The AI Problem in College Admissions 

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the world around us. From the workplace to the classroom, its impact is being felt across nearly every aspect of society. College admissions is no exception.

High school students are increasingly using AI to search for colleges, brainstorm ideas, refine personal statements, and, in some cases, generate entire application essays. Enthusiasts argue that AI is simply the latest educational tool that should be welcomed as a disruptive force in higher education. But the reality is far more complicated.

College admissions is about more than a well-written essay. The process is supposed to help universities evaluate a student’s academic record, achievements, experiences, and character. If universities allow AI to become a central part of the application process, they will open a Pandora’s box of unintended consequences. The integrity of admissions will suffer as colleges increasingly reward AI-assisted performance rather than the merit, effort, and character of the applicants themselves.

The essay and personal statement can serve an important role in the admissions process. They give admissions officers insight into qualities that grades and standardized test scores alone cannot capture.

Admissions essays are meant to showcase a student’s writing ability, originality, and maturity. When AI takes over that role, admissions officers are no longer evaluating the student—they are evaluating the output of a machine. Colleges cannot make truly holistic admissions decisions if they cannot distinguish between a student’s own work and content generated by artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence also creates a divide between students who use it to gain an advantage and those who choose to complete their applications on their own. Over time, this could produce an admissions process that rewards instant gratification and technological assistance rather than hard work, originality, and integrity.

The proliferation of AI in college applications could pressure honest and hardworking students to seek assistance from AI. If applicants believe that everyone else is submitting AI-generated or heavily AI-polished essays, many will feel compelled to do the same simply to remain competitive. The result is an arms race with no real winners, where authenticity is punished, and honesty becomes a liability.

As colleges have adopted test-optional admissions policies, essays and personal statements have taken on greater importance in the admissions process. At the same time, the rise of artificial intelligence has made it increasingly difficult to determine who actually wrote those materials. Admissions officers already face the daunting task of reviewing hundreds of thousands of applications each year. AI alone has not created these problems, but it has contributed to them and exposed existing weaknesses in the admissions process.

If colleges and universities care about the integrity of their admissions process, they should adopt the following three reforms to reduce the growing influence of AI on college applications.

• Bring back objective measures

Colleges should bring back objective measures of academic performance, including grades, SAT and ACT scores, and AP exam results.

• Use more direct assessments

Colleges should supplement traditional application materials with direct assessments, including interviews, video responses, and timed writing samples. Doing so would give admissions officers a better understanding of each applicant’s communication skills and readiness to succeed in the classroom.

• Explicitly prohibit AI-generated content

Colleges should clearly prohibit the use of AI in the admissions process. Such a policy would reward honesty, preserve the integrity of admissions, and ensure that applications reflect students’ true abilities.

AI is not going away. Its presence across virtually every industry will only grow in the years ahead. Colleges now face a choice: embrace the use of artificial intelligence in admissions or preserve a process rooted in merit, achievement, and character.

Jovan Tripkovic is communications manager at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.