Can You Use AI on Your US College Application? What Top Universities Say

If you're thinking of using AI to help with your US college essays, it's worth checking the rules first. Each university sets its own policy, and these range from allowing AI for proofreading only to setting out detailed lists of permitted and prohibited uses.

With early deadlines arriving in November, here's a quick guide to where universities draw the line and how to stay on the right side of it.

What the Common App's fraud policy says about AI

Most selective US universities accept the Common App, and its fraud policy covers AI directly. Submitting the substantive content or output of an AI platform as your own work counts as application fraud. When you submit, you also certify that everything in your application is your own work, factually true and honestly presented.

The consequences are serious. Yale warns that submitting essays composed by text-generating software may lead to admission being revoked or even expulsion, and Caltech states that breaching its AI guidelines may result in an offer being rescinded. This baseline applies even where a university has published nothing of its own on AI.

How AI policies differ between top US universities

Policies at top universities tend to fall into four broad groups.

No dedicated policy

Some leading universities, including Princeton, have not published a specific AI policy. Princeton's Dean of Admission has still been clear in her advice, arguing that nothing produced by an AI tool will be as authentic or compelling as an essay you write yourself.

Proofreading only

Brown allows AI for spelling and grammar checks, in the same way as any other proofreading tool. Everything else you submit must be your own work.

Assistant rather than author

Yale permits AI for checking grammar and spelling, or for general advice and topic suggestions at the start of the writing process. Penn takes a similar line, drawing a distinction between getting help with your application and losing ownership of it.

Detailed rules

Cornell, Caltech and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) set out specific examples. Cornell is happy for you to use AI to research universities and build your list, and prohibits using it to outline, draft or write your responses. WashU goes further still, listing brainstorming essay topics among its never-acceptable uses.

Common permitted and prohibited uses of AI

Brainstorming is the grey area. Caltech and Yale allow some early-stage support, while WashU rules it out entirely, so check each university individually.

How US AI policies compare with UCAS guidance

UCAS takes a relatively relaxed view. Its guidance suggests AI can help you get started, structure your statement and check readability, and it runs similarity checks on personal statements. Several US universities are noticeably stricter: Cornell rules out using AI to outline responses, and WashU rules out using it to brainstorm topics. Habits formed during your UCAS application may not carry across.

US applications also involve far more writing. Alongside the Common App essay, most selective universities ask for their own supplemental essays and short answers. Brown's policy, for example, covers essays, short-answer questions and any other material you submit, so the rules apply across your whole application.

How US AI policies compare with UCAS guidance

Two questions from admissions offices make useful checks:

• Caltech's test - would it be ethical for a trusted adult, such as a teacher, to do the same task? A teacher can check your spelling. A teacher writing a draft for you to tweak and submit is clearly off-limits.
• Penn's test - would you explain in an interview, in your own words, how you arrived at what you wrote? If not, it's not ready to submit.

Policies are updated each cycle, so read each university's own guidance before you start writing.