Mahika Rahlan ’26 Sophia Venneri ’26
Photo courtesy of College Transitions
A process that’s become extremely difficult to navigate in recent years has only become harder with the rise of artificial intelligence: college admissions. From teachers to admissions counselors to students, AI is being used in some way in every aspect of the college admissions process. While AI is an enticing tool, students should moderate its use in the college admissions process, and admissions officers should avoid it altogether when reviewing applications.
About a month ago, Justin Cerenzia, Executive Director of CTL and Upper School History teacher, visited the class of 2026 in a college counseling session. In this session, he delved into the topic of AI, teaching us how to use it acceptably and appropriately. While this session was much needed, it also raises questions about the extent to which students are using and should be allowed to utilize the tool. Does encouraging the use of AI in certain situations prevent overuse, or does it rather provide an avenue for overuse?
AI is a tool that is inescapable in this day and age. Students all over the world turn to artificial intelligence to both conveniently revise and fully complete their work. In a society and world where the use of artificial intelligence is normalized, integrity and genuine work are in jeopardy.
Stuents are not the only ones who need to be held accountable, however. Each year, teachers around the country are asked to write dozens of recommendation letters on behalf of their students, and turn to AI to relieve the stress. According to a report by foundry10, an education research organization, about one-third of high school teachers have used AI tools in crafting their recommendations.
In fact, there is evidence that suggests a prominent scholarship program, The Coca-Cola Scholarship Foundation, uses AI to select candidates to advance to the second round of consideration. Approximately 100,000 students apply to be a Coke Scholar each year, and somehow, they are able to narrow down the pool to the top 1% within one month. We’re no experts, but it seems impossible that a team of humans can read and process that many applications and make a decision on their qualifications within the given time frame. To provide a comparison, on average, top colleges receive between 5,000-10,000 applications in the early rounds and take over a month to decide the fate of each application. For scholarship foundations like Coca-Cola to use AI is unfair to students who put so much effort and thought into their applications, with the hope of receiving the $20,000 scholarship.
We hope that colleges and universities are not taking these same approaches in reading students’ applications and never will, given the increasing number of students who apply each year. With a spike in the number of applications and colleges being applied to across the United States, it seems almost impossible for admissions representatives to read over every piece thoughtfully to get the full picture. So, it seems probable that artificial intelligence could be playing a part in reading and potentially making the decisions on college applications.
As EA students move forward with the tedious college admissions process through the regular decision rounds, they must proceed with caution when it comes to AI use. When applying to college, the work that gets you in should be your own, a sentiment that is stated but not always reinforced. It is up to the individual student to make their own decisions about AI and put their best foot forward.
