Writing a Winning Essay Without Relying on AI

College admissions officers (and professors, too, for that matter) have gotten wise to essays written using AI. The technology has certain “tells,” like specific phrasing or words it uses consistently. The overall tone of AI-written content tends to be bland and fluff-filled, lacking substance and short-changing creativity. 

Cornell’s admissions office is pretty specific about its expectations: 

Ethical uses of generative AI include researching colleges, brainstorming essay topics, and reviewing the grammar and spelling of your completed essays. Unethical uses include (but are not limited to) using generative AI to outline, draft, or write your essays.

Caltech’s admissions office offers this advice to aspiring students: 

If you are still wondering whether your use of AI in crafting your application is ethical, ask yourself whether it would be ethical to have a trusted adult perform the same task you are asking of ChatGPT. Would a teacher be able to review your essay for grammatical and spelling errors? Of course! Would that same teacher write a draft of an essay for you to tweak and then submit? Definitely not.

College admissions officers aren’t necessarily expecting completely polished, professional-sounding prose. What they want to read is an interesting look into your life — your experiences, goals, and aspirations — communicated in your unique style and voice. If AI does the writing for you, all that authenticity is lost. 

Is it possible to write a solid essay without relying on AI? Absolutely. Might it require more planning, fine-tuning, and perhaps a read-through or two from others whose opinions you trust? Sure. But it should 100% come from you. That’s not to say you can’t or shouldn’t use AI at all — but think of it as a tool to help you organize your thoughts, suggest an alternative if you’re stuck on a particular sentence, and check your grammar, mechanics, and spelling. Here’s how you can start.

Brainstorm ideas, an outline and examples

AI tools can’t replicate the human experience — specifically, your experience — during the discovery process. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini lack the capacity for genuine, spontaneous conversation and the ability to rummage through your memories or understand the nuanced experiences and emotions that have shaped your identity. 

Once you’ve chosen your prompt, start generating a list of topics you can write about. As you narrow down your ideas, create a list of examples — your experiences and what you’ve learned — to incorporate into the draft.

Create a hook

“Call me Ishmael.” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” “Mr. and Mrs. Dursely, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

A compelling hook can elevate an essay from decent to exceptional. Your essay’s hook is critical in capturing the reader’s interest — and keeping it. A strong introduction may feature a personal anecdote, vivid image, or thought-provoking observation, setting the stage for a memorable essay. 

Incorporate personal details

College applications leave little room to expand on what makes you, well, you. Your essay offers a platform for you to showcase your personality and provide greater detail about your character, motivations, and aspirations. All this added insight enhances your application and gives admissions officers a more holistic look at your profile.

Find your voice

AI-generated content will never be more distinctive and as authentic as content written by a human. Yet, developing that original voice is one of the hardest challenges of writing a memorable application essay. After all, your voice helps readers understand who you are. It’s the lens through which you view the world.

• Perspective is key. Your voice shines through when you share your opinions and attitudes. It shows through the details you share and why they matter to you.
• Vivid details and imagery animate your writing. Incorporate figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification) to deliver a richer reading experience.
• Embrace vulnerability, sharing your honest thoughts and feelings. Incorporate interior monologue to reveal your inner world. Don’t shy away from sharing assessments about yourself, your relationships, and your experiences.
• Inject humor, wordplay, and irony into your writing.
• Pay attention to your writing’s flow and pacing. Experiment with sentence length, paragraph length, and punctuation to create a unique rhythm. Stumped? Try reading the lyrics of songs (or a favorite book) that speak to you — what is it about the style and the rhythm you love? Can you emulate it in your essay?
• Diction matters. Choose your words wisely, selecting those that are precise, evocative, and meaningful. Consider their connotations and associations. Experiment with different levels of formality and dialect. 
• Play around with sentence structure, varying length to create variety and emphasis. Never underestimate the power of a well-placed sentence fragment, either!

Proofread and edit

Here’s a tip I used to share with all my middle, high school, and college writing students: Give yourself enough time to write a draft and then put it aside to marinate for a day or more. When you return with fresh eyes, you may catch things you missed on an initial read-through — whether grammatical errors or clarification issues.

Another tip? Proofread what you’ve written by reading backward. Start with the final sentence of the final paragraph and read in reverse order, sentence by sentence. Or if that’s too granular an approach, read the paragraphs in reverse order. Why this madness? It interrupts the natural flow of “normal” reading, where our brains may substitute or unconsciously “fix” errors because, after all, you wrote the thing so clearly you know what should be there — even if it isn’t. Disrupting that natural flow will help you catch odd turns of phrase or sentences that could use a little TLC that, if you read from beginning to end in the “normal” way, your brain might say is fine.

A third tip: Read your essay aloud or — better yet — ask someone to read it aloud to you. Your ears will catch things your eyes miss. 

Use AI to refine, not replace, your voice

Find yourself facing a grammatical conundrum or an unwieldy sentence you can’t seem to fix? Grammarly is fantastic for identifying grammar, mechanical, and spelling errors. A caveat: don’t just take Grammarly’s suggestions at face value. Sometimes, it’s a little off — or you have a good reason for using passive voice or incorporating a sentence fragment. If you’re struggling to fix a sentence you know doesn’t sound right but unsure how to improve it, try the Hemingway App — or toss that sentence into ChatGPT or another Gen-AI program and ask it for several alternatives. 

There’s nothing wrong with using AI as a tool — but if you really want your essay to stand out from the crowd, don’t take the easy route to bland, boring content generated by a bunch of algorithms. Dig into your brain, sift through your memories and experiences, and share your personality through your writer’s voice instead.

Want more tips and insights? Check out our full Guide to College Admissions here.