The End of Affirmative Action and What It Means For You
You’ve probably heard by now that the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last week in their rulings on the Harvard and UNC admissions cases. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, you might be wondering what colleges will do in a race-neutral admissions process and how it will impact you. Even though the rulings were just formally announced, the admissions world has anticipated this outcome for over a year.
Here’s what this all means for you:
If you are an underrepresented minority (primarily Black, Latinx, or Native American). You can still talk about ways your racial identity has impacted you and shaped your reality in your essay or interview. Better yet, ask your school counselor to address this in their letter of recommendation for you.
Essay prompts and supplements on college applications might encourage students to discuss their identities more. Many colleges already ask students to do this. The application and Common App may change in some fundamental ways yet to be determined.
More colleges may take on test-optional or test-blind policies. Similar to the UC system, which has been unable to use race in its application process since 1996. Since going test-blind, UC has increased the number of underrepresented minorities on its campuses.
Despite the ruling, colleges will remain committed to admitting a diverse class of students. They will become more creative in the ways they recruit and evaluate students. There will be more resources for communities and schools that serve underrepresented minorities. Even so, underrepresented minority numbers are expected to drop as they did at UC.
This is a hot-button topic that is wildly polarizing. Be prepared to have educated conversations on the topic that takes into account a breadth of lived experiences.
If you are interested in more resources or want someone to help navigate these upcoming changes, leave a comment below. Village is committed to making a college degree accessible to everyone, so please join our mailing list to learn more about the additional free and low-cost resources we’ll be sharing this year.