We’ve all heard of ChatGPT or Gemini; maybe you’ve even played around with the tech yourself. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an evolving tool that can be handy or disastrous, depending on how you use it. As college application season approaches, I strongly suggest that students refrain from using AI in their college essays for several reasons:
Robots sound like, well, robots. In my experience reading hundreds of essays, AI-generated writing is obvious. It’s bland. It lacks insight and reflection. The structure is predictable and formulaic, and the word choice often feels disembodied or corporate. It reads like a robot wrote it-- exactly the opposite of what makes a good college essay.
You could break the rules without knowing it. Colleges have wide-ranging, unclear, and changing tolerances for the use of AI. While some do allow for the use of AI (for example, Georgia Tech), many others consider any use of AI to be a plagiarism infraction that is grounds for throwing out an application.
AI? Deny. AI-detecting software is being used in some college admissions offices; colleges will not spend extra time or effort on a questionable essay. They will simply deny the student in question; they have plenty of other applicants.
The writing journey is useful. Learning to write well takes practice. By writing and revising essays, students build skills and knowledge that they will take with them into a successful college career.
Students: you don’t have to write perfectly, but you should absolutely write genuinely. Don’t drop notes into ChatGPT and submit the results. When I help students revise essays, I often ask, “How would you say this to your best friend?” and then follow up with, “Write that!”. Find and focus your (human) voice and use your own words to highlight the experiences, qualities, and values that will make your application shine.
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