There’s been a lot written lately about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, especially when it comes to students completing their assignments. But AI is becoming a hot topic in college admissions, both in terms of students using AI to create their applications and colleges using AI to help choose students for admission.
Today, we’re going to bring you up to speed on how both students and universities are using AI in the admissions process and what that means for you.
Let’s dive in.
How Are Students Using AI In College Admissions?
It’s no secret that AI is everywhere in the classroom. From building flashcards to summarizing reading assignments, students are using AI to supplement–and sometimes hamstring–their education.
So, it’s no surprise students are turning to AI for college admissions, too. Here are three of the emerging trends when it comes to student AI use in college admissions.
#1: Building College Lists
For some students, AI has been a way to start the college list process. Since there are thousands of universities in the U.S., asking a generative AI program like ChatGPT has become a way for some students to start narrowing down which colleges they’d like to apply to.
#2: Proofreading Application Materials
For students juggling a heavy high school workload and applying for college, making sure their application is as perfect as possible can be overwhelming. Many are turning to AI programs to help proofread their materials to make sure they’re grammatically correct and readable before hitting “submit.”
Writing College Essays
For students, writing college essays can be the most intimidating and time-consuming part of the application process. Nearly every school requires some version of the “Why This School” essay, and it’s not uncommon for universities to require supplemental essays as well.
We’re going to cut to the chase: using AI to write your whole college essay for you is cheating. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. One of the large-scale studies of students’ use of AI in college applications, published in 2024, found that 30% of high school students used AI in some capacity when writing their college essays.
To combat this, some schools are changing how they evaluate college essays. For example, Duke University uses a 30-point scale to rate applications. Starting in 2024, Duke no longer assigns point values to essays although they are still an important part of the application process, citing concerns about AI usage.
Because AI is still in its early stages, there’s no universal approach to how universities are handling the potential for AI-written essays. However, it’s important to be aware that as AI becomes a more popular tool, universities will continue to adjust how they evaluate applications.
Colleges are getting in on the AI action, too. New AI tools are changing how universities around the U.S. are evaluating student applications.
How Are Universities Using AI In College Admissions?
While people are often most focused on how students are using AI to apply for college, it’s important to understand that some universities are using AI in the admissions process, too. From automation to assessment, here are three big ways AI is changing how colleges evaluate students for admission to their campus.
#1: Automation
Schools can receive many thousands of applications each year. For instance, in 2023 more than 54,000 students applied to Harvard–but only 1,970 got in. Many top schools experience similar application-to-admissions ratios. In order to evaluate the influx of applicants, some colleges are turning to AI-powered algorithms to help prioritize applications.
For universities, AI can provide an attractive way to help automate the more robotic tasks in the admissions process, especially when it comes to data analysis. AI can extract important data from an application, such as addresses, grades from transcripts, test scores, and calculated and weighted GPA and import it into a system where it can be more easily evaluated and compared across students.
#2: Assessment
Some universities are using AI to reduce the amount of time it takes for admissions officers to assess each application.
For instance, AI is being used to scan letters of recommendation and personal essays to ensure that they have a “positive” tone and convey the attributes of a successful candidate. This can help admissions officers sort through application piles more quickly so they can focus on evaluating apps from students who have a higher likelihood of admission.
Other schools are using AI to help rate specific elements of a students’ applications, like candidates’ video interviews. Interviews require counselors to watch thousands of hours of footage. By using AI to refine the process, it can save admissions counselors time that they can dedicate to other portions of the application review proc
As AI becomes more popular, new AI-enabled tools are becoming available for universities hoping to use technology to make better choices when it comes to admitting students. For instance, Bolt is a new AI-powered technology that allows universities to gather behavioral data on how much a prospective student visits a school's web page, how many emails they open, and how much time they spend completing their application. Theoretically, this information could help universities determine how interested a student is in actually joining their student body if granted admission.
#3: Anti-AI Policies
Despite starting to embrace AI themselves, many universities are trying to prevent students from using AI in the application process by adopting anti-AI policies.
Brown forbids the use of AI on college applications in any instance. Their website on Integrity in the Application Process reads:
Other schools don’t have explicit AI policies but are discouraging students from using AI in their applications in other ways. For example, the University of California doesn’t explicitly forbid AI use, counselors warn using AI may not actually help students’ admissions chances. Robert Penman, the executive director of undergraduate admissions at UC Davis, explains:
Even if a college itself doesn’t have an AI policy, college application portals are starting to screen for AI use in college essays. The Common App now flags college essays if they suspect a “substantive amount” of AI was used to create it. Recently, the Common App released an application fraud policy that lumps AI use in with plagiarism. It reads:
Additionally, if the Common App determines a student has plagiarized part of their application or essays, they reserve the right to terminate the student’s account.
Unfortunately, we're not talking about that type of fair. (Though county fairs are a lot more fun than filling out college apps.)
Is Admissions AI Fair?
While most universities are not using AI to make final decisions about students’ admission statuses, some of them are using AI to filter out students who “don’t make the cut,” or students whose grades and test scores don’t qualify them for admission.
Some news outlets have reported that students have also been screened by universities’ AI systems for their expected performance and financial needs. In other words, some schools have allegedly used AI to try and “predict” whether students will be successful after admission and/or will be able to pay for their education long-term.
Critics point out that while using AI in admissions might help make some processes more efficient, it can also create new biases that inadvertently harm capable and qualified students. AI only knows the data its trained on, and it’s being trained on historical enrollment data, meaning the AI is going to have a bias toward preserving historical trends. Also, the recent Supreme Court decision that declared affirmative action policies in college admissions were unconstitutional means that colleges are still adjusting to new enrollment and admission, so the most recent data that AI could be trained on is unstable, making for an unreliable dataset.
This is all important because most of these uses could both give students less control over the admissions process while creating more inequity of college admissions.
It's tempting to use AI on your college application essays. But it is actually a good idea?
Should I use AI in My College Admissions Applications?
So if Universities are using admissions AI to streamline virtually all of their admissions processes, does that mean it’s okay for you to use AI to create your application materials?
If the school you’re applying to does not have an explicit anti-AI policy, there are a few ways you can ethically use AI in creating your college apps.
Use #1: Conducting Research
It’s okay to use AI in any instance where it’s helping you search out more information so you can make more informed decisions. For example, asking ChatGPT to give you a list of schools with strong electrical engineering programs so you can start researching potential schools is fine.
Another way you could use AI as a research tool is asking programs to help you organize information you already have. For instance, if you’ve built a potential college list but you’ve picked too many schools, you could ask ChatGPT to organize your list by cost, or help you understand which schools offer on-campus housing options and which don’t.
Just be aware that AI isn’t always accurate and shouldn’t replace verifying the information you receive with reliable sources, like universities’ official websites. Our article on how to research colleges can guide you through the whole process, start to finish.
Use #2: Correcting Grammar
College counselors are looking for students who have a strong attention to detail and good communication skills. That means bad grammar in your application can harm your admissions chances, especially at more competitive schools. Using an AI-powered proofreading tool like Grammarly can help you make sure your writing is grammatically correct without influencing your content or putting you at risk of plagiarism.
Use #3: Busting Through Writer’s Block
We’ve already explained why it’s not a good idea to use AI to write your college essays. However, you can use AI like a writing partner to help you bust through tricky writers’ blocks.
For instance, many students struggle when it comes to brainstorming ideas for potential college essays. Telling ChatGPT about yourself and important aspects of your personality and life can help you generate a list of topics that could make for great college essays. (Of course, only you can write about you, so that’s where ChatGPT’s benefits end!)
Additionally, you can use AI tools to help you better understand prompts if you’re confused about what they’re asking. Getting AI to rephrase prompts or expand on some of the prompt’s key points can give you a checklist to help guide your work.
What's Next?
- When you're working on your college essays, it can be helpful to read through successful examples from other students. This list of 177 college essay examples can jumpstart your writing process.
- The most beautiful writing in the world can't help you if your essay isn't answering the prompt! Our experts break down common essay prompts and walk you through how to make sure you're answering yours correctly.
- A bad college essay can make or break your application, especially at top schools. Here are the 10 mistakes you must avoid.
