Do College Admissions Check for AI on Applications?

People are using artificial intelligence (AI) large language models, or LLMs, for everything from helping write emails to refining the lists of colleges they’d like to apply to.

However, using artificial intelligence to help you craft your college applications can cause problems. 

Colleges want to make sure they’re admitting students who can be successful on their campuses, so they use the application as a way to assess students’ skills and preparedness. In fact, most colleges require students to attest that they have been truthful and honest on their applications when they submit them! 

That’s why some schools are starting to run students’ applications through software that checks for the use of AI and flags applications that it suspects have used AI to generate some or all of the text. In this article, we’re going to explain what you need to know about how colleges are using AI scanning software and how it can impact your admissions prospects. 

Let’s get started. 

Universities have AI on their radar.

What Is an AI Checker and How Does It Work?

AI checkers are software systems that analyze text to determine if it was generated using AI. To do this, the software looks for patterns associated with machine-generated content. While these systems are very complex, essentially the software looks for patterns associated with machine-written content and flags them for review. Humans can then look at those reports and make decisions based on the AI checker’s findings.

Why Are Colleges Concerned With AI?

Your admissions packet is more than just a list of your accomplishments. It helps admissions counselors understand who you are as a person and a student. Universities want to admit students who will not only be successful on their campuses, but will contribute to their communities to make their universities and communities better places. 

Some students are using AI to help write important aspects of their college applications, including personal statements and college essays. When AI writes an essay for you, it’s plagiarism. 

Even if you are feeding information about yourself into an AI model to create your essay, it’s not an accurate representation of your own skills or work. Not only do some colleges consider this a form of cheating, it also harms their ability to evaluate potential students.  

What Are Colleges’ Policies on Using AI in the Admissions Process?

As AI has gained traction, universities are scrambling to create policies that acknowledge the benefit of AI tools while still sticking to their academic missions and discouraging plagiarism.

Below are a few examples of policies from universities and institutions that have posted their stances on using AI on college applications publicly. Reading through them will give you a good idea of how these institutions view the use of AI in the college admissions process.

Common App

Common app considers the use of AI in your admissions essay to be an instance of fraud, so they include it in their fraud policy. Here’s the excerpt about AI:

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

If you get caught by Common App for using AI, they will first conduct an investigation. This could mean reaching out to all the other schools you’ve applied to and asking them about your application. According to their fraud policy, they cannot guarantee that the nature of the investigation will be kept confidential in this process. That means using AI to write one of your supplemental essays and getting flagged could result in all of your colleges receiving notification of your AI usage. 

If you’re found to have committed fraud, you will be blocked from ever using the Common App again. They also have the right to contact all of the other schools you’ve applied to and let them know that your application could contain fraud. 

Unfortunately, the Common App’s statement is vague. They don’t define how much AI use is acceptable, only that “substantive content” is considered fraud. For that reason, we recommend you do not use AI if you intend to submit your applications via the Common App. 

California Institute of Technology

Caltech is one of the few universities to publicly post their policy on using AI in the admissions process. They specifically break down ethical versus unethical uses of AI, saying:

Although CalTech does a better job than other schools of outlining what they consider to be appropriate use of AI, they aren’t clear about the consequences that come with unethical use. However, CalTech’s Honor Code Handbook makes it clear that unethical AI use is considered academic dishonesty, which has significant consequences for enrolled students. 

If your school has acceptable use cases for AI in your application, we recommend you stick to those recommendations very carefully if you use AI at all. Following directions and ensuring that you’re being ethical about AI use will not only ensure you don’t get pinged by AI detection software, it also shows that you’re a thoughtful student and excellent future member of their campus community. 

Figuring out which AI checker colleges use feels like the missing piece to the AI puzzle. 

What AI Detector Do College Admissions Use?

If a college does check for AI on student applications, what AI detection software colleges use? The truth is that there are many AI detectors on the market, so it’s nearly impossible to figure out which detector a specific college is using (if they’re using an AI checker at all). However, it has long been policy for colleges to run essays through a plagiarism detector, some of which have AI detection built in. 

Consequences of Getting Caught Using AI

In general, schools treat AI usage just like any other plagiarism issue, so if you are caught using AI to write your college admission essay in ways that aren’t allowed by a school’s stated policy, you can expect to be treated as if you had plagiarized. 

While you won’t go before the academic integrity panel like an admitted student would, it’s much more likely that you will be denied admission. Whether there are consequences beyond that, such as being blacklisted or the school that catches you reporting you to Common App or other universities, is harder to say.

What Happens If My Application Gets Flagged for AI? 

Every school has its own policy when it comes to AI usage on college applications. For schools that prohibit the use of AI entirely, getting flagged by an AI checker can mean the difference between getting admitted and being denied. Other schools may have a remediation process that allows students to adjust their applications or submit additional writing samples if their application gets flagged. 

As schools start to adjust to the realities of programs like ChatGPT, they’re adding AI information to their admissions pages. It’s important to make sure you’re acquainted with the AI policies of the universities on your college list. 

With that said, just because a school doesn’t have an AI policy on their website doesn’t mean they aren’t using an AI checker! You can always call the admissions office for more information. If you can’t find a formal policy on how a school handles AI, it’s always better to be safe than sorry and avoid using AI on your application. 

There's a right way and a wrong way to use AI, especially on college applications. 

Can You Use AI Ethically? 

We’ve talked a lot about the issues with AI. But it’s also important to note that some schools–like CalTech–realize that AI is a part of life going forward. Instead of trying to prohibit it entirely, these universities encourage students to use AI ethically as part of the application process. 

But what does that mean? In general, using AI to help you generate ideas is okay as long as a) your university allows you to use AI in some capacity and b) those ideas accurately reflect you and your experiences. Using AI to help you actually write your essays or fabricate topics you think sound good but aren’t true to you is unethical. 

We know the distinction between ethical and unethical use of AI can be tricky! 

Researching Colleges and the Application Process

The first acceptable use is using AI for research. 

So for instance, you might ask the AI application, “What are some schools with strong biology programs for someone with a 3.7 GPA and a 28 on the ACT?” The AI will provide you with lists of target schools (schools you have a chance of getting into), reach schools (more competitive schools you might be able to get into), and safety schools (schools you are very likely to get into). 

Then you can verify this information by looking at each individual school’s website for more information about their biology program requirements. Remember you should not take the AI for its word! Research on your own and find out for sure, because AI isn’t always right.

Using AI as a starting point for your college selection process is totally okay. You aren’t doing anything unethical. Just remember to do your own fact checking, and don’t let the AI make any decisions for you.

There are many other ways to use AI for research, and the general rule of thumb will be that it’s okay to use AI if it’s just an alternative to a search engine.

Brainstorming Ideas

Choosing what to write about can be as hard as actually writing your college essays. You can have AI help generate a list of ideas for your college essays based on information you give it about yourself and a description of the essay prompt you’re trying to answer. 

Once AI generates a list, you can pick the topics that seem like you could use to create a strong essay, and then refine your ideas yourself. Remember that no matter how much information you give an AI generator, there’s no way for a computer to really know who you are. If you want to create a truly stand-out essay, you’ll need to refine topics that an AI generator gives you no matter what. 

Just remember that having AI decide the content of your essay is not a good idea. It won’t come up with anything as individual or interesting as you could, but it can get you started if you feel like you’re stumped. 

Grammar and Spelling

Once you have your essay written, you can use AI to check the grammar and spelling for you. ThisThis can either be done in your writing application (spell check is AI!) or through a third party that does it for you, like Grammarly. There’s nothing wrong with using AI as another pair of eyes to polish your draft as long as the AI isn’t doing the writing. 

One way to think of any use of AI is to treat the AI as if it were another student. Would you consider it cheating if another student pointed out that you misspelled a word? No. Would you consider it cheating if another student gave you three ideas for your essay and you chose the one that appealed to you? No. Would you consider it cheating if another student wrote your essay for you? Yes, you absolutely would! If you keep that in mind, it will give you a good idea of when it is and isn’t okay to use AI in the college admissions process.

The question of, “Do college admissions check for AI?” won’t matter at all if you use AI ethically and use your own strengths and experiences to create a strong college admissions essay. 

5 Tips for Creating an Excellent Essay Without AI

So, do college admissions check for AI? It’s pretty clear that many do, though there’s no way to know if every school on your list uses an AI checker. 

But remember: students have been writing essays and getting into college without AI for decades. You are entirely capable of creating an essay on your own. 

Not only that, AI can’t replicate what makes you uniquely you. Colleges care most about understanding your personality and how you think. While AI might help you brainstorm and start the process, it can’t match your ability to share yourself with admissions counselors. 

At PrepScholar, our experts have been helping students just like you get into the best schools in the U.S. for years. Here are our top five tips to create an excellent college admissions essay without the use of AI!

Tip #1: Get Input to Stand Out

Understanding which AI detector college admissions use and how to get around it isn’t as important as writing a really individual essay! Remember that the admissions panel will be reading hundreds of these essays, and most of them will be very similar to each other. 

Try to think about a fresh approach to the prompt. Brainstorm a list of several ideas and ask friends, family members, or your school counselor which one seems most interesting to them. You can also ask them to weigh in on what they think makes you special or unique. Sometimes it takes collaboration with someone we trust to spark the best ideas! 

AI might be very good at generating coherent content, but it can only replicate the common patterns that most frequently appear in other peoples’ essays. AI isn’t ever going to come up with a really unexpected take on the same question every student has to answer, so not using AI will be a benefit if you want to catch admissions counselors’ attention. 

Tip #2: Make it Authentic 

AI doesn’t know you, your hopes, or your dreams. Using AI on your admissions essay might make the process go a little faster, but AI isn’t going to write the essay that shows the admissions panel who you are and why you’re a good fit for their university–which is the whole point of the admission essay. 

Remember that colleges are places of learning, and the admissions panel wants your essay to convey the lessons you’ve learned from your experiences. Try to express how your successes and failures have shaped the person you are and who you wish to become. 

Tip #3: Show, Don’t Tell

What do you have that AI doesn’t have? Five senses. AI might be able to describe something in detail, but AI has never personally experienced anything. 

Try to use all five senses in your writing, painting a vivid picture of a moment so your reader feels like they are there with you. Bringing your essay to life in this way is something that will put the reader in your place and help create empathy for you and your experiences. It’s also something that is hard for AI to do well! 

Tip #4: How Have You Changed? 

Have you ever read something and wondered, “What was the point of all that?” If so, you know first hand one of the most important guidelines for writing your college admissions essay. You want the reader to care about what they’ve just read.

If you combine the three previous steps (a fresh approach, a human perspective, and a vivid sensory experience) and can successfully convey what you learned from it or how it changed you, you’ll have an essay that answers the big question of all writing: so what? That also shows your readers that you’ve spent time reflecting on your experiences and have learned how to grow from them. 

Tip #5: Revise

Once you have your essay written, give it a few days and read it again with fresh eyes. Maybe have someone else read it aloud to you. It probably won’t seem as strong as you thought it was when you wrote it, and maybe you’ll think of new things to include, things to cut, how to say things a little bit better. 

Look for ways to improve it and work toward making it a stronger, more unique essay. Then give it another look a few days later. Keep on revising it until you feel like it’s the strongest essay you can possibly write. An AI can “revise,” in that it can change an essay around in response to your prompt, but the AI has no critical thinking skills. It doesn’t know if it’s improving it or not, so a well-revised paper is something that an AI cannot create for you.

What's Next? 

• If you missed it, we have a step-by-step guide that will help you write a great college essay. 
  
  
• Need a little extra help with the writing process? Our coaching service can help you go from a blank document to fantastic essay in no time. 
  
  
• Are you writing a Common App essay? We'll walk you through every essay and give you strategies for answering them.