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 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 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
