AI in College Admissions

Jason Kim Jan 1 · 5 min read
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Artificial Intelligence College Admissions Higher Education Admissions Bias Virginia Tech University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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AI has transformed the workforce since its widespread implementation in the 2020s. With the emergence of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, many organizations, including universities, have started utilizing these tools to help with their work. An Inside Higher Ed survey in 2023 found that 50% of higher education admissions offices were already using AI in their application review processes (1). Well known colleges such as Virginia Tech and UNC-Chapel Hill are using AI to read, score, and screen applications (2). With many more universities not openly discussing whether they are using AI for the admissions process, many are starting to ask how AI is having an impact on the admissions process in universities. Three key aspects of AI’s impact on the admissions process are its effect on admissions offices and institutions, the authenticity of the process, and how bias influences the admissions process.

Author

Jason Kim Jason Kim is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine in 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Informatics with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction.

AI’s Impact on Admissions Offices

The first aspect on how AI is impacting the admissions process is how admissions offices and universities use AI to help in the admissions process. Virginia Tech began using AI in their admissions process after receiving a record 57,622 applications (3). The university uses AI to help admissions staff process applications more efficiently and reduce reviewers’ workload. By using AI to assist with large numbers of applications, Virginia Tech shows how universities can find a balance of using AI and getting human feedback while also managing a large volume of applicants.

Similarly, UNC-Chapel Hill uses AI to support admissions during the application review process. The university uses AI to grade data points based on writing style, grammar, and student coursework rigor from applicants’ Common App essays and high school transcripts (4). Admissions staff can use this information with other materials such as student essays and grades in an application when evaluating applications. Rather than allowing AI to make admissions decisions, UNC-Chapel Hill uses AI to help human reviewers better understand each application.

Although Virginia Tech and UNC-Chapel-Hill use AI throughout their admissions process, these examples show a growing trend of universities using AI to assist in admissions rather than replacing human decision making. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that universities balance AI outputs with human oversight (5). AI can analyze application data, perform repetitive tasks, and help admissions staff manage increasing numbers of applications. Human oversight is still an important aspect of the admissions process because AI may not fully interpret the context or have the correct judgement of a human. Admissions staff must evaluate an applicants’ experiences, achievements, and circumstances to make a holistic decision. Universities should use AI as a supporting tool while allowing human reviewers to have the final say in the admissions decisions.

Authenticity in the Admissions Process

The second aspect on how AI is impacting the admissions process is how people are questioning authenticity in the process. For example, the University of Rochester discourages the use of AI to answer their essays or short responses because it can affect an applicant’s authentic voice (6). This concern shows how AI can lessen the value of the college essay, which impacts the way admissions could evaluate an applicant’s personality, experiences, and writing style. Even when an AI generated essay appears polished, it may not accurately represent the applicant’s own voice or style. Because of that, AI use makes college essays a less reliable measure to evaluate students.

Some universities have already pivoted away from essays in the admission process because they no longer consider them an accurate reflection of an applicant’s writing. From Duke University, the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions said that essays and standardized testing scores will no longer have numerical ratings in the admission process for undergraduates because of generative AI (7). Duke’s decision to change the essay from required to optional in its admission process reflects growing concerns about the authenticity of the application materials with the prominence of AI. However, because generative AI can easily produce application essays, admissions may have difficulty determining whether an essay reflects an applicant’s authentic voice and writing ability.

However, there are examples in other universities such as Caltech that are using AI to help with authenticity in student applications. Applicants who include research projects in their applications have to complete a video interview by an AI assisted system that asks questions about their paper and experiments. That interview is then reviewed by the faculty and admissions alongside the applicants’ other materials (8). By allowing applicants to describe their own research in their own words, this process can help reviewers evaluate whether students understand and contributed to the work they submitted. Caltech’s approach to incorporating AI shows that it can help universities assess authenticity when its results are reviewed by human admissions.

Bias and Inequality in the Admissions Process

The third aspect on how AI is impacting the admissions process is its potential to reinforce bias and inequality. AI systems identify patterns in historical admissions data, but this creates the risk of reproducing existing inequalities rather than eliminating them. Research suggests that AI may interpret past admissions decisions as indicators of future success, even when those decisions reflect long-standing institutional preferences or disparities (9). The University of Texas at Austin’s GRADE system demonstrates this concern, as the algorithm favored applicants from elite institutions because it learned from previous admissions patterns (9). In addition, removing race and gender from an AI system does not eliminate all the bias, since other information in an application can still indirectly represent those characteristics. For example, research has shown that recommendation letters often describe male and female applicants using different language. If an AI system learns to associate certain words or experiences with stronger applicants, it may unintentionally reinforce existing stereotypes. This is concerning for applicants from historically underrepresented groups because AI that learns from past admissions outcomes may continue to favor patterns that reflect historical inequalities rather than evaluate applicants solely on their qualifications.

However, AI has the potential to reinforce bias, it may also help admissions reduce their reliance on evaluations methods that already disadvantage certain applicants. A 2023 study reported that predictive algorithms used during the 2021-2022 admission cycle helped reviewers identify strong applications that otherwise might have received little attention (10). This approach can help reviewers identify students whose academic potential is not fully reflected in standardized test scores. Instead of making the final decision, the algorithm could highlight applicants that may deserve a closer review.

Overall, AI can be utilized in a way where bias and inequality would not be a problem. Systems trained on historical decisions may preserve existing inequalities, but carefully designed tools could also help identify qualified candidates that can be overlooked by traditional methods of evaluation. Universities should allow humans and staff to continue with their holistic review while making sure the AI tools they use are staying neutral and only assist the administration when needed.

Conclusion

As AI continues to evolve, its role in college admissions will continue to grow as technology advances. While AI can help admissions offices improve efficiency by automating repetitive tasks and reviewing student applications, it has raised concerns about the authenticity of applications and whether applicants used AI during the admission process. Additionally, the potential for AI to reinforce existing biases highlights the importance of carefully evaluating these systems before giving them more responsibility. AI should remain a powerful tool that can support admissions rather than replacing human judgment, as human reviewers are still necessary to understand the personal experiences, context, and qualities that make each applicant unique.

References

  1. Knox, L. (2023). Admissions Offices Deploy AI. In Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2023/10/09/admissions-offices-turn-ai-application-reviews

  2. Thacker, Nirmal. (2025, September 16). Which Colleges Use AI to Read Essays (2026)? UNC, Virginia Tech, More. GradPilot. https://gradpilot.com/news/which-colleges-use-ai-2025

  3. Virginia Tech updates undergraduate admissions process. (2025). Vt.Edu. https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/07/admissions-changes-2025.html

  4. Does Undergraduate Admissions use AI and why? - Undergraduate Admissions. (2025). In Undergraduate Admissions. https://admissions.unc.edu/faqs/does-undergraduate-admissions-use-ai-and-why/

  5. Cardona, Miguel, Rodriguez, Roberto. Navigating Artificial Intelligence in Postsecondary Education. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2026, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED670768.pdf

  6. Undergraduate Admissions. (2026, July 22). How to Apply - Undergraduate Admissions. Undergraduate Admissions. https://admissions.rochester.edu/applying/how-to-apply/

  7. Lu, Jazper. Duke no longer giving numerical rating to standardized testing, essays in undergraduate admissions. (n.d.). The Chronicle. Retrieved July 17, 2026, from https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-university-undergraduate-admissions-changes-numerical-rating-standardized-testing-essays-covid-test-optional-ai-generated-college-consultants

  8. Kaleem, J., & Gecker, J. (2026). AI may be scoring your college admissions essay. In Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-02/ai-may-be-scoring-your-college-admissions-essay

  9. Burke, Lilah. U of Texas will stop using controversial algorithm to evaluate Ph.D. applicants | Inside Higher Ed. (n.d.). Www.Insidehighered.Com. Retrieved July 17, 2026, from https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/12/14/u-texas-will-stop-using-controversial-algorithm-evaluate-phd

  10. Lee, H., Kizilcec, R. F., & Joachims, T. (2023). Evaluating a Learned Admission-Prediction Model as a Replacement for Standardized Tests in College Admissions. Proceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale. https://doi.org/10.1145/3573051.3593382