ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence app used to generate an answer or essay in response to a prompt. It was released in November 2022 and already has millions of users globally. Professors and teachers become concerned that students will use it to cheat and use it to create essays and assignments from elementary through college level.

There is talk in higher education that colleges will eliminate the college admissions essay due to ChatGPT.

The college essay is a 650 word essay that should be personal, descriptive, spoken from the heart and in the voice of a 17 year old. It should also not be perfect. But an essay generated by ChatGPT has none of these traits thus, an admissions committee reader can tell if it is fake or not written by a rising high school senior. Just like I always tell my clients that parents should never re-write their student’s essay, using ChatGPT will change the tone of an authentic essay.

I am hopeful that ChatGPT will not change the college essay component of the application. Students should keep their essay authentic, original and unique.