AI-Generated Essays: What Counselors Think of Them.
AI-generated Essays are from a New York Times Article
The New York Times recently did a piece by Natasha Singer titled “We Used A.I. to Write Essays for Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Here’s How It Went.”
I thought it would be an instructive to pick one of the Essays that the AI Tools (Hugging Chat, Bard and ChatGPT) “wrote” and Review it and get a few Quick Takes on the others.
I turned to these College Counselors for help:
Tyler Sant of Atlanta International School, Georgia for a detailed review of the Darmouth essay.
Aparna Chandrasekharan of 10X International School, Bengaluru, India provided a Quick Take on the Yale essay, and
Shveta Bagade of SMB Consulting, offered an overall reaction to the essays generated by the AI tools in the article.
1.Deconstructing AI’s “Why Dartmouth” Essay - By Tyler Sant
Hugging Chat
In the first attempt, Singer prompts HuggingChat to write on behalf of a hopeful Biology and Computer Science student, helping to narrow the focus more than if she had just asked, “Why Dartmouth?”
This seemed like a good idea to me, but the result isn’t really any better than what we might have gotten for the generic prompt.
Sure, HuggingChat references living organisms and technology,
But not in a way that’s particularly personalized.
We don’t learn anything specific about why this student feels Dartmouth is the best place for them to explore these topics.
And in fact, what we end up with is exactly the type of essay colleges don’t want: a statement in which you could easily replace Dartmouth’s name with any other college.
“Rigorous academic programs that emphasize hands-on learning, etc…” are found at most colleges, and certainly at all of Dartmouth’s peer institutions.
A more effective, student-written essay
Could make the connection between an interest in Biology and
Dartmouth’s unique campus setting offering hands-on learning via its connection to the natural world and diverse ecosystems nearby, for example.
Bard’s Essay
Recognizing the lack of Dartmouth-specific info here, Singer asks Bard to refine the response.
To Bard’s credit, it comes up with a person’s name (but, critically, a person who does not work at Dartmouth).
What we get here is just a different type of “Why Us” faux pas: a reference to another university, albeit accidental.
I worked at an institution that asked “Why Us,”, and we sometimes read how excited our applicants were to attend Vanderbilt or Duke. I worked at Emory. Not a great look!
This applicant doesn’t directly mention another institution, but any admission officer with more than a few months experience on campus might catch that this isn’t a professor’s name they recognize.
Beyond Name-Dropping
And let’s say this professor actually did work at Dartmouth. It’s still a cliche essay – just a slightly more advanced type of cliche. Students sometimes think that name-dropping a specific professor will demonstrate next-level interest, when in reality it just shows that they know how to navigate to an academic department’s roster on the university’s website.
Does the professor actually work closely with undergrads or open their research to first-year college students?
Do they teach a freshman seminar course that speaks directly to your interests? Rarely do applicants dig that deep.
Talking about how you can’t wait to work with Dr. Impressive in the Incredible Department might seem convincing to an applicant; but to an admission officer who knows Dr. Impressive hasn’t taught an undergraduate course in 20 years and only conducts research with a single PhD student every 7 years or so, it’s a missed opportunity.
And frankly, that’s what both AI-generated responses are: missed opportunities!
A Better “Why Dartmouth?” Essay
We don’t learn about a high school student’s specific interests in the things that make Dartmouth a good fit for them.
Dartmouth has wonderful student organizations, a unique relationship with nature, place, and campus setting, and provides so many ways to continue growing and challenging oneself.
Yes, they have rigorous academic programs in biology and computer science (and countless other subjects), but that’s true of lots of colleges.
If I were editing these essays for one of my students, I would push back and
ask them what specifically drives their love for biology or computer science and
then have them write how Dartmouth supports those personal interests in ways other places might not.
Check out Episode #110 and Episode #134 on “What to Write in a College Essay” and “How to Write a College Essay” respectively.
2.Quick Takes
Aparna Chandrasekharan of 10X International School, Bengaluru, India provided a Quick Take on the Yale “AI” essay in the article:
The content comes across more as a definition than an essay.
It is very generic and I don’t get a sense of the students authentic voice or his/ her personal interest.
It’s like a cookie cutter approach with no individual or inherent input.
Shveta Bagade of SMB Consulting, offered an overall reaction to the essays generated by AI.
So I think that New York Times article is compelling. It shows the advantages and disadvantages of ChatGPT.
I think the moral of that exercise is that it is a great tool to help students kick off the essay writing adventure, but it is not one you want to rely on.
The colleges still need to see the personal touch, authenticity and connection to the student.
What did you think of the AI-generated Essays?
I would request College Counselors to comment below on the AI generated essays in the New York Times article.
Thank You!
Many Thanks to Tyler Sant, Aparna Chandrsekharan and Shveta Bagade for their review and comments.
Have a Great Week!
Venkat