Quick question how to detect ai writing in college applications?

[Philll]

Hi everyone! Just a quick post because I'm stressing a little (in a good way!) and I know this community has the best insights.

I'm a senior in high school, and I've been asked by my school to help with a really cool project. The guidance counselors are running a workshop for underclassmen on how to craft authentic personal statements for their college apps. They want me and a few other students to help review some anonymized sample essays (from past years, with permission!) and give feedback on what makes them stand out. It's such an honor to be asked!

Here's where my question comes in. The counselors mentioned that with all the new AI tools, one of the things they're struggling with is helping students understand why authentic writing matters. They want us to be able to point out the difference between an essay that sounds like a real 17-year-old and one that sounds like it was polished by a machine.

So, for those of you who have experience with this, especially if you've been on an admissions board or helped edit a lot of essays: How to detect ai writing in a personal statement? I'm looking for tell-tale signs. For example, do AI essays rely too heavily on a thesaurus? Do they lack specific, quirky, personal anecdotes? I want to make a little guide for the younger students so they can self-check their work and make sure their true voice shines through. I want to empower them, not scare them! Thanks in advance for any tips or resources you can share.

 

[Melissa]

Great project, Philll! I've helped read apps before, and here's what screams AI to me: the absence of awkwardness. Real teens write weird sentences sometimes. We use fragments. We say "like" in quotes. We have run-ons when we're excited. AI-generated essays are grammatically flawless but emotionally empty. They use words like "utilize" instead of "use" and "consequently" instead of "so." If an essay sounds like a 40-year-old professor wrote it, it's probably AI.