It’s true that Open AI’s ChatGPT can joyfully spit out humanlike text in a range of styles. In the past, it has written everything from a semi-passable essay on the color blue as it’s discussed in Great Gatsby to advice on how to steal cars in Grand Theft Auto. The internet’s response to these works was immediate and panicked: the college essay is doomed.

Frankly, we think that’s nonsense.

Simply put, an AI does not know your experiences, your values, your character, or your personality — so while it can write an essay that approximates generic humanity, it cannot write one that approximates you, with any of the personal specificity that makes a great college essay sing.

An essay written by an AI is never going to make an admissions officer feel like they’ve gotten to know the person behind the page, and for that reason, an AI cannot write an essay for you that’s truly competitive.

ChatGPT writes an essay for Private Prep

Let us show you what we mean. We asked ChatGPT to generate a series of college essays — none of which were even remotely competitive. We’ve included one of the essays that ChatGPT wrote below, in response to this prompt from UNC:

If you could change one thing to better your community, what would it be? Please explain. (250 words)

Private Prep:

Hi ChatGPT! Please write me a college application essay for UNC, in response to this prompt: “If you could change one thing to better your community, what would it be? Please explain.” The essay should be 250 words or less.

ChatGPT:

If I could change one thing to better my community, I would focus on improving access to quality education. I believe that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and inequality that plagues many of the communities in my city.

Growing up, I saw firsthand the devastating effects of a lack of access to education. Many of my friends and neighbors struggled to afford the cost of private schools or to secure spots in overcrowded public schools. As a result, they were unable to receive a high-quality education and were forced to settle for low-paying jobs or to rely on public assistance.

I believe that by investing in education, we can give individuals the tools and opportunities they need to succeed in life. By providing free or low-cost education to all members of the community, we can ensure that everyone has an equal chance to learn, grow, and thrive.

Improving access to education would also have a positive impact on the local economy. By creating a highly educated and skilled workforce, we can attract new businesses and industries to the area, which will create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

Overall, improving access to education would benefit individuals, the community, and the economy. It is a crucial step in building a brighter and more equitable future for all.

ChatGPT vs. Private Prep editors

“If I could change one thing to better my community…”

- ChatGPT starts out with a big college essay no-no — wasting valuable words by rewriting the prompt. Not the most dynamic of openings!

“the cycle of poverty and inequality that plagues many of the communities in my city”

- Our first example of something a student would have to proof — we didn’t provide ChatGPT any information about the student. If they don’t live in a city, this may come across as a bit odd! Even if they do, this opening isn’t taking the opportunity to define the student’s community, which helps establish important perspective.

“Growing up, I saw firsthand the devastating effects of a lack of access to education. Many of my friends and neighbors struggled to afford the cost of private schools or to secure spots in overcrowded public schools. As a result, they were unable to receive a high-quality education and were forced to settle for low-paying jobs or to rely on public assistance.”

- Even if we assume these things are true about the student (which, again, it might not be!), here we start to see a lot of generalities. This feels impersonal and lacks specificity; absent details to help this come to life, and absent reflection that connects this to a student, it falls flat.
- ChatGPT is coming off fairly classist here. Is having a low-paying job or being enrolled in a welfare program really “devastating”? ChatGPT seems to be implying that its worst nightmare is a mild case of poverty — not a terribly flattering implication, and not one that speaks well of their character.

“I believe that by investing in education, we can give individuals the tools and opportunities they need to succeed in life. By providing free or low-cost education to all members of the community, we can ensure that everyone has an equal chance to learn, grow, and thrive. Improving access to education would also have a positive impact on the local economy. By creating a highly educated and skilled workforce, we can attract new businesses and industries to the area, which will create jobs and stimulate economic growth.”

- More generalities! Some of which don’t make much sense! And none of which have a clear connection to the student!
- ChatGPT is stating a series of empty platitudes here with no grounding specifics. Of course education can be a tool to improve oneself and one’s community — most kids can articulate that widely accepted principle by the time they’re 10 years old. But the expectations for a young adult applying to a selective college are much higher. For instance, ChatGPT has offered no evidence to demonstrate the specific ways in which they have lived out this general belief in the power of education — no anecdotes from community service experiences, no personal stories about the impact that education has made in their own life, no concrete plans for their work at future education nonprofits, etc.

“Overall, improving access to education would benefit individuals, the community, and the economy. It is a crucial step in building a brighter and more equitable future for all.”

- ChatGPT follows a lot of traditional writing conventions, which includes restating the thesis in the conclusion. In the college essay, that can often feel like a waste of precious word count.
- By the end of this essay, what have we really learned about this student? We’ve basically learned one thing: that they value education. Not to sound harsh here, but this takeaway is a snooze-fest. Every single applicant values education — that’s why they’re applying to college! ChatGPT has given its reader absolutely nothing memorable to hold onto about the author. This is an important demonstration of one of ChatGPT’s downfalls: because it’s drawing from aggregate data, it writes “aggregate” essays — essays that are full of generalizations, scant on specifics, and so mind-numbingly “safe” that they’re boring.

The future of AI-generated college essays

In one of many recent think-pieces and op-eds on ChatGPT (see: the panic we referenced above), New York Times contributor Peter Coy writes of his attempts with ChatGPT, “Other people have gotten amazing results because they’re smarter and more purposeful about how they use it.”

This, we think, gets at the heart of why the fear about artificial intelligence and the college essay is overblown. Right now, the technology cannot replicate the level of specificity, voice, and sophistication that we look for in a college essay. Might the technology evolve such that it can truly replicate a 17-year-old’s narrative voice in all its glory? Perhaps. But it will still take a savvy, self-reflective teenager on the other side who understands what to put into the system to begin with, as well as a strong writer and reader to review what ChatGPT generates and edit it.

While, someday, a tool like ChatGPT might change a student’s writing process, it will never be able to reflect for them; that process of self-reflection that is so critical to the college essay process—and a key part of what makes it so valuable —isn’t going anywhere.

Need specific guidance on your college essays, so they don’t sound like a bot wrote them? Our college admissions team is here to help.

No, an AI can’t write an effective college essay. Here’s why.

We're looking at you, ChatGPT!