05/19/2026
If your child is preparing to write college application essays, please caution them to be very careful about AI use.
Some schools have strict no-AI policies, even including grammar editors. Some allow AI for brainstorming and light grammar checks but nothing more. A large percentage have no clearly defined policy at all.
What's consistent is that many colleges consider using AI to write (and even organize) any portion of the essay to be fraud. Brown University, for example, states that AI use "is not permitted under any circumstances" in application content.
AI detectors are often unreliable, so many schools are now running voice consistency checks by comparing application essays against other submitted writing to flag inconsistencies. Others are adapting their evaluation approach entirely. Duke, for example, has shifted its focus to the quality of the story an applicant tells rather than the polish of the writing, which is a direct response to the real possibility of AI in the application process.
College applicants are wise to steer clear of AI when writing their essays. And, parents, please don't be tempted to run your child's essay through AI for them. It's still problematic and could cause serious consequences. A growing number of schools are asking students to sign a statement confirming the writing in their application did not benefit from the use of AI.
Even if a specific college has no AI policy of its own, the Common App does. In 2024, they updated their fraud policy to explicitly include AI-generated content and a violation can be reported to every school on a student's list.
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