For months, those in the education world have been speculating about the dangers of ChatGPT- a new AI technology that can generate entire essays for students. Not only does ChatGPT pose threats to the classroom but also to the college admissions process. This past week, Beatrice Nolan at Business Insider decided to test the app and see exactly how it held up when it came to producing strong college admissions essays. Spoiler alert: it didn’t do well at all!

I was inspired by Nolan’s experiment and decided to play with ChatGPT myself. And what were my conclusions? I found that the app doesn’t just produce lackluster personal narratives. It downright destroys the college admissions essay! Here’s why.

ChatGPT strips away integrity

In one of my favorite holiday movies, Elf, the main character yells at the department store Santa Claus: “You sit on a throne of lies!” I can’t help but share his sentiment when it comes to AI-generated college admissions essays. The goal of the admissions essay is to share YOUR story, and the admissions committees expects YOU to write it. Commissioning an app to do it for you is a violation of academic integrity. And is that really the first impression you want to give a college or university? After all, ChatGPT is on everyone’s radar, and I can imagine that admissions committees will become pretty savvy at spotting human versus AI essays. 

Let’s also point out the obvious: a ChatGPT admissions essay is fictional. It can’t possibly capture your real experiences or feelings. To reinforce this point, I asked ChatGPT to write me an essay. Here’s the opening to my “personal” narrative:

I was 10 years old when I first saw the ocean. My family had decided to take a summer vacation to the coast, and I couldn't wait to see the vast expanse of blue water that I had only ever seen in pictures.

As we drove closer to the beach, I could feel the excitement building in my chest. Finally, we arrived at our rental house, and I ran out to the balcony to get my first glimpse of the ocean. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined, the waves crashing against the shore, the salty smell of the sea in the air….

Nice try, ChatGPT, but I never took a family vacation to the “coast” in fourth grade. The writing may be grammatically correct, but the story isn’t. Of course the admissions committee wouldn’t fact check my coastal vacation, and some might even argue that this is a harmless lie. But the false story IS harmful. It undermines the entire point of the personal essay: to give meaning to an experience in your life. The essay is the one piece of your application that truly makes you human, that shows the committee who you are beyond the numbers, the grades, and the list of activities. Plus, I have to wonder if the app is producing similar stories for anyone who asks the app to write them a personal essay. What if hundreds of applicants submit an essay on the same coastal vacation? That would spell disaster for those students!

ChatGPT can’t really answer the prompt

Contrary to popular belief, the college admissions essay isn’t a free-for-all. Most students apply to colleges through the Common App and will need to choose one topic from its list of seven essay prompts. While the prompts are rather broad- which gives students the freedom to tell a range of stories- they are specific in one regard: they require students to reflect on HOW an experience impacted them. In other words, the essay prompts are begging applicants to show their growth and emphasize their personal qualities. ChatGPT isn’t going to capture these layers of the prompts. And to prove it, I picked Common App essay prompt #2 and asked ChatGPT to write me “a personal essay on a challenge.” Here’s what the app produced:

One of the biggest challenges I faced in my life was overcoming my fear of public speaking. For as long as I can remember, I had always been terrified of standing up in front of a crowd and speaking. I would get shaky, my heart would race, and my mind would go blank.

The essay mostly detailed the day I supposedly overcame my fear of public speaking, but it didn’t tell the reader what I learned from the experience. So I decided to get more specific. “Write me a personal essay on a challenge and what I learned from it,” I commanded the app. 

It responded:

One of the biggest challenges I faced in my life was overcoming my fear of failure. For years, I had been afraid to take risks and try new things because I was scared of not succeeding. This fear of failure had held me back in many aspects of my life, and I knew that if I wanted to grow and succeed, I had to confront it head-on.

So, I decided to take a chance and apply for a competitive internship program at a prestigious company. I knew that the odds were against me, and that many talented and experienced applicants would be vying for the same position. But I also knew that if I didn't try, I would never know what I was capable of.

The application process was grueling. I had to fill out a detailed application, submit multiple essays, and go through several rounds of interviews. Every step of the way, I was plagued by doubts and fears. What if I wasn't good enough? What if I got rejected?

But I pushed through my fears and kept moving forward. I prepared as best I could for each interview and put my heart and soul into my essays. And finally, after what felt like an eternity, I received the news that I had been accepted into the program.

I was over the moon with excitement and relief. But more than that, I felt a deep sense of pride in myself. I had taken a risk, faced my fears, and come out the other side victorious.

Okay, so there are more details here but still no lesson. The reader has no idea what I learned or how I’ve grown as a result of that experience. It’s clear that while the app can pick up on keywords (like “challenges”) and effortlessly describe an event (albeit fictitious), it can’t begin to address the more reflective pieces of a college essay prompt. 

ChatGPT is void of personality

It’s no secret that college admissions have become increasingly competitive over the past few years. That means that a quality admissions essay, one that reeks of personality and an authentic voice, is more important than ever! ChatGPT simply cannot produce the level of quality necessary for an acceptance. From my own experimentation with the app, I can tell you that the responses are incredibly generic. How could they not be? Even though ChatGPT’s personal essays include details, they are cliche and void of actual human feeling. 

Even more problematic (at least to me as an English major) is the voice and style that’s lost in an AI-generated essay. It’s impossible to get a sense of an applicant’s personality or connect with the writer if the words aren’t their own. Case in point, this ChatGPT personal essay on a life-changing road trip:

As we hit the road, the excitement was palpable. We rolled down the windows and turned up the music, belting out our favorite tunes and chatting excitedly about the adventures to come. Our first stop was a small beach town on the coast, and we spent the afternoon soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean, and indulging in some delicious seafood.

The next day, we drove inland to a national park, where we planned to hike and camp for a few days. The scenery was breathtaking - towering trees, rushing rivers, and cascading waterfalls. We hiked for hours, taking in the beauty of our surroundings and pushing ourselves to our limits. When we finally made it to our campsite, we were exhausted but elated.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly excited to read further. The details don’t make me feel like I’m really getting to know this reader. But maybe that’s just because I’m too distracted by cliche lines like “taking in the beauty of our surroundings.” Plus, I can’t help but wonder if there are any high school students who actually use words like “elated” and “palpable.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ultimately, ChatGPT destroys a lot more than the potential for a beautiful personal essay. It can lead to dangerous consequences for your college admissions chances, not to mention your integrity. And if you don’t believe me, just ask ChatGPT. In response to “should I write my own essay,” it replied: 

Writing your own essay can be a valuable learning experience, as it can help you develop your critical thinking, research, and writing skills. Additionally, it allows you to express your unique ideas and perspectives on a given topic.

However, if you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure about how to approach a specific essay, seeking assistance can be beneficial. You can seek help from a tutor, a writing center, or even an online essay writing service. It's essential to ensure that any help you receive is ethical and that you maintain academic integrity…

If you’re in need of college essay writing assistance in the coming months, book a meeting with us. We have an entire staff of humans here at DC College Counseling who can help you produce an essay that is authentically you!