In 2022, the world of academics was rocked when ChatGPT3 was released to the public. Unlike its predecessors, which produced work equivalent to that of a 5th grader, ChatGPT3 produces high-quality text passages and takes specific, complex directions. With a little prompting, it can write anything you want it to – a schedule, a quiz, a summary, or even an essay. And it only takes seconds.
All of a sudden, the world of academics found itself grappling with a question it wasn’t prepared to handle – what is generative AI’s place in the world of education? The consensus is largely that it does have a place, but after that – the conclusions are all over the place. Like Pandora’s box, genAI has been released into the world for free use, and it is unlikely to be reigned in any time soon. We are at a point where technology is progressing faster than regulators – who often aren’t even aware of the technology’s capabilities, let alone able to grasp its potential impacts – can respond.
Professors have had to turn on a dime to try to control its use in the classroom, and for the most part universities (such as Drexel, UMiami, and Purdue) have refused to implement broad bans, or even limits, to its use, leaving professors to come up with their own rules – and to decide the consequences for breaking them.
But that’s all after a student has been admitted. What happens if a student uses AI to help them write the essays they submit for their applications? Some universities have published guidelines, such as Georgia Tech, who encourages students to use genAI to “brainstorm, edit, and refine your ideas.” Others, such as Dartmouth College, have only given vague statements, such as the one by dean of admissions Lee Coffin: “The idea that this central component of a story could be manufactured by someone other than the applicant is disheartening.”
But, there are more AI programs than ChatGPT or even Bard. You may be using AI without even realizing it.
So, what’s a student to do? Take a look below for our tips on how to navigate the minefield that is AI in college admissions.
Grammarly
Somehow, Grammarly seems to have flown under the radar when it comes to AI discourse, with ChatGPT taking center stage. It was originally released as an application meant to assist professionals with writing formal emails, documents, and essays. It checks grammar and makes suggestions on how to change familiar, wordy, or colloquial phrases into more formal, concise, or stronger language (e.g. “I think we should be able to” is corrected to the simpler, “We can”). However, as with all AI, it needs to be checked for accuracy. It also has sentence-completion features, or the ability to “re-write” a passage while following instructions (e.g. “Add a pun”).
Should you use it?
Features such as checking for grammar are fair game; anyone who has battled the little red squiggle in a Word document knows this tool has been around for decades. The other aspect of Grammarly that makes it slightly less questionable is that it explains its suggestions and tells you why you should follow them.
We suggest turning off any generative features, such as sentence completion, and to refrain from having it “rewrite.”
Google Docs
If you open a Google Doc and begin to type, you will eventually see greyed out phrases after your blinking curser. You didn’t turn it on, so it’s just a feature of a word processing app, right? Wrong. It’s generative AI. It’s called SmartCompose, and if you see it in the comments and replies sections, it’s called SmartReply. Google states, “Smart Compose and Smart Reply don’t provide answers and may not always provide factually correct information.”
The problem with SmartCompose is that it gives you suggestions before you ask for them, and so it can speed up your writing process, but it can also suggest meaning. If you are stuck on a line, and unsure of where to go, SmartCompose will lead you there – but that means the ideas can be swayed further and further from your voice, and if you take too many suggestions, you can quickly get to a point of having a paragraph of nonsense.
Should you use it?
For best results, we don’t think so. That doesn’t mean you have to stop using Google Docs, though. To turn it off, open your document, click Tools > Preferences and de-select “Show SmartCompose suggestions.”
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is the most spotlighted and controversial of the generative AI programs. It’s the one everyone is talking about, and the guidelines are all over the place. While some schools are okay with its use in certain circumstances, others have blanket bans. In the case of college admissions, we like to keep it simple: just stay away. Using it to brainstorm might be okay for Georgia Tech, but it might get your essay tossed by Dartmouth if they run it through an AI detector. You might think you’re saving yourself time and effort, but it could backfire much too easily.
And, being entirely honest, the type of writing it is producing is not worth submitting anyway. It’s great for technical writing and how-tos, but a personal statement is supposed to be just that: personal. ChatGPT can’t write about personal anecdotes, memories, or the way things changed your perspective. It comes across as soulless and robotic, and sometimes, the writing is so meandering it doesn’t make a point at all.
Should you use it?
Nope.
Long story short, AI is still in its infancy. We predict that its use will be explored in many facets of the admissions process – by both students and admissions teams alike – but when it comes to writing a heartfelt, personal, and truthful essay, AI is no replacement for your own hard work.
The Circle 