Using an AI like ChatGPT to write your college essays is not advisable for several reasons:

1. Lack of Authenticity: College essays are an opportunity for you to showcase your personal experiences, perspectives, and unique qualities. Using an AI to write your essay may result in a lack of authenticity, as it won't reflect your true voice and personality.

2. Ethical Concerns: Many colleges and universities have strict codes of conduct and academic integrity policies. Submitting an essay written entirely by an AI could be considered unethical and may lead to serious consequences, including rejection of your application.

3. Missed Learning Opportunities: The process of researching, brainstorming, writing, and revising a college essay is a valuable learning experience. It helps you develop critical thinking, communication, and writing skills. Relying on an AI to write your essay deprives you of these important learning opportunities.

4. Limited Creativity: While AI can provide suggestions and help with grammar and style, it lacks the creativity and personal touch that make a college essay stand out. Your personal experiences, thoughts, and emotions are what make your essay unique.

Instead of using an AI to write your college essay, consider using AI as a supplementary tool for assistance. You can use AI to:

• Generate Ideas: ChatGPT can help you brainstorm ideas for your essay topic by providing suggestions and prompts based on your interests and experiences.

• Editing and Proofreading: AI can be helpful for proofreading and checking grammar and punctuation errors in your essay. It can provide suggestions for improving sentence structure and clarity.

• Feedback and Guidance: You can use AI to get feedback on your essay drafts. While it should not replace human feedback, AI can offer additional insights and suggestions for improvement.

Ultimately, your college essay should be a reflection of your unique story and voice. It's an opportunity to show who you are as an individual and why you're a great fit for the college or university you're applying to. It's best to invest time and effort in crafting your essay yourself, with guidance and feedback from teachers, mentors, or peers, to ensure it truly represents you.

Okay this is actually me writing now

Well that was scary.

I asked ChatGPT to write a blog post on why using AI to write college essays was not advisable and this is what came out almost instantly. The content looked okay enough, but that’s the thing. It was just okay. But it didn’t sound like me, I mean, it wasn’t nearly snarky enough, amirite? But seriously, my greatest worry about students using AI for essays and supplements is that it will take personality away from their applications. The main purpose of the essays is to humanize applicants. Every other part of your application is meant to impress: the transcript, test scores, activities, even letters of recommendation. Essays make you interesting. Take that away and you look more like a robot than a human being.

I implore you, please do not use AI to write your essays. If you are worried about “standing out,” then AI will definitely not help with that. More importantly, we are still dealing with the loss of learning as a result of COVID. Seniors, it is worth your while intellectually to think and write and rewrite, even if it’s a struggle at times. College admissions is a human process. They are not using AI to assess their applicant pool and you should not use it to represent yourself.

Many admissions counselors advise applicants to “be themselves.” This is as important as ever before.