606: Navigating College Applications with AI (Part 2): What Colleges Say + My Advice to Students and Counselors

Welcome to Part 2 of 2 of this mini-series on AI in college admission! In our last episode, I interviewed Jen Rubin from foundry10 on how students and counselors are using AI in the college admission process. In today’s episode I’ll get into what colleges have to say, and what I would advise as a result. I’ll get into:

• My biggest concern with AI… in general (spoiler: it’s much bigger than college applications)
• My concerns related to AI use in the college application process
• Common App guidelines + What colleges have to say around AI use
• What I believe students might miss out on if they use AI to write their essays for them
• My advice to students and counselors

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-Play:

• 2:12 – What is Ethan’s biggest concern with AI?
• 3:29 – CommonApp Guidelines
• 4:09 – What do colleges have to say about AI use in the application process?
• 7:05 – What does Ethan believe students might miss out on if they use AI to write their essays for them?
• 12:00 – Can Chat GPT and AI be useful in certain contexts?
• 13:34 – AI use and environmental impacts
• 14:26 – Closing thoughts

Resources:

• CEG Podcast Episode 605 - Navigating College Applications with AI (Part 1): How High School Teachers and Students Use Tools Like ChatGPT
• Blog Version of this episode – Navigating College Applications with AI: What Colleges Say + CEG's Advice to Students and Counselors
• CEG’s Thoughts on AI and College Application Essays
• Duncan Sabian – Article on AI Safety
• AI 2027
• CommonApp Affirmation Statement
• College Statements on AI Usage
  • Princeton University
  • CalTech
  • Brown University
  • University of California (UC) System
  • Gonzaga University
  • Southern Methodist University (Graduate)
  • University of Melbourne (Outside the US)
• As Use of A.I. Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires
• Jeff Neill’s Tech-Neill-ogy
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub