Using AI on applications, honestly
Where AI helps, where it hurts, and how to use it in a way that keeps the essay yours and doesn't set off every detector or every experienced reader.
01What AI is genuinely good for
Brainstorming — 'give me twenty possible angles for an essay about X.' Almost all of them will be bad, but one might unlock something.
Explaining a concept you don't understand yet, in the plain language you need to write about it clearly.
Feedback on structure — 'what is this paragraph actually about, in one sentence?' Useful when your own answer is fuzzy.
02What AI is bad at
Writing sentences that sound like you. It defaults to a smooth, slightly corporate voice that experienced readers now recognize instantly. It's the essay-writing equivalent of a stock photo.
Specificity. It will invent detail that sounds right and isn't true. Even if a reviewer never checks, you'll have written an essay about a person who doesn't exist.
Judgement. It will tell you a mediocre draft is great. It has no stake in whether you get in.
03A rule that works
Use AI for scaffolding, never for sentences. Ideas, outlines, definitions, feedback — fine. Actual prose that ends up in your final draft — write it yourself.
A simple test: if you couldn't defend a sentence in a live conversation because it isn't really how you think, that sentence shouldn't be in your essay.
04The disclosure question
Some programs now ask directly whether you used AI. Answer honestly. 'I used it to brainstorm angles and get feedback on structure; the writing is mine' is a legitimate answer. Lying about it is not.
The point of the essay is to show them how you think. AI cannot do that job for you, and the reviewers who matter know it.