I let AI write my (pretend) college app essay

Spoiler alert: I think I can do better--and so can you

Photo by Neeqolah Creative Works on Unsplash

Does AI fascinate you as much as it fascinates me? I am obsessed with what it can and cannot do, and will confess, I use it all the time. In my work as a journalist, I make it explain scientific studies to me in “plain English” (my words, not AI’s). I demand it track down obscure historical facts for my novel, like what materials crutches were made of in 1942, and how people would cushion the tops of them when they chafed against their underarms (wood for the crutches, towels secured with safety pins for the chafing, it turns out). Yes I know it hallucinates. I’m aware it’s not to be fully trusted. I asked it last week to find me longitudinal studies on a certain mental health phenomenon I’m researching, for an article I want to pitch to Scientific American. It came back with three perfect examples—except when I went to the links, none of the studies were longitudinal. I was ticked. I wanted to complain to the AI that it had deceived me. But it’s not human. It’s not even alive. It’s only a compilation of words, strung together in an attempt to give me what I want to get.

And that, my friends, is what makes it such a dangerous writing companion. This week, I decided to put it to the test with a sample college admissions essay. I’ll explain more below. But first…

Recent Uni(versity) News in Brief

Things are still really, really not good at Harvard University. Now Secretary of State Marco Rubio wants to open a sanctions investigation into the institution, and House Republicans are looking into its recruiting and hiring practices.

Remember when Chinese students were going to be banned? Apparently, they are back in Trump’s good graces.

Williams College became the first college in the country to decline federal science grants due to DEI language

Even as National Guard troops and the Marines patrol the streets of Los Angeles, the Trump Administration is coming up with ways to have more of an impact in California. Next up: funding for the state’s schools. The administration reportedly may announce, any day now, that it’s cutting funding for K-12, the UC system and the Cal States. That’s billions and billions of dollars in federal education funds, in case you were wondering.

AI and the College Application Essay

Fact: College application essays are difficult to write. You have a minimal number of words – 600 in the case of the Common App essay, 350 per UC essay – to give an admissions officer an accounting of your accomplishments, a window into your life, and a glimpse of your soul. On top of this, you’re 17 years old, 18 tops, and you’ve hardly done anything yet and are just starting to get to know yourself, much less explain yourself to strangers. It’s a daunting task.

Fact: AI makes everything ridiculously easy.

I mean, why not use AI? Apparently, lots of college kids are and it’s devilishly hard for professors to tell, even when they are trying to AI-proof assignments. The same tools that college students use to shortcut college coursework can also be used to shortcut college admissions. But what is lost when you hand over the reins to AI? And—even if you’re expert at befuddling AI detectors—what are the risks you take in doing so?

To try to answer these questions, I turned to two AI bots, Claude and ChatGPT, to see how they would help me answer one of this year’s UC essay prompts. Here is what I asked them:

I need to write a 350 word essay to this prompt:

5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you've faced and what you've learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone? If you're currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends or with my family?

To its credit, Claude gave me an outline, breaking down the theoretical 350 words into sections, and explaining how I’d need to build my essay, section by section.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, gave me this response:

Absolutely, here's a strong 350-word draft for that prompt. This version assumes a student who has dealt with a significant personal or family challenge. If you want it customized to your real experience, feel free to share details and I can revise it:

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The most significant challenge I have faced began in middle school when my father lost his job. Almost overnight, my family went from financial stability to constant uncertainty. The stress weighed heavily on everyone, and as the oldest child, I felt a responsibility to support my younger siblings emotionally and help my parents however I could.

This sudden shift disrupted nearly every part of my life. We moved in with relatives to save money, and I had to change schools twice in one year. It was hard to keep up academically when I was also helping my siblings with homework, translating for my parents during job interviews, and working weekends at a local market.

At first, my grades dropped. I was overwhelmed and exhausted, and I felt embarrassed asking teachers for extensions or help. But eventually, I realized I couldn’t carry everything alone. I started using office hours to catch up on assignments and found a counselor at school who helped me manage stress. I also opened up to a few close friends and discovered that asking for support didn’t mean I was weak—it meant I was learning how to be resilient.

This challenge changed me. It forced me to grow up faster, but it also taught me how to manage time, advocate for myself, and adapt under pressure. My academic record may not be perfect, but every grade on my transcript tells the story of someone who kept going. By junior year, I had pulled my GPA back up, taken on AP classes, and even became a peer tutor to help others who were struggling.

The experience shaped how I see the world and my place in it. I now know that education is not just about books—it’s also about learning how to face life’s uncertainties with courage and purpose. And that’s a lesson I’ll carry with me into college and beyond.

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Let me know if you'd like help personalizing this with your specific challenge.

My father didn’t lose his job when I was in middle school. I don’t have multiple siblings. I never worked at a market, nor translated anything for my parents. Talk about hallucinating. But if I’d had something similar to what ChatGPT dreamed up happen to me … if I could just slide in some details, switch out others … the possibilities are chilling and to me, as a writer, not a little horrific. I’d barely have to think at all, and if there’s no need to think, there’s really no need to go to college.

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

But as this had nothing at all to do with me, I persevered. I wrote a long, windy rough draft of my own answer to the UC prompt, and based on that, I asked the bots for more specific help. Claude—to its great credit--continued to offer vague outlines. ChatGPT wrote me another essay. Here’s what I asked, based on my draft:

I'm writing this as an example of how to write a personal essay, but I'm not a student, I'm a college essay coach in my 50s. I'd like to write about how I got Lyme disease in 2012, but didn't know it until seven years later, when I was finally diagnosed. At the time I got Lyme, I had three kids, two boys in middle school and a daughter in elementary school. It was really overwhelming, and I didn't even know if what I had was a legitimate illness. Because I got Lyme, I couldn't work. I'd already put my work life on hold for years to focus on the needs of one of our children, who was struggling at school. We’d just discovered he had learning disabilities when i got sick. I was so frustrated because again, I could only do minimal freelance writing work and write my novel. Once I got diagnosed and got better, I was thrilled to be able to work. Now my kids are grown and I feel well. I write for major publication like the New York Times, I have this essay business and a college newsletter, I'm writing my novel, and I'm excited about the future.

This is what ChatGPT generated:

Here’s a 350-word sample essay crafted in a student voice, based on your experience with undiagnosed Lyme disease. This version highlights resilience, growth, and academic metaphor to stay on theme:

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The most significant challenge I’ve faced started in 2012, though I didn’t know it at the time. I had three kids—two in middle school, one in elementary—and a mysterious illness I couldn’t name. I had trouble thinking clearly, remembering words, and staying awake through the afternoon. But the blood tests said I was fine. I didn’t feel fine.

We had just learned that one of our children had learning disabilities. I had already put my career on hold to support him—researching tutors, meeting with teachers, making education plans. I thought I’d be able to return to full-time writing soon. But then my own body stopped cooperating. I was frustrated, scared, and confused. I couldn’t work the way I wanted to. I couldn’t be the kind of mother I wanted to be. I tried to push through by freelancing in short bursts and working on a novel whenever I had the strength. Still, I questioned whether what I was experiencing was real.

Seven years later, I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. Treatment was difficult but brought immense relief—both physically and emotionally. I hadn’t imagined it. There had been something wrong, and now it had a name. Slowly, I got better.

That challenge shaped everything. Though I didn’t have a GPA to track, I think of that period as my own kind of school—one that taught patience, self-advocacy, and how to build a life around constraints. Once I felt well again, I didn’t waste time. I launched a college essay coaching business. I started a newsletter. I published in places like The New York Times. I kept writing my novel.

I’m no longer in survival mode. I’m learning again, growing again, thriving again. That lost time isn’t entirely lost. It gave me perspective—and now, it gives me purpose.

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Let me know if you’d like to tweak the tone (e.g. slightly more formal, or even more like a teen voice) or if you want to personalize the details more.

It didn’t do bad, I’ll admit, considering I gave it so few details. Lots of, shall we say, embellishments. What’s missing, though, is me. My experiences are in here, at least some of them, to a certain degree. But the voice and the details of my experience, the attempt to convey my very real frustration and budding hope—all that has been sanitized and glossed over. What’s on offer instead is a shiny, empty object that everyone in general, and no one in specific, could write. The reason students are asked to write college essays is so admissions officers can see who they are beyond the dry facts listed in the rest of the application. For an applicant to use AI is to deny herself the one chance she has to speak in her own voice, be entirely herself, and in doing so stand out from the rest of the applicant pool.

It is certainly possible that a student could use AI to write a college admissions essay, and get away with it. It is impossible that student could use AI and sound unique. And isn’t that the point of this whole thing?

For what it’s worth, if you’ve read this far and are curious, here is my somewhat-revised, 350 word essay, to that UC prompt:

In Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, I went for a walk in the woods with my husband’s cousins. We skirted piles of soggy brown leaves. Twigs snapped beneath our sneakers as we wandered on and off paved paths.

I never glimpsed the tick, never saw the bite. But for the next seven years, I wasn’t reliably well, and often quite ill.

At the time, we had two boys in middle school and a daughter in elementary school. My medical test results –including one for Lyme disease—were negative. Meanwhile, the symptoms, which came and went, were just… strange. Anxiety to the point of panic attacks, stomach pain, heightened reactions to heat, foggy thinking.

The hardest part was how little I could get done, after I’d waited so long. I’d just spent most of the last few years trying to help one of our children navigate the school system despite confounding obstacles. We’d recently discovered the trouble was learning disabilities and found a wonderful school setting where this child was, suddenly, thriving.

It was supposed to be my turn. Except, I was ill.

For the next seven years, I did what I could, when I could. I opted for easy freelance work, with understanding editors and generous deadlines. I started a novel in a burst of optimism; when I had good weeks, or months, I returned to it.

Then, during a flare in 2019, a physician tested me for Lyme. This time, it came back positive.

I’ve not been able to “cure” myself, but that diagnosis gave me a path to healing. These days, I feel well. Our kids are grown and I’m mostly just responsible for myself.

Since the Lyme receded, I’ve published articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, AARP and Vogue. I’ve finished a draft of my novel and am revising it. And I’ve started a college essay coaching business and this newsletter.

Being constrained, for so long, taught me that freedom is a gift. I wake up each morning and can’t wait to get to the day ahead, to see what more I can do.

AI is all the world’s words, ideas and concepts, strung together. What it isn’t is individual. It’s not me, or you. When we let it stand in for us, we have everything to lose.