The aim, colleges and advisers explain, is to probe how well students can countenance other viewpoints. “We are looking for students who want to be bridge builders,” New York University tells applicants on its website.
Duke this year asks applicants to describe a time when they had a difference of opinion with someone they care about, and what they learned from it. That is a shift from last year, when the prompt asked students to recount either an agreement or a disagreement.
Duke’s interim dean of admissions, Kathy Phillips, said the revision aligns with a school initiative to “build skills to engage with complex topics with an open mind and humility.”
Essay prompts often reflect the political moment, college consultants and former admissions officers say. Questions about social justice and diversity became popular after the Black Lives Matter movement grew a few years ago. Prompts about feminism and gender equity ascended during the #MeToo era, and questions about community arose after Covid isolation.
Since President Trump took office, he has pushed colleges to show they can welcome conservative views.
“The essay questions follow the times,” said Tara Dowling, an independent educational consultant.