Five ways college admissions could change
Students can change what they write about in the college essay. And they should no longer be tortured by the SAT and ACT.
As for children of alumni? The pressure is on to end their advantage in the admissions game.
The Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that ended race-conscious admissions is expected to lead to a dramatic drop in black and Hispanic students attending selective colleges.
But the court’s decision could have other, surprising consequences, as colleges try to follow the law but also admit a diverse class of students.
The personal essay becomes more important.
The Supreme Court noted that students could emphasize their racial or ethnic background in the college essay.
“Nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race has affected the applicant’s life,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote. contribute to the university.”
But Judge Roberts also cautioned that the essay could not be used as a surreptitious way to telegraph race.
That means college essays can fundamentally change in tone and tenor — and topic.
“At the moment, students are writing about their football training; they’re writing about their grandmother’s passing,” said Shannon Gundy, the director of student admissions at the University of Maryland, in a recent presentation sponsored by the American Council on Education.
She added, “They don’t write about their trials and tribulations. They don’t write about the challenges they’ve had to endure.”
Fewer schools will require SATs and ACTs.
Due in part to the coronavirus pandemic, about 1,900 colleges and universities have removed requirements for standardized testing, at least temporarily, and moved to “test-optional” or test-free admissions.
Now some colleges may drop those requirements permanently, in response to critics who say the tests favor students from wealthier families.
Eliminating test scores can also protect schools from lawsuits. Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court cases, relied heavily on data in its case against Harvard.
Data released by the College Board, which owns the SAT, shows that students whose families are in the highest economic class score 100 points better than those in the lowest category. Racial disparities in test scores are even greater. In 2022, white students scored an average of 1098, while black students scored an average of 926.
Admissions agencies could go even further, such as the University of California system, which has become “test-blind,” meaning it doesn’t look at test scores even when students submit them.
Preferences for the rich may end.
Most colleges have long resisted eliminating a much-criticized admissions practice: giving a boost to the children of alumni, donors, and faculty.
But that might be more difficult now. In his concurring opinion, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch criticized Harvard for not overturning the preference.
And President Biden promised on Thursday that the Department of Education would analyze “practices such as legacy admissions and other systems that extend privileges rather than opportunities.”
Mr Biden is not the first resident of the Oval Office to question old confessions. President George W. Bush, who followed his father and grandfather to Yale, said in 2004 that he thought they should be eliminated.
Schools generally want to keep these preferences because they say they build community and help with fundraising. Only a handful of selective colleges have left them, including the California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Amherst College.
A new measure of merit: adversity indices.
Following the ruling, President Biden also called for “a new standard” for assessing applicants. In addition to test scores and grades, he suggested that schools measure the “adversity a student has overcome.”
“The kid who faced more difficult challenges has shown more grit and determination, and that should be a factor,” Biden said.
Some schools already consider a student’s background in their admissions process. The medical school at the University of California, Davis evaluates applicants based on a socioeconomic diversity index, or “SED.”
Colleges go deep into recruitment.
Selective colleges are used to having applicants come to them. Now many more will be out and about, looking for potential students.
For example, the University of Virginia this month announced a plan to target 40 high schools in eight regions across the state that had little history of sending applicants.
A university analysis found that only 6 percent of students from the state’s most underprivileged schools applied.
A program at the University of California could serve as an example. The program has provided academic support and admissions counseling to thousands of high school students in low-income communities.