Since 2007, several changes have been implemented in the personal data section of the Common App. One significant change is the inclusion of optional gender identity and pronoun fields, allowing applicants to express their gender identity in a more detailed manner. Additionally, the Common App now offers options for applicants to disclose their citizenship status, military affiliation, and first language. Moreover, the section has expanded to include more questions about an applicant's background, such as their parents' educational attainment, occupation, and alma mater. These changes reflect Common App’s attempt to achieve broader recognition of diversity and a more holistic approach to understanding applicants' personal backgrounds.

 

Overtime, as with almost all of the Common App, the questions in the Personal Data section became more specific. In 2016-2017 the separate fields for one’s “gender” and one’s “legal sex” were provided in the application, as well as the option for the applicant to discuss their gender identity. Common App has been attempting to diversify their applicant pool for years now. Their goal is to “expand access and equity in college admissions” and remove barriers  for “students who have been historically underrepresented and marginalized in higher education”. This spans past gender and into many other forms of diversity such as race, socioeconomic status, familial history, geographic location, and more. In recent years it has become much more commonplace to see fields for pronouns and gender on official documents, and one could say that Common App is simply keeping up with the times. However others argue that Common App is attempting to paint an inclusive facade over the college process. Common App plans on incorporating another option, “X”, as a legal sex option. They are not the first ones, as “X” is now an option on US passports. Others say that this is a strategy for college admissions to find different and more unique ways to increase diversity within their campus. 

 

Taken verbatim from Common App’s website, these are the changes that will occur in the years to come: 

Changes to sex and gender questions for 2022–2023:

• Add “Mx.” and “other” options for all prefix options, including recommender invitations and Family fields. Selection of “other” triggers short answer question

• Move gender and pronouns question to demographics. New order will be gender, legal sex, and then pronouns

• Add “legal” to first/given name question label

• Reorder questions in the “name” question set

• Add “Mx.” and “other” to recommender prefix. Selection of “other”  triggers short answer question

• Replace “his or her” with the gender-neutral “their” when applicable

Legal sex in 2023–2024

Our work on sex and gender will continue in 2023–2024 with the addition of “X or another legal sex” as a legal sex option

 

Another change became one that had to do with distinctions within the demographics segment. From 2011 onwards, the Common App began gathering more information on applicants' racial and ethnic backgrounds, providing predefined categories for self-reporting. This was in addition to allowing applicants to explain their race in their own words. Common App’s two-part report on “Unpacking Applicant Race and Ethnicity” they state that since the changes implemented since the 2013-2014 application, they have been able to attain a more accurate representation of their applicant group. For example, Common App states that they “observe a 71% increase in the number of domestic Asian applicants between 2013–14 and 2021–22, this conceals the fact that the number of applicants who indicated ‘Other South Asia’ (e.g., Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh) as their detailed background increased more than twice as quickly (+169%) over the same period — while the number of applicants who indicated ‘Japan’ as their detailed background declined by 4%.” Common app argues that this approach allows them to speak with greater nuance about the “changing college applicant pool”, however given the recent start date of collecting this more specific data, the indication that there has been great change in terms of race in college applicants since 2013 is a bit misleading. 

 

While this report may provide statistics that are slightly clouded, making options regarding race and ethnicity more specific has allowed Common App to gain greater insight as to correlations between financial aid and race, better reflect college applicants, and the selection of schools chosen by applicants of different races and ethnicities.