Half of College Students Would Have Used AI on Admissions Essay: Survey

This report is part of BestColleges' 2023 College Choice and Admissions Survey.

Roughly one year ago, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that can produce and organize chunks of text in seconds flat. The tool and others like it threaten the status quo in higher education —from how students complete assignments to how professors design courses and, now, the college admissions process.

In a survey of 1,000 current undergraduate and graduate students, nearly half of participants (47%) say they would have used AI tools like ChatGPT to help complete their college admissions essays if tools had been available. Four in 10 (40%) disagree, and 10% didn't complete an essay as part of their application.

Older students, graduate students, men, and first-generation college students are more likely to report that they would have used AI to help write an admissions essay.

In fact, 62% of millennials versus 39% of Gen Z students say they would have turned to AI. And 60% of graduate students, compared to 44% of undergraduates, would have used AI on their essays if the tools had been available. For context, over half of graduate students in the survey (54%) are Gen Z.

Additionally, men are more likely than women to say they would have used AI tools to complete their college admissions essays if they were available (60% vs. 36%).

And, almost 6 in 10 first-generation college students (58%) said they would have used AI tools to complete their college admissions essays if tools were available to them, compared to 33% of non-first-generation college students.

Is Using AI on College Admissions Essays Acceptable?

Most college students (56%) agree that using AI tools on college applications would unfairly advantage some applicants. Twenty-nine percent disagree, and one-quarter (25%) are neutral.

However, 39% of students say using AI tools on college applications would improve access and opportunities for traditionally underserved students. Three in 10 (30%) disagree, and 32% are neutral.

Students are evenly split on whether applicants should be allowed to use AI tools on admissions applications: 37% agree, 37% disagree, and the rest (26%) are neutral. However, opinions vary among student groups.

Millennials (49%), men (48%), Black students (47%), and first-generation college students (45%) are more likely than the total of all students surveyed to say that colleges should allow the use of AI tools on admissions applications.

In comparison, Gen Z (32%), women (29%), white students (35%), and non-first-generation college students (28%) are less likely to agree.

Students Divided on the Issue of AI and Equity

These days, the personal statement could carry more weight in admissions decisions than ever — offering universities a way to maintain diversity following the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling.

Half of Black students (50%), 42% of Hispanic and Latino/a students, and 34% of white students say using AI tools on college admissions essays would boost opportunities for traditionally underserved students.

Millennials (47%), men (47%), and first-generation students (44%) are also more likely than the total of all students to agree that the use of AI on admissions essays would improve opportunities for underserved students.

According to a 2020 Urban Institute report, Black and Hispanic students are underrepresented at selective universities. Men and millennials are also minorities in higher education, per the National Student Clearinghouse's spring 2023 enrollment data. First-generation students represent 37% of college students.

Students Cautious of Colleges Using AI

Half of students agree that schools should screen for AI on college applications, with little divergence between most student groups. Just 2 in 10 students (20%) think colleges should not screen for the use of AI in admissions applications, and 30% are neutral.

Colleges are in the early stages of using AI. According to a 2023 Inside Higher Ed report, 38% of campus chief information officers say they're considering experimenting with AI —mostly for instructional purposes and simple administrative tasks such as scheduling and communications.

At the same time, college students are generally wary about the prospect of colleges using AI to review applications and accept applicants.

Just 35% of college students say they would trust colleges to use AI tools to help make college admissions decisions. Forty-two percent disagree — in other words, they would not trust colleges to use AI tools in college admission decisions —and 23% are neutral.

Only slightly more college students (38%) would trust colleges to use AI tools to process and sort through college applications. Meanwhile, 36% disagree, and 26% are neutral.

The same student groups that favored allowing students to use AI on college applications were more likely to say they trusted colleges to use AI to help make admissions decisions: millennials (47%), men (47%), first-generation students (45%), and Black students (44%).

Methodology

This survey was conducted from Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2023, and was fielded by Pure Spectrum. Survey participants included 1,000 respondents nationwide who were currently enrolled in an on-campus, online, or hybrid undergraduate or graduate degree program. Respondents were 17-49 years of age, with the majority (95%) ages 18-38, and currently pursuing an associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, or professional degree. The respondents for the survey were screened by various quality checks, including systems like Relevant ID, and responses were manually reviewed to ensure consistency and accuracy.