<ol>
<li><p>Kid was responding to a question about why he values diversity or something like that. </p></li>
<li><p>Kid said something about spending the one year in a different environment and then realizing that he really didn’t like being with kids exactly like him all the time. (I have no idea whether he actually felt this way or was just trying to write something to respond to the question…probably the latter since, as some mentioned, he obviously applied to schools where there isn’t a lot of diversity right now.)</p></li>
<li><p>Two of the “white bread” (according to mom) schools that rejected him were in Connecticut and Vermont. Kid is at NYU so obviously had the stats for that. She thinks the first two schools rejected him because they knew they were not really diverse and so his essay hurt him.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If it so important for the kid to be someplace diverse, why was he applying to places that aren’t? He could have just as easily written an essay about needing to be someplace cold in an essay for FSU. That doesn’t make sense - maybe the schools have a point.</p>
<p>Eh, can’t imagine he was rejected purely based on the essay topic…I think we all try to figure out why our kids are not accepted (especially at schools where they were “matches” or “safeties”)…maybe demographics played a role here or something completely unrelated…who knows? But to assume that the essay was the nail in the coffin is short-sighted…</p>
<p>QwertyKey, my son would be in complete agreement. His diversity essay (required for two schools’ apps) actually focuses on diversity of thought rather than diversity of race. </p>
<p>As for the essay being the reason the young man was rejected … perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. If it was the essay, it may well be that the admissions committee felt the young man might not be happy at that school. Presumptuous, maybe, but admissions decisions often are just that.</p>
<p>OP: That is an interesting thought- the colleges might have surmised (probably correctly) that they were unlikely to be this applicant’s first choice. </p>
<p>The essays might have also triggered a slightly irritated response like “okay, you want us to be more diverse, fine, we’ll reject you and take this really interesting black guy”.</p>
<p>Finally, why is this mom still talking about her son’s rejections? He is at NYU, should be diverse enough for anyone!!</p>
<p>BTW: AllThisisNewtoMe:
</p>
<p>I disagree with that. Diversity is not hype. It is just a very big requirement for a very large number of prospective students- of all colors, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, etc. It is just not a ‘cool’ thing to be in a homogeneous community any more. The ‘white bread’ colleges know that and are desperately trying to fix it- but it isn’t easy.</p>
<p>It seemed abnormal, weird, to my kid; it took him a while to figure out why. </p>
<p>When my son was in third or fourth grade, I was observing his class one February morning; that morning, I realized that my son was the only white kid in his class. I’d observed the class plenty of times before, and had just never noticed before. All I’d seen all year were kids. </p>
<p>He’s not used to not seeing people of different races. So yeah, he felt uncomfortable in Ithaca. </p>
<p>Liked the restaurants there, though; lots of options for vegetarians!</p>
<p>but, sometimes, they’re still asked to write about it. As has been mentioned, Michigan has a required diversity essay. When my S was applying back in the day, it was new, added right after the Supreme court cases. We knew what kind of diversity they were talking about. Which was fine.</p>
<p>S wrote exactly what has been suggested–basically “what I’ll add is someone for whom it’s no big deal; let me tell you about my town, my school, and the kids I play with in Marching BAnd. For me, diversity is the norm.” What else could he say? It was the truth,and he was accepted, fwiw.</p>
<p>Without knowing the content of the essay, the OP makes it sound as if it was rather bland. Adcoms have seen far too many essays along those lines, though many have only themselves to blame since they set the writing prompts.
So why was the student admitted at some schools and not others? Perhaps because the essay’s importance varies from school to school and from reader to reader.
Let’s keep in mind that “what would you bring to the school in terms of diversity” is a very different prompt from “discuss your attitude toward diversity” or a similar prompt.
I think that Garland’s S handled the writing prompt in exactly the right way.</p>
<p>It’s a bit silly to think that you can point to any one thing and say “That! That is why I was not accepted!” Really, unless you’re well below the statistical threshold in terms of GPA, there could be a million reasons why you were turned down for a specific school. Probably having nothing to do with your essay. Whoever said that essays rarely make or break a candidate on the first page is absolutely right. They are usually the LAST part of the package that is read and they are almost never the deciding factor. They can boost you a little if they describe something truly awesome, but a bland one about wanting a diverse environment wouldn’t destroy a candidate. </p>
<p>This mom is just trying to latch onto some rational reason why her son got turned down. It’s a pointless and ultimately defeating exercise. You will probably latch on to the wrong thing, and you can never know if you are right. Just be happy with the acceptances he does get and move on.</p>