AI may be scoring your college essay: Welcome to the new era of admissions

N tudents applying to college know they can’t — orat least shouldn’t — use AI chatbots to write their essays and personal statements. So it might come as a surprise that some schools are now using artificial intelligence to read them.

- By JOCELYN GECKER

AI tools are now being incorporated into how student applications are screened and analyzed, admissions directors say. It can be a delicate topic, and not all colleges are eager to talk about it, but higher education is among the many industries where artificial intelligence is rapidly taking on tasks once reserved for humans.

Insome cases, schools are quietly slipping Al into their evaluation process, experts say. Others are touting the technology’s potential to speed up their review of applications, cut processing times, and even perform some tasks better than humans.

“Humans get tired; some days are better than others. The AI does not get tired. It doesn’t get grumpy. It doesn’t have a bad day. The AI is consistent,” says Juan Espinoza, vice provost for enrollment management at Virginia Tech.

This fall, Virginia Tech is debuting an Al-powered essay reader. The college expects it will be able to inform students of admissions decisions a month sooner than usual, in late January, because of the tool's help sorting tens of thousands of applications.

Colleges stress they are not relying on Al to make admissions decisions, using it primarily to review transcripts and eliminate data-entry tasks. But artificial intelligence also is playing a role in evaluating students. Some highly selective schools are adopting Al tools to vet the increasingly curated application packages that some students develop with the help of high-priced admissions consultants.

The California Institute of Technology is launching an AI tool this fall to look for “authenticity” in students who submit research projects with their applications, admissions director Ashley Pallie said. Students upload their research to an AI chatbot that interviews them about it on video, which is then reviewed by Caltech faculty.