AI, or LLMs, or generative software; there are many names for this new technology, and more are thrown around every day, as it grows increasingly powerful and prominent. There are those who question its utility and impact, but many more are finding use for it, in any number of applications. One such application was recently announced in a Forbes article, with Virginia Tech announcing the use of AI tools when reviewing student essays. This is concerning for many students, especially as colleges roll out new policies to ensure that students themselves do not use AI in the drafting of their essays. In this article, we’re going to look at what this new policy is, whether or not other schools are going to follow Virginia Tech’s lead, and how all of this might impact you. Let’s get started!
Virginia Tech’s AI Essay Review
In an announcement in late July, Virginia Tech unveiled two major admissions changes. The first is that their early admissions deadline is moving up, from November 15 to November 1. The second is that they are integrating a new review system where essays are read by both human reviewers and an automated system. This, understandably, caused a great deal of concern amongst prospective students. To help clarify things, a provost from Virginia Tech sat down for an interview with Forbes.
In Virginia Tech’s current system, essays are first read and scored by two human reviewers; if their scores differ by four or more points, then they are reviewed and rescored by a third. In the new approach, the essays are read by a human and this new AI tool; if the AI score differs from the human one by two points or more, then the essay is reviewed again by another human reader.
This is not a commercial tool, but one developed and iterated on in-house by Virginia Tech, though they are not releasing all of the data on it publicly. Their goal in this is to lessen the burden on admissions officers and to return decisions to students faster; they had to read 500,000 essays last year, and as application numbers continue to rise, they are looking for ways to streamline the process.
One thing they make clear is that all essays will still be reviewed by humans, and that humans, and not this system, will have final say in how these essays are scored. This new system is intended to serve as a tool first and foremost, something to help admissions officers in their work, rather than replacing them. This is something we understand, though its efficacy remains to be seen.
How Virginia Tech Reviews Applicants
We are going to dive a little deeper into how Virginia Tech reviews applicants, since they do look at more than the essays. Compared to some schools, which major you are applying for is extremely important at Virginia Tech, and changes everything from how competitive your applicant pool is to how they weight different portions of your application, including the essays.
Academic preparation is always most important, and essays after that, though some majors and programs put far more importance on essays than others. Virginia Tech unfortunately does not offer a granular breakdown of which majors care about which application pieces.
Finally, Virginia Tech does not ask for the personal statement on the Common App, but instead has four supplemental essay prompts they ask students to answer instead. It is these essays that are going to face the new AI review.
Are Other Universities Going to Use AI Tools Like This?
At some point, almost certainly. When and how, however, are more open questions. Virginia Tech was facing two related problems in dealing with their admissions that they thought this tool could help them solve:
- They are receiving such a high volume of applications compared to previous years that it’s taking admissions officers much longer to review them all.
- Because of how long it takes to review applications, by the time decisions go out, many students that Virginia Tech wanted to attend have already committed to other schools.
While Virginia Tech may be feeling these particular problems more acutely than many of their peers, these are hardly unique circumstances. A great many colleges are seeing similar spikes in application numbers, and admissions officers are being stretched ever thinner to get decisions out in a timely manner. That said, there are likely a few approaches colleges will take to implementing AI review.
As Counter-AI Tools
One change most every college has made this admissions cycle is new policies stating that students should not use AI tools to generate their essays. There are several ways to check for AI usage, from reader intuition all the way to dedicated tools. As AI use becomes increasingly prevalent, we anticipate more and more colleges will begin using automatic detection software to flag AI use in essays.
Now, these tools have many problems, and flagged essays should still be subject to human review. But as a simple tool; we understand why colleges would use it.
Following Virginia Tech’s Lead
Virginia Tech is the first, and we anticipate a lot of schools are going to watch and see how this goes for them. If it works well, then we anticipate schools that consider themselves to be peers with Virginia Tech to begin experimenting with similar programs. Not all will decide to go through with them of course, but all of these schools are facing similar pressures, and if Virginia Tech has found a solution that works, then other universities will take note.
No AI Use At All
We anticipate that some schools won’t implement AI use for review at all, particularly among the most competitive schools, the Ivy League and their peers. These schools do get an incredible number of applications, but they also have the resources to hire admissions officers to deal with it. Just as they now emphasize holistic review, we anticipate having all applications reviewed by humans alone to become a selling point.
Finally, we do not anticipate any universities, or at least not accredited ones, to use AI without human oversight to review essays. These tools, while useful, are still tools, and need human correction often.
How Does This Impact You?
Currently, very little, unless you are planning on applying to Virginia Tech this year. As AI tools grow more common, however, we anticipate a more widespread adoption of them for this use. In those cases, there is still likely to be little change for students; the colleges that care heavily about essays still will, and what they are looking for from students is unlikely to change.
The biggest question is how these tools will score essays, and how they will compare to a human reader. More varied and unconventional essay structures may trip these programs up, but without being able to test these systems, we can’t say for sure. There are hazards here, that these tools may introduce some unforeseen quirk or bias into how admissions decisions are made, though human oversight should be able to correct that.
Overall, we recommend making sure your own essays are as well written and polished as possible, and written by human hands alone, without AI involvement. While these are useful tools, colleges are cracking down on their use in applications ever harder, and you don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize your chances of acceptance.
Final Thoughts
College applications change with the changing times. No more are applications filled out by hand and sent in by mail. Just as the digital age transformed applications, so too do these new AI tools seem to have the potential to do the same. Whether or not Virginia Tech is a pioneer or this experiment fails, we, along with many other colleges and students, will be watching with interest.
We hope this article has given you a good sense of what Virginia Tech is doing and why, and how this new inclusion of AI tools in admissions may impact you. Even as these tools become more prevalent, writing excellent essays remains one of the best ways to impress colleges and increase your chances of admission. If you want to learn more, or gain help from experts to craft your own essays, then schedule a free consultation with us today; we’re always happy to hear from you.
