College application essays give students an opportunity to show who they are beyond their courses, grades, and test scores. When they turn to an AI to draft their essay, it creates something that is grammatically correct, but tends to sound like what an average student might write. This is the opposite of what they actually want to create. An effective essay doesn’t have to be unique, but it should reflect the student’s individual experience.
AI Doesn’t Produce a Better College Essay
I even recommend avoiding AI for brainstorming. There is a strong temptation to keep going and allow the AI to make a rough draft, then a revision, then the final draft. The outcome might sound polished, but it may also lack your experience and voice. It takes longer to go through your own draft and revision cycle, but the resulting essay will be more authentically yours. (I’ve worked on this piece for about a month, and it’s changed emphasis and form a couple of times.)
What personal characteristics do you want the admissions reader to know about you? What are some instances in the past few years where you demonstrated those characteristics? Don’t just write an interesting story, but make sure it’s clear why you’re telling that particular story. In other words, why does what happened matter to you? Since an AI doesn’t know who you are, it’s not a good tool for helping you share who you are.
Your Application Essay Should Be Your Own Work
It’s worth noting that some colleges may use AI detectors on college application essays. Recently one AI company announced the addition of a “watermark” in their responses that would identify the work as AI created or assisted. Many colleges ask students to affirm that the application is their own.
When I review essays, I give feedback comments rather than direct edits. It’s up to the student to accept or reject my suggestions. The student is the best source about what matters to them. Their words, not a chatbot’s, should be in the spotlight.
You should always write essays outside of the application portals in a program like Google Docs or Word. Using spelling and grammar check is acceptable (and wise), but avoid using features that would rewrite your own work. Remember it’s entirely appropriate for the essay to sound like a high school student wrote it.
Writing Helps You Figure Out What You Think
Author Joan Didion wrote, “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” Students should use their essay writing time to explore who they are and what they’re thinking. They don’t nail it on the first draft. That’s normal. That’s being a writer.
Would you or your student benefit from guidance that keeps them in the center of the writing process? I offer hourly college application essay coaching that focuses on feedback rather than erasing a student’s voice and experience.
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