In the fall of 2025, high school seniors faced a new, unprecedented factor in the college admissions process: the possibility that artificial intelligence would be reviewing their applications. Some GDS upperclassmen aren’t too happy.
Multiple colleges—including Virginia Tech and Caltech—have already begun using AI to review college applications. And some colleges, like Georgia Tech, have announced plans to use AI reviewers in the coming years.
Virginia Tech’s previous scoring system—before they incorporated an AI element—involved two human essay-reviewers, both of whom would score an applicant’s essay on a 12-point scale. The college would bring in a third reviewer to provide their own evaluation if the two initial reviewers’ scores differed by five or more points.
Virginia Tech’s new system replaces one of the initial human reviewers with an AI reviewer and brings in a third human reviewer when the two scores differ by three or more points. According to Juan Espinoza, the vice provost for enrollment management at Virginia Tech, the school’s adoption of AI into the admissions review process will allow the school to review applications quicker and get decisions out sooner. In an interview with Forbes, Espinoza said that the new admissions system could potentially save admissions officers about 8,000 hours each admissions cycle.
Caltech’s system involves an AI chatbot, created by the company InitialView, that interviews students on research projects they submit as part of their applications. The interviews are then reviewed by Caltech faculty.
Some GDS students think it’s unnecessary for colleges to use AI in the reviewing process because humans have successfully reviewed essays for centuries. Other students think it’s flat-out unfair.
“I think it’s entirely hypocritical of them to say ‘You can’t use AI,’ and go and use AI,” senior Aden Ebert said. “They could really just read over it themselves and stop being so lazy.” Since 2024, the Common App has classified applications that contain a substantive amount of AI generated content as fraud.
“I wouldn’t say I’m really concerned about it,” junior Nadia Bandy said, “but it reflects a bigger, more concerning pattern of more and more stuff being delegated to AI that I really don’t think should be.”
Not all colleges are as transparent as Virginia Tech about their use of AI reviewers. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, reported last January that the university was using AI in its admissions process to evaluate the grammar and writing style of applicants’ essays—but the university itself has provided little information to the public regarding their use of AI.
“It is a bit concerning,” junior Raza Kandel said of AI reviewers. “I’d like to see a lot more transparency from colleges in terms of how AI is actually reviewing these applications.”
“I would encourage our students and families to have faith in colleges and universities in regards to what they share on AI and how it is or is not incorporated into the admission review process,” Associate Director of College Counseling Shawn Miller said in an email to the Bit. “That trust and communication is essential for a complete and fulfilling experience not only through the college application process, but also for when students enroll and engage fully at these institutions.”
Some students are worried that AI reviewers won’t grasp the emotional vulnerability that they put into their essays.
“It doesn’t sit well with me to think that it’s not a person who’s looking at my application,” senior Alexandra Solomon said. “I like having a human analyzing my applications because I can feel like we’re having an empathic connection through whatever I’m expressing.”
“If students put in the effort to actually do this,” senior Charlie Brooks said, “they deserve someone to be hands-on. I know some essays are way more personal and supposed to be human-read, and I feel like [AI] sometimes wouldn’t understand the deepness or emotion.”
“I think it’s a bad thing because you write these essays, and it’s sort of a moment of human connection between you and the admissions officer,” junior Julian Shishkin said. “I think that [AI] sort of breaks that. I think that humans are much better at actually gauging if someone is a good fit for a college than AI.”
And without more information about how the AI reviewers work—about how the models are trained and tested—it can be difficult for applicants to trust that they are fair and reliable.
“AI is also known to make mistakes,” senior Nakeiya Brunson said, “and AI shouldn’t really be used instead of actual people who are less likely to make mistakes than AI would.”
Despite students’ concerns and frustrations about AI reviewers, many said that a college’s use of AI wouldn’t sway them from applying to their favorite schools.
“I think if it’s a school that I really want to go to, I don’t think I would be like, ‘Oh, they use AI—I’m not going there,’” Bandy said. “But if it’s a school I’m not sure about, it might influence my decision of what the school stands for.”
“I don’t think I would reconsider if I wanted to apply somewhere if I knew they were using AI,” junior Parisa Babolian said. “But it would probably weigh on how I would form my application.” Babolian said she wasn’t sure what specific elements of her essay she would change if she were applying to a college that used an AI reviewer.
“I believe there will always be a human element incorporated into the holistic and general review of college applications in the coming years,” Miller said in an email. “Though AI integration will be considered by admission offices as technology and AI continues to advance, at the end of the day, colleges and universities are communities built around people, and that shared humanity and understanding will continue to have an important impact when college decisions are made moving forward.”