Can you use AI on your college application? The short version.
Yes, as a helper. No, as a writer. Every word you submit has to be yours. Here's what the Common App and colleges actually say, and how we stay inside it.
Usually fine
- Brainstorming topics and questions to think about
- Researching colleges and programs
- Spelling and grammar checks
- Feedback on what's unclear, generic or missing, as long as you do the rewriting
Not allowed
- Having AI write or rewrite any part of an essay, activity description or answer
- Submitting AI-generated text as your own: the Common App treats this as fraud
- At several colleges: AI outlines, drafts or translations
- At a few colleges: any AI help with application content at all
What the Common App says
The Common App's fraud policy covers submitting "the substantive content or output of an artificial intelligence platform, technology, or algorithm" as your own work. Getting feedback isn't the problem. Pasting in text an AI wrote is.
What colleges say
Many colleges haven't published a rule. Of those that have, most land in the same place: AI can help you think and can check your spelling, but the writing must be yours. A few are stricter.
| College | Rule | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Brown | No AI | No AI "under any circumstances in conjunction with application content." Basic spelling and grammar checks are fine. |
| Georgetown | No AI | You affirm that using AI to complete any part of the application, including essays, is prohibited. |
| Caltech | Limited | Research, brainstorming questions, grammar and spelling. Not outlining, drafting or translating. |
| Cornell | Limited | Researching schools, brainstorming topics, grammar and spelling. Not outlining, drafting or translating. |
| UVA | Limited | Brainstorming topics, grammar and spelling. Not generating any writing. |
| WashU | Limited | Checking spelling and clarity. Not writing content. |
| Emory | Limited | Editing your work or organizing your ideas. Not generating content. |
| Carnegie Mellon | Limited | A supplementary tool for grammar, spelling, structure or vocabulary suggestions; the work must be yours. |
| Vanderbilt | Limited | AI can help you prepare but should never replace your own thinking. |
| University of California (all campuses) | Limited | Advice on content and editing, including AI help with readability, is allowed; the content and final text must be your own. |
Rules change every admissions cycle, and this list isn't complete. Before you use any AI tool, check the admissions website of every college you're applying to; follow the strictest rule among them for shared essays like the Common App personal statement.
How the prefrosh counselor stays inside the rules
- It never writes for you. No new sentences, no rewrites, no "for example, you could say…", no openings, closings or titles, no activity descriptions, no translations.
- It never outlines. No paragraph-by-paragraph plans or suggested structure, because Caltech and Cornell rule that out.
- It gives feedback only. It quotes your own lines, says what's unclear, generic or missing, asks questions that help you find your own material, and points out spelling and grammar mistakes for you to fix.
- It respects stricter schools. It won't review essays for colleges that don't allow AI at all (Brown, Georgetown), and it shows each college's rule when you check an essay for it.
- It keeps nothing. Your application and essays are read once to write the feedback and aren't saved on our servers.
Because nothing the counselor writes ends up in your essay, every word you submit is your own. That's the standard colleges hold you to. AI detectors are unreliable and can flag writing that's entirely human, so the honest protection is the one that matters: write it yourself.