AI in College Admissions, Fall 2025

I’ve talked with my students about AI in admissions MANY times. Right now, it is the wild, wild west – with few rules or guidelines.

AI is something that we DEMAND our students know how to use in order to be competitive for jobs but then SCARE them about using with confusing guidelines.

That said, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole trying to learn enough to give my students advice. Here’s what I’ve learned:

We had to wait until 8/1 for the colleges to publish their applications to know how they were going to handle AI this year. What we’ve found is that there is NO consistency among the colleges (not surprising) about their AI policies for admissions essays.

Most have no written AI statement at all, many have a vague policy that acknowledges AI’s presence and asks you to not use it to write your essays, but state that you can use it as a tool for brainstorming and/or editing. A handful mention AI with their supplemental essays with a similar note on “responsible use.” A tiny group, however, has strict policies and a few, like Georgetown, require you to sign a pledge saying you did not use AI in any way for your essays.

I think most of us agree that AI is here to stay. It is a tool, when used properly, that can streamline work. But can you use it with your college essays? First, let’s cover some basics:

1. Will colleges use AI detectors and flag your essay if your usage is high? Nobody knows, but I don’t think so – most don’t mention any AI detector policies, but allude that they won’t.

2. Could they use AI detectors, though? Sure. Anything is possible in college admissions.

3. If they do use an AI detector, what % AI is allowed? That is the million-dollar question. You are the only one who can decide what % you are comfortable with & which AI detector % you believe.

4. How do you determine what % AI yours is? This is TRULY the big question because AI checkers are ALL different and notoriously incorrect. I’ve run my student’s essays through various versions. Essays that come back 2% AI on one then show as 20% AI on another. Which one is right? Nobody knows.

That said, here are MY brand-new thoughts.

1. First... don’t panic. We are all doing the best we can to follow “rules” which are vague, inconsistent, and confusing in the face of a new technology.

2. Confirm the AI policies for every school on your list – these can be hard to find as many don’t have one, but if they do have a policy it should be easy to find with a Google Search. If a college requires an “AI Pledge” that you sign, stating no AI was used in your essay, then you need to MAKE SURE that no AI was used in your essay. Period.

3. Be smart – take this moment to do a last review before submissions and think about YOUR personal stance on AI use.

4. Run through an AI checker – I do suggest that you all run your essays through more than one AI checker – I’m using GPTZero and Scribbr. You will see how different the results are. You will also see how many of your original, human words will be flagged as AI if they are concise or follow certain patterns. It can be frustrating and confusing, but do it anyway.

5. Decide if you want to make any changes – if you use one like Scribbr, it will highlight the phrases that seem the most like AI.

Some argue that NOT using AI in the “responsible way” is leaving a strategic tool on the table. Others argue that using it is “cheating.” Ultimately, YOU have to decide what you believe.

Confused yet? So am I. All we can do is the best we can with the information we have at the moment. Welcome to the brave new world of AI in college admissions.

As always, I’m here to help you figure it out.

Jen