When I applied to college during my senior year of high school, my college adviser told me on several occasions that my profile was too plain to get me into an elite university. She always stressed how much colleges were looking for diversity. And she often told me that as a white student, my application would have less of an advantage in the affirmative-action system unless I presented very compelling reasons why I was a worthy candidate. Of course, after I proved my adviser wrong and got into an elite university, I pretty much stopped caring about her opinion. But her comment about my race as a potential disadvantage to my application still bothered me.

I understood, of course, that colleges were looking for diversity. But I could not understand why colleges continue to use a system that favors one student over another based on race.

It further baffled me that colleges could think that my being white made me "not diverse" when I come from a very unusual family background and, as a result of being particularly well-traveled, have an uncommon worldview.

My adviser's comments bothered me even more when I got to Brandeis and found that the majority of the student population is pretty homogenous.

This is not to say that there isn't some level of diversity at Brandeis. We have students of many cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds here, and that is something we should celebrate. However, just because there are many ethnicities to be found on the Brandeis campus does not necessarily mean that we are benefitting from diversity of thought.

Because of my college experience, I believe that there is a problem with the current, race-based affirmative action system. Affirmative action is meant to increase diversity on campus and combat prejudice as a potential barrier to enrollment of minority students in institutions of higher education. While it would be a long shot to say that prejudice is no longer an issue for minority groups, the enrollment rates of minority students in colleges and universities across the country are higher than ever before.

Despite higher rates of enrollment for minorities, the rates of enrollment for the lowest socioeconomic classes are at an all-time low. According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the rate of enrollment for the bottom socioeconomic quarter at 146 of the most selective institutions is only 3 percent. In contrast, the rate of enrollment for the top quarter is 74 percent. If a classroom contains students of all different races, but many of those students come from similar economic backgrounds and as a result have all have had similar life experiences, their educations might not be enhanced by a multiplicity of views. Isn't diversity meant to encourage understanding by utilizing different viewpoints?

That being said, it seems that the best way to remedy this problem is to reform the current affirmative action system. The idea of class-based, rather than race-based, affirmative action is one that has been proposed before. A class-based system could present a lot of problems in implementation, including removing need-blind admissions policies. However, there are already a number of students from lower socioeconomic classes at Brandeis who consequently bring an entirely different set of experiences and views to the table. If we want to increase diversity here, it would be in our best interest to bring more of these students to campus.

Unfortunately, despite much discussion about potential class-based systems, no colleges seem to be making the change. However, several Ivy League universities have created programs in which they waive tuition, room and board fees for students whose families make less than $60,000 a year. This system at least provides opportunities for students from lower classes, even if it doesn't necessarily encourage more of those students to apply.

In order to increase diversity, all colleges should, in theory, adopt similar systems to bring more students from lower classes to campus. But as we all know, the current financial crisis would make it virtually impossible to waive tuition, room and board for some students, especially at Brandeis. In addition, because of economic woes at colleges, an application that was not need-blind might discourage the admission of students who would need more financial aid.

Nonetheless, even if certain institutions like our own cannot afford to implement some measure of class-based affirmative action, the problem of diversity still remains. But maybe a solution to this problem is easier and cheaper than we think.

While many elite universities ask for additional essays so prospective students can highlight their unique qualities, Brandeis' current supplement asks for little more than one's name and home address. Perhaps the admissions team should consider adding to the Brandeis supplement to the Common Application an optional essay in which applicants could demonstrate what it is about them that would make them a diverse addition to the Brandeis community.

With such an essay, applicants could elaborate more upon their personal experiences and insights. Whether applicants believe they would be a diverse addition because they come from a lower socioeconomic class or because they have been skydiving in six different countries, an optional essay would allow them to share those experiences and insights. These are things that one cannot know simply by looking at a person's race, yet these are the things that make people truly different from each other. Furthermore, this essay would be optional, so choosing not to write it would not be a detriment to anyone's application.

At least this option would give the admissions team some more insight into the true diversity of prospective students until we can afford a better solution.