BOULDER, Colo.—The University of Colorado at Boulder is adding two essays to its application next fall to gauge students’ character depth and curiosity.
The essays—in addition to the standard personal essay—would ask applicants how they value diversity, how they would build inclusiveness, and whether family or where they grew up affected educational goals.
The new essays will factor in along with grades, test scores and other academic indictors in determining whether students are accepted, said CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard.
“I think it helps us uncover some incredible students that may, at first review, not look as hot on paper,” said CU-Boulder admissions director Kevin MacLennan. “We have a lot more information. We get that mental picture of that student.”
Admissions officials at private schools have considered character for years, and CU has been asking questions designed to gauge character for three years. Pressure for large public universities to diversify campuses has prompted new ways to identify students who may not have top grades but have something else to offer.
At CU, changes come after partying scandals and a football recruiting scandal involving sex and drugs.
“It’d be disingenuous to say that that (the scandals) had nothing to do with it,” Chancellor Bud Peterson said. “We’re telling students and parents that we want quality students. We want students who are interested in academics.”
Among other Colorado universities, Colorado State University in recent years has asked students to write an essay addressing career goals, obstacles they’ve overcome or a family event that has shaped their lives.
The University of Denver has alumni in cities nationwide interview prospective students and ask how open they are to new ideas, new people and assessing personality-types, said Todd Rinehart, DU’s director of admissions.
“If they’re a borderline student, the interview could be 90 percent of why they get in or don’t,” he said.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
