My answer to this question used to be a hard “No.” But now, it’s “Yes! Kind of.”
We’ve gone through an admissions cycle during which applicants used AI tools such as ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini, and others with both positive and negative outcomes. Some colleges, graduate schools, and MBA programs might even have essay prompts soon that “lean in” and ask you to use AI. Others may request that you cite where you used AI!
Ultimately, you must use your human judgment as to when and when not to use AI.
My mantra when it comes to mixing AI and admissions now is this: Don’t sacrifice your authenticity to save time with AI.
Here’s my list of do’s and don’ts for using AI in your applications.
1. Do create an application organization plan.
Prompt the AI with all the schools you are targeting, along with their questions and deadlines. Ask about potential overlap in essay topics so you can adapt certain essays for use with various schools. Ask the AI to create a schedule to keep you on track.
2. Do prepare a one-pager for your recommenders.
Type in examples of professional impact that your recommender might have observed. Be careful about directly copying from your resume, because the recommender could use the same wording, and that might take away from the authenticity of their recommendation. If you do, prompt the AI to change the wording, and then edit the notes into five or six bullet points of three to four sentences each. Proofread, and then give the document to your recommender to reference.
3. Do draft updates for your social media profiles.
Ask the AI to create job descriptions or professional blog posts. Make sure they accurately reflect your actual experience and expertise.
4. Do draft a resume.
AI can create a resume very quickly. You can ask ChatGPT what good prompts are. Just make sure that you do not submit the resume until you or another human has proofread it. A resume for an MBA application is different from what you might use for a job search.
5. Do use AI as a “word calculator.”
Ask the AI what a good structure for your essay might be. Then copy that structure, and paste it into a document that you write outside of AI. When you get writer’s block, ask AI to come up with alternative phrasing for what you are trying to say. Something could then shake loose! Using a text generator this way assists you with the writing process but gives you the reins to take over in your own voice so the essay remains authentic.
6. Do use AI as a word eliminator.
Essays have strict word limits. Paste your personalized essay into AI, and ask the tool to cut down the word count. Review to make sure the meaning wasn’t changed.
7. Do not use AI to quickly produce a “canned” essay response.
Getting from “Answer this essay question” to producing a strong, personalized essay takes deep reflection. You’re not going to stand out in a very competitive MBA field if you take the canned response AI comes up with. You can use a prompted structure as a base, but you must write using your personal examples and thoughts.
8. Do not memorize responses for in-person interviews
This can be tempting, especially if English isn’t your first language, but resist. Memorization is almost always an automatic ding. Interviewers want to know whether you’d be an engaging classmate and how you think on the spot.
9. Do not use AI to quickly get a response to video interview prompts.
MBA programs that require video interviews have to watch thousands. It’s safe to assume that they’ll start recognizing people who’ve quickly typed the prompt into AI and gotten a perfectly fine, but ultimately robotic, response. Video interviews are a chance for you to be spontaneous and show your personality.
10. Do not use what AI generates if it does not authentically represent your original thought.
Finally, make sure that you submit essays that represent you. If you don’t, you will be found out. If you’re able to remain authentic through AI prompts and save time, then go for it!
A word of caution: To make an AI-generated essay specific to yourself, you would have to keep iterating prompts that include your personal information, just as you would in the regular writing process. The only difference is that the AI bot does not have the judgment to know whether you’ve answered a school’s essay prompt persuasively.
In my opinion, relying on tools such as ChatGPT to write an effective, personalized MBA essay will take the same amount of time as – or longer than – it would to work with an experienced editor or consultant.
Here’s my AI essay …
Let’s try to nail just the first paragraph of one of the most open-ended essay prompts (Stanford GSB) into really gripping, personalized writing. I’ll be the one applying. Here’s more about my background.
Offering up some great values there, ChatGPT! But I can tell you that any adcom member reading this would be bored to tears and suspicious that this was written by AI. It’s totally generic and could apply to nearly any thoughtful human.
Here’s my second try.
After I pasted in the contents of my resume, here’s the result:
It definitely relates more to me and my personal experience. But does it capture my attention? Does it make the most of the word count I’ve been allotted? And most importantly, is it true?
I tried again, after sitting at my computer, thinking for about 15 minutes about a moment from my reporting career that really stood out to me.
This result is better but still not great. I think it’s a much more interesting opening, but ChatGPT used much of my own writing. It didn’t really save me that much time.
If we drill down into the text, we can see that it’s repetitive: “transformative moment” versus “inciting moment,” for example.
The anecdote also doesn’t really show how storytelling can inspire change, which is what I’ve said is most important to me. I’ll spare you the rest of the essay, which basically rehashed my resume in long form.
Why to keep your essays in human hands instead
As a professional editor, I would estimate that it would take me probably three or four more hours (including a period of deep reflection) to come up with the content needed to fundamentally change what is a generic essay into a masterful, heartfelt story that’s truly tailored to the Stanford MBA essay prompt.
ChatGPT has helped me get some words down on paper, but there are fundamental problems in the essay’s structure and content. It will require transformative surgery, because it’s fundamentally not right (and not human).
Stanford (like other MBA programs) is looking for people who have examined their experiences and chosen to act in an impactful way to address the change they want to see in the world.
But I’m not a good writer…
For those of you who believe that AI is a much better writer than you are, that’s like saying a cup, rather than the water in it, will quench your thirst. To keep going with this metaphor, AI is, for now, a shiny cup that you still have to fill with “water” (i.e., your personal experience) to make it work for you.
Even if you take the time to prompt and re-prompt an AI tool, it still cannot tell you whether the resulting essay is any good, truly answers the school’s prompt, or is specific enough to the MBA program.
I now believe that AI can assist you in your writing. But anyone can be a good writer when they have accessed their authentic voice. (This also applies to those of you for whom English is a second language!) Finding that voice takes deep reflection and assistance from an expert who can help you draw out transformative experiences. As an admissions consultant, I can help you organize your thoughts into a compelling, personalized story that will “wow” the admissions committee. You will save time by starting out on the right path, rather than doubting yourself and the story you tell.
The future is full of wonder
AI could eventually trigger a complete overhaul of the admissions process. Who knows? I recommend experimenting with AI to see how it can help you! When it comes to writing your essays, though, let your authentic self shine through.
Working on your application essays?
If you would like help with your application essay and strategy, book a free 30-minute consultation with a (human) Accepted MBA admissions expert.
Michelle Stockman has more than 17 years of admissions consulting experience and has had clients admitted to M7 and top 20 MBA programs. She taps into her background as a former admissions staff member at Columbia Business School and as a global journalist to coach MBA candidates to acceptance. Want Michelle to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
(“Portrait of a professional cat preparing an MBA application”)
AI art created by Michelle Stockman, using PicsArt
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