The guy presently in charge of Harvard admissions has been there for 40 years. I worked for him in the late '90s. 100% of Harvard College admissions decisions are discussed and voted on by a large committee. It’s not a system that allows biased individuals to hide their discrimination against a demographic group. And the idea that Bill Fitzsimmons would allow that bias to flourish in the open during the deliberations…no. He would have to have acquired antisemitism as a senior citizens after decades of admitting classes that were like 1/4 Jewish. I don’t buy it.
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What on earth is a diversity essay? I have two children who applied to college, in 2018 and 2014. They didn’t have to write any such thing.
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It’s a relatively new thing and it has gained more importance this year after the Supreme Court ruling on the consideration of race in admissions.
The related question that has not been asked but I will answer is that, if the school asks the optional question in the common app, would you like indicate your religion, my son picked “Jewish” proudly and every time. I don’t know or care if AOs see this data.
That is a different question about writing about Judaism in a diversity essay.
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