The writer submitted a prompt to ChatGPT and sent the resulting essay to a couple of admissions experts.

Main point:

  • “…the essays wouldn’t stack up at ‘highly selective’ colleges…Admissions officers are looking for genuine emotion, careful introspection, and personal growth.'”
  • “The ChatGPT essays express insight and reflection mostly through superficial and cliched statements that anyone could write.”

More about it:

  • “…the experts I asked said the essays would pass for a real student.”
  • “Having read thousands of essays over the years, I can confidently say that it would be extremely unlikely to ascertain with the naked eye that these essays were AI-generated.”

I infer from the article the writer used the first essay ChatGPT produced, so it’s no surprise the experts gave the essays a thumbs down.

The key is to work through several drafts and continually edit them to create something in your voice.