Dos and Don'ts of AI in the College Applicaiton Process

Thinking about AI making applying to colleges easier? Are you tempted to ask Chat GPT or Claude to write a few of your essays? Think again! AI should amplify your authentic voice, never replace it. 

Here are some do’s and don’ts for AI use in your college essays:

What Students SHOULD Use AI For

• Brainstorming topics and angles - generating initial ideas when you get stuck

• Grammar and basic editing - catching typos, awkward phrasing, basic sentence structure

• Research assistance - finding background information on topics you want to write about 

• Outlining - assisting after you decide on a topic

• Formatting help - ensuring proper structure and meeting word counts

• College-specific info - finding names of classes, professors, and research centers in your areas of interest (make sure to check college websites for accuracy)

What Students Should NOT Use AI For

• Determining your essay topic - anything AI comes up with will be inauthentic

• Writing the actual essay - or any substantial portion of the content

• Creating fake experiences - generating stories about things that didn't happen 

• Mimicking other voices - trying to sound like someone you're not

• Generating emotional content - AI cannot convey your personal feelings

• Final drafts - submitting anything that hasn't been thoroughly personalized, reviewed and proofread

Grey Area (Use with Extreme Caution)

• Sentence restructuring - minor rewording of your ideas (there are many AI red flags that admissions officers use)

• Transition sentences - connecting paragraphs you've written

• Synonym suggestions - finding better word choices (stick with words that you actually use!)

• Outline organization - structuring ideas you've already developed

• Opening/closing sentence polish - refining hooks and conclusions

Other Things to Consider

• AI detectors are inconsistent and can flag human writing as AI-generated

• Multiple revisions using AI can gradually strip away the authentic student voice that is so critical in essays

• Admissions officers can often spot the "AI tone" and language even without detectors

• Privacy risk: uploading personal stories to AI platforms that will then use the essays for training

• You could become overly dependent and lose confidence in your writing

• AI lacks knowledge of specific school cultures and programs you are applying to

• AI can come up with false information so don’t rely on it--be sure to double-check with a legitimate external source