Right after ChatGPT was released in 2023, our Editorial Director here at CEG, Andy Simpson, wrote a piece called CEG’s Thoughts on AI and College Application Essays. It’s a good one; check it out.
And in the past two years, I (Ethan) have shared my thoughts on AI at conferences, in YouTube videos, on a number of webinars, and in my courses.
But I hadn’t written a blog on this yet as of early 2025 (and hey y’all this stuff is changing fast), so what follows are some ways I’m thinking about AI use by students in the college essay and application process.
I’ll walk through:
My biggest concern in general
Concern #1: AI alignment and safety (like, in The Big Sense)
My concerns related to AI use in the college application process
Concern #2: Students ignoring what colleges want and what the Common App requires
Common App guidelines around AI use
What colleges have to say about AI use in the college application process
Concern #3: What students might miss out on if they use AI to write their essays for them
My recommendation (advice to students and counselors)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(click to skip ahead)Concern #1: AI safety (like, in The Big Sense)
While this probably isn’t the thing you’re looking for if you’re reading this article, I can’t not at least mention it.
There’s a lot more to be said about this, but my friend Duncan Sabien, who works at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), explains the potential dangers better than I could in this post on AI safety.
(Note: If you don’t have 30 min to read the whole article right now, scroll down and read the last section “11. …and the trap swings shut” and I’m hoping you’ll maybe be inspired to read the whole thing.)
And if you really want to take a deep dive on this, you might check out this article.
Content warning: That piece messed me up for a few days, and by “messed me up” I mean that it frightened me enough to consider that there is a non-zero chance the world could end in a few years and actually had me rethinking my life for a few days. So fair warning.
As it relates to the college admissions process, however…
Concern #2: I want a student’s work to align with what the Common App requires and what colleges are requesting.
First, here are the Common App guidelines that a student agrees to when they submit their application (highlight is mine):
That’s pretty clear and straightforward: The work you submit must be your own.
What do colleges have to say about AI use in the college application process?
Here’s a quote I found to be broadly representative of what many college admission officers say, emphasis mine (more links at the end of this article):
AI is not inherently “bad”, but I caution against it in your college application. First and foremost, I guarantee that any essay one writes with the help of AI is not going to be nearly as good or authentic as one that an applicant composes on their own. And, remember, we’re trying to build a community of learners who will contribute to the academic and social fabric here, so we count on authenticity in the application. Also, you are asked to sign off on your application verifying that the work is yours alone.
- Karen Richardson, Dean of Admission at Princeton
And here’s advice from Caltech (bolding is theirs):
Your essays are where we hear your voice. Relying on AI, specifically large language models such as ChatGPT or Bard, to craft your essay will dilute your unique expression and perspective. While we know AI tools have become readily accessible over recent months, overuse of AI will diminish your individual, bold, creative identity as a prospective Techer.
What are some examples of unethical uses of AI for Caltech admissions essays?
Copying and pasting directly from an AI generator
Relying on AI generated content to outline or draft an essay
Replacing your unique voice and tone with AI generated content
Translating an essay written in another language
What are some examples of ethical uses of AI for Caltech admissions essays?
Using AI tools, like Grammarly or Microsoft Editor, to review grammar and spelling of your completed essays
Generating questions or exercises to help kick start the brainstorming process
Using AI to research the college application process
If you are still wondering whether your use of AI in crafting your application is ethical, ask yourself whether it would be ethical to have a trusted adult perform the same task you are asking of ChatGPT. Would a teacher be able to review your essay for grammatical and spelling errors? Of course! Would that same teacher write a draft of an essay for you to tweak and then submit? Definitely not.
Above all else, remember to be authentic to yourself when writing your essays. Our Caltech supplemental questions are designed to spark your curiosity, to make you think deeply about whether you see yourself as a Techer, and to jumpstart your creativity – don't let a reliance on AI tools take that opportunity from you!
I like Caltech’s advice. Quite a lot, actually.
I too want students to submit work that is their own on their college applications.
So here’s a good guiding question for students going through this process:
If a college admissions officer asked you how you used AI in your application, what would you feel proud to say?
But there’s another reason I think students should do their application writing on their own, and it’s this…
Concern #3: I worry students who use AI to write their college essays will miss out on some important nutrients.
What do I mean by “nutrients”? Healthy stuff that will make you a better, more thoughtful human.
I believe the college essay writing process offers students a valuable opportunity to learn a lot about themselves through writing. (See more in this short video on ChatGPT and college essays.)
While LLMs can help draft an essay faster, I worry that if a student is focused only on the product (i.e., a final essay) and speeds through the process of getting there (all the brainstorming, drafting, redrafting, etc.), then they are likely to miss out on some great opportunities to gain some important nutrients / stuff that can be really good for them.
Here are some examples of “nutrients” the college admission process can provide:
Potential for personal development and self-awareness, discovering not just how you think (because writing can help reveal that) but why you think that way
Vulnerability that comes with putting down on paper your skills, qualities, values, and interests… and getting the chance to be seen for all those qualities
Inspiring thrill of searching for—then finding!—that perfect detail
Freedom when you’re given the chance to story your own life (yes, story as a verb) and the sense of autonomy in getting to decide how it’s told
Particular sense of ownership that comes from looking at a piece of writing about your own life that you’ve spent hours on and thinking “that’s me” and “I wrote that”
Confidence that can come from taking on a hard thing… and succeeding
Value of collaborating (in some cases) with a trusted counselor, essay coach, mentor, or peer on redrafts
Not to mention: emotional intelligence, storytelling skills, the beauty in starting over and so much more
Put simply, I worry that AI could lead to the essay writing process becoming even more transactional… when I believe this process can be, at its best, transformational.
I don’t want that to get missed, especially if folks are skimming, so let me put it in bold:
Further, several colleges have publicly noted that any use of AI in the application process is prohibited.
To offer another example Brown clearly states in their “Artificial Intelligence in the Application Process” statement:
As per the Common App's policy linked above, their definition of application fraud includes: "submitting plagiarized essays or other written or oral material, or intentionally misrepresenting as one’s own original work: (1) another person’s thoughts, language, ideas, expressions, or experiences or (2) the substantive content or output of an artificial intelligence platform, technology, or algorithm."
Brown affirms this definition and reiterates our own independent policy that the use of artificial intelligence by an applicant is not permitted under any circumstances in conjunction with application content. While an applicant may use artificial intelligence to assist with spelling and grammar review, in the same way as any other platform that supports basic proofreading, the content of all essays, short-answer questions and any other material submitted by an applicant must be the work of that individual.
Given this (and given what other schools have shared—see additional examples below), at CEG we advocate that students, counselors, and essay coaches align with what these colleges, universities, and the Common App have said publicly: We do not advocate for the use of AI or ChatGPT in writing the college essays or application.
To be clear: Even if a school has not (as the schools below have) published their AI policy, we prefer to err on the side of caution and not use AI to write the personal statement, supplemental essays, additional information section, or activities list.
Can ChatGPT and AI be useful in certain contexts? Absolutely.
As an example, I used ChatGPT to research college and university policies for this article. (Why? Because researching every college individually would have taken me hundreds of hours.)
But the writing and analysis here is my own.
In a similar vein, might students use AI to research what colleges might be a fit for them? I believe looking up information on colleges is okay (e.g., “Which colleges and universities might be a good fit for me, a student interested in studying Theater at a mid-sized university in the midwest? Give me links so I can do further research”), as long as students are not using AI to write their essays. If students do use it, I think it can be useful to disclose how they used it (as I’ve done in the paragraph before this one).
Stay tuned for more guidelines on the use of AI in researching colleges later this year.
In the meantime:
Here’s what a few (more) colleges have to say:
University of California (UC) System (Public)
“A personal insight question written by AI is not going to be very good, because it’s not going to teach us anything about the student,” says [Robert] Penman, [who leads undergraduate admissions for UC Davis and previously worked in the admissions department at UC Berkeley and UC Riverside]. “It’s not going to help us understand more about the student in their context, their hopes and dreams, their trials and tribulations, their achievements. That can’t be generated by a machine, it really has to come from the student.” Source
Gonzaga University (Private)
As for concerns about AI-penned essays on applications, [senior director of undergraduate admission Stephen] Keller notes that all students attest to honesty and accuracy as part of their applications. The process assures that every application is reviewed more than once, and GU isn’t looking for sterile, unusually precise writing that tends to be spit out by AI tools. Source
Southern Methodist University (Graduate)
SMU requires graduate applicants must certify the following when they apply:
“I confirm that I have completed my admission application to this SMU graduate program without any artificial intelligence (AI) assistance. All elements of my application, including essays, statements, and responses, are the product of my own effort and creativity. I also pledge to maintain this level of authenticity during any admission interviews or evaluations, ensuring that my thoughts and answers are solely based on my own knowledge and abilities.” Source
University of Melbourne (Outside the US)
“If a student uses artificial intelligence software such as ChatGPT or QuillBot to generate material for assessment that they represent as their own ideas, research and/or analysis, they are NOT submitting their own work. Knowingly having a third party, including artificial intelligence technologies, write or produce any work (paid or unpaid) that a student submits as their own work for assessment is deliberate cheating and is academic misconduct.” Source
Finally, a Note on AI Use and Environmental Impacts
Keep in mind that using LLMs has an impact on the environment, both in terms of water use and carbon emissions.
How much?
Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Riverside, who has been studying the water costs of computation for the past decade. Working from calculations of annual use of water for cooling systems by Microsoft, Ren estimates that a person who engages in a session of questions and answers with GPT-3 (roughly 10 t0 50 responses) drives the consumption of a half-liter of fresh water. “It will vary by region, and with a bigger A.I., it could be more.”
For more: As Use of A.I. Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires
In Summary:
The Common App and some colleges (those who have posted their guidelines publicly) ask students to write essays on their own, without the help of AI.
At CEG, we recommend the same.
If colleges update their position, we may too. But as of this writing, here’s where things stand.
Want to stay up to date on AI use in the college admission process?
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Ethan Sawyer (he/him) has been eating/sleeping/breathing college essays for most of his waking hours since 2003. He is an internationally recognized college essay and admissions expert and the author of the Amazon bestsellers College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials. Ethan’s educational experiences, reading, and training have informed his deep interest in storytelling as a vehicle for personal development and growth. With a passion for access and equity, Ethan has provided quality resources for students, families, and professional communities alike. He has supported thousands of students through the complicated college search and application process, all while staying true to his core values of providing ease, purpose, and joy in the process.
