Do colleges use AI to check application essays now?
I've heard some rumors that colleges are starting to use artificial intelligence or software to screen student essays for originality or maybe to detect if ChatGPT was used. I wanted to know if that's actually true.
If anyone knows for sure or has heard from admissions officers about whether they use AI (like plagiarism checkers or AI detectors) on essays, could you let me know? I'm worried because I spend a lot of time editing my writing with tools online, but I always write my own stuff. Still, I don't want my essay to get flagged by accident.
Has anyone experienced issues with this, or is it just a rumor? It would be helpful to know how careful I really need to be with my applications.
If anyone knows for sure or has heard from admissions officers about whether they use AI (like plagiarism checkers or AI detectors) on essays, could you let me know? I'm worried because I spend a lot of time editing my writing with tools online, but I always write my own stuff. Still, I don't want my essay to get flagged by accident.
Has anyone experienced issues with this, or is it just a rumor? It would be helpful to know how careful I really need to be with my applications.
4 months ago
•
42 views
Camille Luong
• 4 months ago
Advisor
Your question is a really common concern these days, so you’re not alone in wondering about this!
Yes, colleges do use software to check application essays for originality—but let’s break down what that actually means.
Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin or similar tools have been used in admissions for years to make sure students aren’t copying essays from the internet or from sample databases.
What’s new is the conversation about AI-generated writing, like essays written by ChatGPT or similar technology.
Some admissions offices are experimenting with AI detectors to see if essays were written with the help of artificial intelligence.
However, as of now, most colleges don’t rely heavily on AI detectors when reading essays.
The main reason is that these tools are not always accurate, especially with nuanced or highly-edited student writing.
AI detectors can falsely flag original writing just because it sounds polished or uses certain patterns.
There have been anecdotal stories, but no widespread evidence of students being rejected because of being unfairly flagged.
Admissions officers are overwhelmingly focused on authenticity rather than being "detectives."
For example, if your essay sounds consistent with your other application materials (like your activity descriptions, emails to the admissions office, or interview responses), there usually isn’t a problem.
If anything, you might be contacted to clarify or explain if something seems really off, but that’s quite rare.
Here’s an example: a student used Grammarly and Hemingway Editor to polish her essay, making it well-written, but all the ideas and sentences were her own.
She was worried about being flagged, but she had no issues, and her application moved smoothly through the review process.
As long as you’re writing your own work, using editing tools to fix grammar or make suggestions is totally normal and not considered cheating.
If you feed full prompts into AI tools and copy-paste the response, that’s when it gets risky.
But simple editing and proofreading won’t get you into trouble.
In short, you can relax—most colleges do check for originality, but only rarely for AI use, and authentic student writing is not likely to be penalized for normal editing.
Staying honest and true to your voice is the best thing you can do.
Yes, colleges do use software to check application essays for originality—but let’s break down what that actually means.
Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin or similar tools have been used in admissions for years to make sure students aren’t copying essays from the internet or from sample databases.
What’s new is the conversation about AI-generated writing, like essays written by ChatGPT or similar technology.
Some admissions offices are experimenting with AI detectors to see if essays were written with the help of artificial intelligence.
However, as of now, most colleges don’t rely heavily on AI detectors when reading essays.
The main reason is that these tools are not always accurate, especially with nuanced or highly-edited student writing.
AI detectors can falsely flag original writing just because it sounds polished or uses certain patterns.
There have been anecdotal stories, but no widespread evidence of students being rejected because of being unfairly flagged.
Admissions officers are overwhelmingly focused on authenticity rather than being "detectives."
For example, if your essay sounds consistent with your other application materials (like your activity descriptions, emails to the admissions office, or interview responses), there usually isn’t a problem.
If anything, you might be contacted to clarify or explain if something seems really off, but that’s quite rare.
Here’s an example: a student used Grammarly and Hemingway Editor to polish her essay, making it well-written, but all the ideas and sentences were her own.
She was worried about being flagged, but she had no issues, and her application moved smoothly through the review process.
As long as you’re writing your own work, using editing tools to fix grammar or make suggestions is totally normal and not considered cheating.
If you feed full prompts into AI tools and copy-paste the response, that’s when it gets risky.
But simple editing and proofreading won’t get you into trouble.
In short, you can relax—most colleges do check for originality, but only rarely for AI use, and authentic student writing is not likely to be penalized for normal editing.
Staying honest and true to your voice is the best thing you can do.
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Camille Luong
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Stanford University, BAH in Urban Studies
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5 years
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