College Applications and ChatGPT
Last Updated on January 22, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel
Back in December 2022, an article about college applications and ChatGPT caught my attention. But, I thought maybe I could avoid writing about ChatGPT, since tech is most definitely not my area of expertise. But, that was before I was asked by multiple people about its impact, in just the past week. And admittedly, I feel a little more confident in my own predictions after reading a tweet from respected Georgia Tech Director of Admission and author Rick Clark (Truth About College Admission) earlier today.
What is ChatGPT?
If you’re really tech-savvy, my explanation may not be perfect. But, as a layperson, I think of ChatGPT pretty simply as an artificial intelligence computer (AI) program. As you interact with it, it can learn new things and get smarter. The “GPT” stands for “generative pre-trained transformer.” You can interact with ChatGPT through conversation and it is really easy to use. As you ask it questions, it can answer, and as you interact, it will generate better and better responses.
Implications
The implications for the academic world are pretty easy to imagine. One physics professor said that ChatGPT was able to score perfectly on a graduate level Physics exam. But it doesn’t just solve math and science problems. Professors and teachers have reportedly been stunned by the quality of the essays it can generate. This is already presenting a real dilemma for educators at all levels. I asked an undergraduate and a graduate student to ask it to compose essays for them based on their areas of study. Both said that the essay it produced was credible, though lacking in detail. A true subject matter expert could see the gaps, but an average reader may not spot them.
But my specific interest is of course, college application essays. Can it write convincing ones? This is why that article in Forbes caught my attention. ChatGPT wrote two decently convincing college essays in just twenty minutes. Yikes. They were well-structured and had a sense of purpose. I will be honest, they were actually better than some of the initial essays I have read from students. They were better than some essays I have read that were clearly written by parents (yes, sadly, this happens). And, I would bet they could compete easily with lots of generic essays that students send to colleges each year. In fact, admissions officers even admitted that they likely wouldn’t be able to pick out the AI-generated essay.
But (you know there is always a “but”), just like the subject-matter essays composed by the college students, to me, there was “something” missing from those college essays. It was lacking the authentic voice of a teen. When reading it closely, there are details missing that would really get to the heart of who the student IS. I have trouble imagining that the ChatGPT generated essays are of high enough quality that they could help a student in a highly competitive admissions field. The essays I have read from students who are real contenders for highly selective schools are much more unique and have real “heart” to them. These essays do not. However, could a student start with an AI-generated essay and then personalize? I think it’s possible.
The Future
I think it’s safe to say that ChatGPT (or something like it) is only going to get more sophisticated and is here to stay. Predictably, there are already apps claiming to be able to detect cheating using ChatGPT (similar to apps that are used to detect plagiarism, I’d guess), though I don’t know how effective they are. I believe this may cause a real shift in college applications. I believe that many larger universities may abandon the college essay as part of their admissions considerations. What remains to be seen is whether something could replace it? Rick Clark offered up the idea of timed and/or proctored writings or even using work samples as a replacement. He also suggested that the essay requirement would be only half as prevalent as it is today, within two years. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
