Applying to a college abroad? Here's how AI tools might hurt, or help
I cover education technology at The New York Times. And I've been thinking a lot about how artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, which can manufacture school essays and other texts, might reshape the college application process.
I was particularly interested to learn whether admissions officials were rejiggering their essay questions — or even reconsidering personal essays altogether.
Amid a deluge of high school transcripts and teacher recommendations, admissions officers often use students' writing samples to identify applicants with unique voices, experiences, ideas and potential. How might that change now that many students are using AI chatbots to brainstorm topics, generate rough drafts and hone their essays?
To find out, I contacted admissions officials at more than a dozen large state universities, Ivy League schools and small private colleges, including Juan Espinoza, the director of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Tech.
We used AI to write essays for Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton. Here's how it went.
Right now, he said, many universities are still trying to figure out how the AI technologies work and what they mean for the admissions process.
«But let's be clear: Students are using it to answer these essay questions,» he added. «So we need to think about how they are using it.»
The AI Skeptics
I also gleaned some interesting insights into what admissions offices are thinking about ChatGPT by listening to podcasts from different universities. «Inside the Yale Admissions Office,» a podcast from Yale University, devoted an episode to AI tools this week.
Studying Masters in Management abroad: Things to keep in mind
The title of the episode — «AI and
