calculator which helps conduct simple calculations in order to allow a focus on more complex tasks. 

“At first, people saw calculators as a way of cheating because you don’t have to do a lot of the equations that you once did or use your mind in the same sort of way. But since then, we’ve adapted to calculators … we can do higher level math or physics,” he said.

Conversely, Sharma felt that detection of AI usage in a college essay should be allowed, stating, “I think there should be at least a minor punishment because it’s easier if we curb it now so that it doesn’t hurt anyone later in the future.” 

However, even if schools agreed to take action against students suspected of unauthorized AI use, Professor Narayanan believes AI-identification technology is not at the “level of accuracy that would make it justifiable to penalize applicants for using AI assistance.”

Although the University did not respond with explicit rules about the use of generative AI in the college application process, Morrill wrote that all applicants “sign a statement acknowledging all information in the application (including the essays) is their own work.”

Claire Meng is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

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Guest Essay

Is This the End of Academic Freedom?

By Paula Chakravartty and Vasuki Nesiah

Dr. Chakravartty is a professor of media, communication and culture at New York University, where Dr. Nesiah is a professor of practice in human rights and international law.

​At New York University, the spring semester began with a poetry reading. Students and faculty gathered in the atrium of Bobst Library. At that time, about 26,000 Palestinians had already been killed in Israel’s horrific war on Gaza; the reading was a collective act of bearing witness.

The last poem read aloud was titled “If I Must Die.” It was written, hauntingly, by a Palestinian poet and academic named Refaat Alareer who was killed weeks earlier by an Israeli airstrike. The poem ends: “If I must die, let it bring hope — let it be a tale.”

Soon after those lines were recited, the university administration shut the reading down . Afterward, we learned that students and faculty members were called into disciplinary meetings for participating in this apparently “disruptive” act; written warnings were issued.

We have both taught at N.Y.U. for over a decade and believe we are in a moment of unparalleled repression. Over the past six months, since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, we have seen the university administration fail to adequately protect dissent on campus, actively squelching it instead. We believe what we are witnessing in response to student, staff and faculty opposition to the war violates the very foundations of academic freedom.

While N.Y.U. says that it remains committed to free expression on campus and that its rules about and approach to protest activity haven’t changed, students and faculty members in solidarity with the Palestinian people have found the campus environment alarmingly constrained.

About a week after Hamas’s attacks in October, the Grand Staircase in the Kimmel student center, a storied site of student protests , closed indefinitely; it has yet to reopen fully. A graduate student employee was reprimanded for putting up fliers in support of Palestinians on the student’s office door and ultimately took them down; that person is not the only N.Y.U. student to face some form of disciplinary consequence for pro-Palestinian speech or action. A resolution calling for the university to reaffirm protection of pro-Palestinian speech and civic activity on campus, passed by the elected Student Government Assembly in December, has apparently been stuck in a procedural black hole since.

The New York Police Department has become a pervasive presence on campus, with over 6,000 hours of officer presence added after the war broke out. Hundreds of faculty members have signed onto an open letter condemning the university’s “culture of fear about campus speech and activism.”

Such draconian interventions are direct threats to academic freedom.

At universities across the country, any criticism of Israel’s policies, expressions of solidarity with Palestinians, organized calls for a cease-fire or even pedagogy on the recent history of the land have all emerged as perilous speech. In a letter to university presidents in November, the A.C.L.U. expressed concern about “impermissible chilling of free speech and association on campus” in relation to pro-Palestinian student groups and views; since then, the atmosphere at colleges has become downright McCarthyite .

The donors, trustees, administrators and third parties who oppose pro-Palestinian speech seem to equate any criticism of the State of Israel — an occupying power under international law and one accused of committing war crimes — with antisemitism. To them, the norms of free speech are inherently problematic, and a broad definition of antisemitism is a tool for censorship . Outside funding has poured into horrifying doxxing and harassment campaigns. Pro-Israel surveillance groups like Canary Mission and CAMERA relentlessly target individuals and groups deemed antisemitic or critical of Israel. Ominous threats follow faculty and students for just expressing their opinions or living out their values.

To be clear, we abhor all expressions of antisemitism and wholeheartedly reject any role for antisemitism on our campuses. Equally, we believe that conflating criticism of Israel or Zionism with antisemitism is dangerous. Equating the criticism of any nation with inherent racism endangers basic democratic freedoms on and off campus. As the A.C.L.U. wrote in its November statement, a university “cannot fulfill its mission as a forum for vigorous debate” if it polices the views of faculty members and students, however much any of us may disagree with them or find them offensive.

In a wave of crackdowns on pro-Palestinian speech nationwide, students have had scholarships revoked, job offers pulled and student groups suspended. At Columbia, protesters have reported being sprayed by what they said was skunk, a chemical weapon used by the Israeli military; at Northwestern, two Black students faced criminal charges , later dropped, for publishing a pro-Palestinian newspaper parody; at Cornell, students were arrested during a peaceful protest . In a shocking episode of violence last fall, three Palestinian students , two of them wearing kaffiyehs, were shot while walking near the University of Vermont.

Many more cases of student repression on campuses are unfolding.

Academic freedom, as defined by the American Association of University Professors in the mid-20th century , provides protection for the pursuit of knowledge by faculty members, whose job is to educate, learn and research both inside and outside the academy. Not only does this resonate with the Constitution’s free speech protections ; international human rights law also affirms the centrality of academic freedom to the right to education and the institutional autonomy of educational institutions.

Across the United States, attacks on free speech are on the rise . In recent years, right-wing groups opposed to the teaching of critical race theory have tried to undermine these principles through measures including restrictions on the discussion of history and structural racism in curriculums, heightened scrutiny of lectures and courses that are seen to promote dissent and disciplinary procedures against academics who work on these topics.

What people may not realize is that speech critical of Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies has long been censored, posing persistent challenges to those of us who uphold academic freedom. Well before Oct. 7, speech and action at N.Y.U. in support of Palestinians faced intense and undue scrutiny.

Our students are heeding Refaat Alareer’s call to bear witness. They are speaking out — writing statements, organizing protests and responding to a plausible threat of genocide with idealism and conviction. As faculty members, we believe that college should be a time when students are encouraged to ask big questions about justice and the future of humanity and to pursue answers however disquieting to the powerful.

Universities must be places where students have access to specialized knowledge that shapes contemporary debates, where faculty members are encouraged to be public intellectuals, even when, or perhaps especially when, they are expressing dissenting opinions speaking truth to power. Classrooms must allow for contextual learning, where rapidly mutating current events are put into a longer historical timeline.

This is a high-stakes moment. A century ago, attacks on open discussion of European antisemitism, the criminalization of dissent and the denial of Jewish histories of oppression and dispossession helped create the conditions for the Holocaust. One crucial “never again” lesson from that period is that the thought police can be dangerous. They can render vulnerable communities targets of oppression. They can convince the world that some lives are not as valuable as others, justifying mass slaughter.

It is no wonder that students across the country are protesting an unpopular and brutal war that, besides Israel, only the United States is capable of stopping. It is extraordinary that the very institutions that ought to safeguard their exercise of free speech are instead escalating surveillance and policing, working on ever more restrictive student conduct rules and essentially risking the death of academic freedom.

From the Vietnam War to apartheid South Africa, universities have been important places for open discussion and disagreement about government policies, the historical record, structural racism and settler colonialism. They have also long served as sites of protest. If the university cannot serve as an arena for such freedoms, the possibilities of democratic life inside and outside the university gates are not only impoverished but under threat of extinction.

Paula Chakravartty is a professor of media, communication and culture at New York University, where Vasuki Nesiah is a professor of practice in human rights and international law. Both are members of the executive committee of the N.Y.U. chapter of the American Association of University Professors and members of N.Y.U.’s Faculty for Justice in Palestine.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Most American colleges and universities require the completion of courses that emphasize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)-related topics to graduate, according to a new report surveying public and private institutions.

Speech First, a group advocating for First Amendment rights on US campuses, released an investigation on Thursday that found 165 of 248 selected institutions — from American University to Williams College — mandate DEI-related classes to meet general education requirements.

The classes “place students into identitarian groupings based on racial, sexual, and political characteristics to create a rigid framework amongst students where they only see each other as either the ‘oppressor’ or the ‘oppressed,’” the executive summary of the 33-page report states.

Speech First looked for trainings and courses that included an “ anti-racist ” approach, which often denounces “ whiteness ” or “ white supremacy ,” as well as the existence of forced “ DEI Statements ” in which faculty pledge to promote the ideology if hired.

The group also searched for the use of terms like “intersectionality,” “toxic masculinity,” “critical gender theory,” “ableism,” “implicit bias,” “systemic racism” and “social justice.”

“Consequently, this erosion of merit-based principles and build-up of anti-American sentiment has had detrimental impacts on the quality of education and has fostered an environment where conservative voices are systematically marginalized, discredited, and silenced,” the report states.

“As DEI departments have grown on campuses, we have seen an increase in campus policies that regulate, monitor, and restrict student speech,” it adds. “The inquiry revealed that students are subjected to courses advocating far-left ideological perspectives and pushing far-left political advocacy.”

Last year, the Supreme Court struck down race-based admissions practices at Harvard University, a private institution, and the University of North Carolina, a public institution, ruling that the universities’ affirmative action policies violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees US citizens “equal protection under law.”

Chief Justice John Roberts declared in the decision that “eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it” and “universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”

Both Harvard and UNC made the Speech First list, along with Cornell, Dartmouth, and Princeton of the Ivy League.

Prominent flagship state schools that made the list include the universities of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Notable private institutions shamed by Speech First included Boston College, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Fordham, Georgetown, MIT, Purdue, Syracuse, Vassar and Wellesley.

Every university surveyed came from at least one of four groups: Spring 2023 NCAA Division I institutions, schools ranked among the best in the nation in 2023 by US News and World Report, those with endowments above $1 billion and those in the top 100 of undergraduate enrollment nationwide.

The 67% of schools with DEI offices and programs included at least one institution in every US state and the District of Columbia — several of which have recently outlawed the practices, such as GOP-led Florida and Texas .

Some anti-DEI legislation is also pending in Democratic-controlled states like Illinois, the report shows, and states where power is evenly divided between the major political parties like Pennsylvania.

To be counted, the universities or colleges needed to have mandatory DEI courses or sensitivity training, DEI electives that are required for graduation, or general education learning outcomes that include DEI language.

The report suggests that the banning of DEI and critical race theory courses and the adoption of free speech programs during freshman orientation would change the leftward drift of America’s higher education institutions.

It also advocated for a return to the study of the nation’s founding principles under the Constitution as a part of general education requirements nationwide.

“Obviously, a commitment to free speech on campus requires academic freedom for professors within their classrooms,” Cherise Trump, the group’s executive director, said in a summary of the report.

“But American universities are increasingly institutionally stacking the deck by requiring students to sit through classes that, rather than impart knowledge or build saleable skills, infuse an ideological worldview that is in many instances hostile to key tenets of the American way of life,” she added.

“Taxpayers may well wonder why they subsidize academic institutions that require training in a hostile ideology as a graduation requirement.”

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