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鈥淒iversity鈥� was top of mind when Angel Carter was applying to schools.

Raised in an African-American enclave in Atlanta, she says, 鈥淚 would have loved to go to an HBCU,鈥� the acronym for historically black colleges and universities. But college should stretch you, she felt, so Ms. Carter chose Tulane, where the student body is 75 percent white.

鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 had many interactions with white people,鈥� says Carter, now a senior majoring in anthropology and cell biology. 鈥淚 wanted to work on that: How do I code switch? How do I approach situations with people who do not look like me?鈥�

Research backs up what Carter perceived 鈥� that exposure to people with different voices and experiences yields better learning. It鈥檚 also a fashionable mantra in admissions offices across the country. It鈥檚 bragged about, even marketed.

But as admissions officers judge the means and merits of applicants for the class of 2023, what should they look for? Diversity matters 鈥� intensely and arguably more than ever before 鈥� but in the wake of the Harvard admissions trial alleging bias against Asian-Americans, there is no trusty blueprint. Like the country itself, college campuses are laboring to find the best way to evolve.

鈥淚t just feels like we are in some kind of storm,鈥� says Joyce Smith, chief executive officer of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling. 鈥淭he political landscape is truly affecting our work, our priorities and our consideration for what diversity in admissions has meant in the past and what it will mean in the future.鈥�

Now, when colleges talk about 鈥渄iversity,鈥� they are as confused as anyone about what it means. Yes, it is about representing all the usual demographic categories. But it鈥檚 also about harder-to-pin-down qualities. Matthew Proto, dean of admissions and financial aid at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, says 鈥渨e are not actually looking for the perfect student, but the student who brings a certain diversity of thought.鈥�

The quest to concoct a splendid campus mix has become maddeningly slippery. The Harvard case (with a final hearing scheduled for mid-February) focuses narrowly on race and procedural questions about how Harvard assesses Asian-American applicants versus others during admissions reviews. But what鈥檚 really on the table is the dicey matter of how diversity gets measured 鈥� and, even now, what exactly it is.

Contemplating new practices

Which is more distinguishing: test scores or what you represent? Should a student鈥檚 race, socioeconomic status, gender identity, political views, obstacles overcome 鈥� their 鈥渄istance traveled,鈥� in admissions-speak 鈥� all be treated as potential forms of merit? How can admissions officers, asks Ms. Smith, 鈥渂e fair when you have all these competing and logical arguments for a place at the table, a place on campus, a voice being recognized and heard?鈥�

A complicating factor this admissions season, she says, is that campuses are worrying that unhappy applicants could trigger 鈥渟ome level of scrutiny or legal challenge for how they admit students.鈥� Some 40 years of case law have set rules for the use of race in admissions, but at colleges across the country, leaders wonder whether they need new practices if not new rules.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to argue that race and ethnicity is not important, but it is not the only form of diversity,鈥� says Marvin Krislov, president of Pace University in New York. Colleges, he says, require 鈥減eople of different viewpoints: religious diversity, urban, rural, economic, public school, private school.鈥�

Mr. Krislov was vice president and general counsel at the University of Michigan in 2003 when the Supreme Court ruled in Gratz v. Bollinger that automatically awarding underrepresented minorities 20 points in admissions (out of 100 needed) was unconstitutional, because it 鈥渆nsures that the diversity contributions of applicants cannot be individually assessed.鈥� Racial bonus points, in other words, overwhelmed the larger goal of picking applicants based on individual qualities and accomplishments.

Yet admissions is always about more than the individual鈥檚 record. It matters, says Krislov, 鈥渉ow the person fits in relative to others.鈥� What do they bring that is unique, yet enhances a community? A challenge specific to Harvard, says Julie Park, associate professor at the University of Maryland College of Education and author of 鈥淩ace on Campus: Debunking Myths with Data,鈥� is that many Asian-Americans are raised such that 鈥渁pplying to Harvard, it鈥檚 in the Kool-Aid.鈥�

That culturally embedded value, she says, means that Asian-Americans are 鈥渕ore likely to throw their hat in the ring whether they feel they are competitive or not.鈥� It creates an applicant pool that is broader for Asian-American than for whites.听

It can also produce 鈥渁n underlying sense that a lot of these kids look similar on paper,鈥� says Arun Ponnusamy, chief academic officer of Collegewise, a large private college counseling company, who has worked in admissions at the University of Chicago, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Los Angeles.听

Mr. Ponnusamy, who graduated from the University of Chicago, says many Indian-American and Southeast Asian-American students like himself 鈥減layed a lot of tennis, a lot of us played chess and a lot of us were No. 1 or 2 in our class.鈥�

That sameness presents an admissions challenge. Ponnusamy has seen strong candidates (over his career, he has reviewed some 7,500 admissions files) sticking within familiar boundaries. Rather than presenting themselves as eager to take risks and wrestle with new ideas, many students seemed to 鈥渏ust want to go to a great school, get a great job, and have a nice life.鈥�

Copying a formula for success is 鈥渨here Asian kids get jammed up,鈥� he says. Yet, such achievement takes tremendous effort, frustrating those who push themselves to check the right boxes only to find admissions more of a crapshoot than expected.

The search for meaningful diversity

Colleges have created a troubled and contradictory cycle. They tout 鈥渉olistic鈥� review yet boast about incoming students鈥� high test scores and aggressively try to increase applications so that they reject more, which lowers acceptance rates, increases their perceived 鈥渟electivity,鈥� and moves them up in the rankings. But the greater number of applications (also spurred by the elimination of supplemental essays and application fees, spun as 鈥渋ncreasing access鈥�) makes holistic review tougher.听

As a result, says Smith, 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have that kind of time any more in admissions offices to give that slow, careful, thoughtful consideration to an application.鈥� And college coaching of applicants means 鈥渨e are all questioning who is writing the essays.鈥� Admissions officers also have doubts about 鈥渢he authenticity of the letter of recommendation,鈥� she says, and skepticism about the value of standardized tests; they struggle to parse transcripts from unknown schools. 鈥淎ll of our traditional tools,鈥� says Smith, 鈥渉ave to be reconsidered.鈥�

In this environment, campuses are trying to grasp 鈥� and in some cases redefine 鈥� what kind of diversity is actually meaningful. James Nondorf, dean of admissions and financial aid at the University of Chicago, is one who wants to see more diverse diversity.

His approach? Look differently 鈥� for example, by considering the jobs of students鈥� parents. 鈥淚t is a different experience if your parents are teachers versus police officers versus midlevel people working at a corporation,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he incomes might be the same, but the kind of life you lead and the discussions at the dinner table鈥� bring distinct perspectives to campus. 鈥淲hatever those applications bring you, you should embrace. If you have lots of kids from Iowa or way more Hispanic or way more kids from London,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 just let it go.鈥�

He says the University of Chicago also seeks varied political beliefs, enabled by the school鈥檚 outspoken stance in support of free speech. 鈥淜ids write about it,鈥� says Mr. Nondorf, and offer views from 鈥減art of the country or a part of the world you might not have heard if you didn鈥檛 meet that person.鈥� The quirky application unearths students 鈥渨ho are incredibly witty and funny,鈥� bringing those qualities to campus.听

That works for the University of Chicago. But most schools do not have their pick of applicants. Tulane, for example, is years away from Chicago鈥檚 nuance. Before Satyajit Dattagupta became dean of admission in 2016, 鈥渞ace was not considered,鈥� he says. Now, 鈥渙ur No. 1 focus is racial diversity.鈥�

In the past, students of color were admitted but often not awarded enough financial aid to come. Mr. Dattagupta shifted some merit aid to need-based financial aid and has aggressively recruited low-income students, even flying some students to the New Orleans campus to visit.

But it鈥檚 a balance. Merit aid attracts students whose test scores can boost the school鈥檚 academic profile. But offering money doesn鈥檛 always work. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 admit someone and assume they will come,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are not Harvard.鈥�

Of course, Harvard can make choices most cannot. Yet, diversity draws. 鈥淚t is a huge part of the quality of the environment鈥� and critical to being competitive, says Michael Fitts, the president of Tulane.

Campus racial diversity is 鈥渁 work in progress,鈥� says Carter, the Tulane senior who is often the only person of color in her classes.

Nonetheless, she became an admissions tour guide as soon as she enrolled. She is now president of the Green Wave Ambassadors. 鈥淚 want to represent this school,鈥� she says, 鈥渋n a way that other students of color can understand that there is a place for them.鈥�听

Correction: An earlier version of this story said that white students,听in contrast to Asian-Americans, apply to Harvard only if they are "very qualified," which was not the implication intended.听The word "many" has also been added to the sentence about Asian-Americans being raised to apply to Harvard.听

This story about college admissions was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.听