AI · ADMISSIONS ESSAYSVerified96%
National / AI · ADMISSIONS ESSAYS
A New Admissions Study Finds AI-Written Essays Widespread—and Apparently Penalized
A study of nearly 7,500 applications reports better surface-level writing after ChatGPT arrived, but lower admission rates when essays appeared primarily AI-generated.
Why it mattersThe consequential finding is not that an algorithm can perfectly identify AI. It is that evaluators may react to perceived authorship, flattened voice and rule compliance at the same time. For applicants, the risk therefore exists even when prose is polished: an essay can become technically smoother while offering weaker evidence of judgment, memory and individual perspective.
