Reply to NY Times on new application essays dabbling in so-called "identities"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t get people who are responding to this about how it could be asking about things like being an only child or being white. This question is directly related to finding another way to use race in college admissions, notwithstanding the supreme court’s ruling. This is why a non URM struggles with the question. Clearly, anyone can answer this about their identity: only child, disabled, youngest/oldest child, army brat, loss of a parent, ill sibling, etc.,but that’s not the intended use of this essay. [/quote]

No.  These kinds of questions have been on college applications forever.  The only difference is the use of the word, “identity,” versus “tell us about yourself or who you are as a person.”  They are asking the same thing.  If you can’t think of anything to say about yourself and what shaped you, then you probably should not apply.  A person of color certainly wants to be defined beyond their race, as does a white person.[/quote]

For example:

Notre Dame for 2022-2023: People in the Notre Dame community come from many different places, backgrounds, and walks of life. How is where you’re from a part of who you are?

University of Michigan for 2020-2021: Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.

University of Georgia for 2019-2020: Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to
shape it.

Florida State University for 2015-2016: We firmly believe that every person is unique and of value. Our university is enriched by embracing individual differences and creating a community that is much more than the sum of its parts. In 650 words or less, share your story with us. Tell us how you came to be the person you are today, and about your passions and future expectations. Describe how you will benefit from our community and how our community will benefit from you.

[/quote]

Q: Tell us how you came to be the person you are today.

A: my Black skin color.

Yes, it is the same.[/quote]

What if your cynicism isn’t merited? What if you’re expending all this energy and time and certainty on something that just isn’t so? What a shame that would be. [/quote]

NP please, stop pretending that these questions might not actually want you to talk about your skin color, because they very obviously do. After decades of zealously focusing on diversity admissions, you’d have to be a complete idiot to think they suddenly gave that up in 2023.[/quote]

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