If you applied for college during the 2025-2026 admission cycle, you may have noticed that The Common App. requested you respond to an optional section probing your race and ethnicity. Maybe you saw this and didn’t bat an eye. Or maybe you thought to yourself, “How could this be legal now that the Supreme Court has outlawed the use of race-based Affirmative Action in college admission!?”

Your concern and confusion are justified. Wouldn’t such a question on The Common App. be illegal now that colleges and universities ostensibly cannot weigh race as one of many factors that go into the admissions decision-making process? As it turns out, the answer to this question is far more complicated than you might be expecting (although the short answer is that filling out this short response will not jeopardize your admissions odds and is perfectly legal!).

The Common App. Race & Ethnicity Questions

First off, what information, exactly, would The Common App. like to gather on college applicants? When filling out the “Demographics” section of your student profile, you’ll encounter an optional section probing your race and specific ethnic background. Filling out this section is not mandatory, and not doing so will not adversely affect your application, full stop. So let’s just get that out of the way!

However, it is a bit confusing that this information is being collected at all, given that the Supreme Court was pretty clear that using such data in the admissions decision-making process is expressly prohibited. What does The Common App. have to say for itself?

We’ll tell you. The following is drawn straight from its website: 

Q. Did the Supreme Court rulings (SFFA v Harvard/UNC) make it illegal for Common App to ask a student’s race?

A. Common App’s inclusion of an optional race and ethnicity question is not illegal. Common App does not make college or university admissions decisions. Our role in the college admissions process is to serve as an application for students to apply to college. The Supreme Court’s decision applies to public or federal funds-receiving colleges and universities who make admissions decisions. Those institutions determine the information they consider when making those decisions.

Making Sense of the Legality of the Common Application Race & Ethnicity Question

So, according to The Common App., just because this data is gathered doesn’t mean colleges can see it. Here is the country’s number one college application platform’s attempt to clarify the legality of this question:

“Member colleges also are able to configure the data imports from Common App to recognize or exclude race and ethnicity. Colleges use this information for state and federal reporting, institutional metrics, and other business purposes.   

Common App will continue to use student race and ethnicity responses for statistical and research purposes and to provide insights into the national conversation on equity in college admissions.”

In other words, United States colleges subject to the Supreme Court ruling cannot access the race and ethnicity responses, but this data is still collected for government reporting, and so that non-U.S. schools can factor it into their decisions. It’s complicated, we know. To make matters more complicated, it’s not even totally true that race is no longer on the table for colleges to consider. 

Wait, what?

The Roberts Loophole Allows Applicants to Sidestep the Supreme Court Ruling

The Roberts Loophole is a provision in the 2023 SCOTUS Ruling that carves out an exception to the Affirmative Action ban. It allows students to write about how race has impacted their lives in any and all college essays, including The Common App. essay. Colleges receive these essays and use the perspective conveyed (as well as the strength of the writing itself) to weigh whether the student is suited for admission.

So even though it may seem in theory like Affirmative Action is a thing of the past, in practice, colleges across the country are very much still taking a student’s race into consideration. Still, they cannot access The Common App. race and ethnicity data, so if a student does not avail themselves of the Roberts Loophole by writing about race in any of their essays, colleges in the United States will be effectively left in the dark about the race of that student. 

But let us be the first to tell you that you should absolutely take advantage of the Roberts Loophole if you’re a student of color applying to a highly selective U.S. college!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance With Making Sense of the Roberts Loophole

If your child is a student of color intent on applying to a highly selective college, we wouldn’t blame you for being utterly baffled by this contradictory state of affairs. But you need not throw in the towel. Let Ivy Coach help you make sense of the legal landscape and equip your child with the tools they need to take advantage of the Roberts Loophole when they write their college essays.

Our team of former elite college admissions officers works with students to optimize their odds of admission to their top choice schools. To get started with us, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch with an outline of our services.