In today’s digital age, technology plays a vital role in various aspects of our lives, including education. College Admissions, a process that is daunting and overwhelming, is no exception. In this article we explore the use of Chat GPT, and advanced AI assistant in revolutionizing the college admissions process.
Great opening, right? While I’d love to take credit for that eloquent beginning, it was generated by ChatGPT, a robot who prides itself on being able to write, do math problems, generate ideas and much more. While it can certainly do all those things, it simply cannot compete with the human brain. Why? The human brain is creative and original, drawing from unique experiences that can’t be found on the internet. The human brain makes decisions and conclusions based on personal experience. In the most basic of terms, ChatGPT has no original thoughts. It only has access to what others have fed into it. It only has access to other people’s thoughts. ChatGPT doesn’t know your story. Rest assured, the rest of this article is written without the help of ChatGPT.
While my main focus is scholarships, I’m committed to helping as many students as I can be successful in their education and career goals. Imagine Scholarships isn’t just scholarships but rather a platform to help students find educational dollars, search for internships and find encouraging videos and resources. I was a first generation college student, and I work hard to provide students and parents with the latest information in education. Our platform has hundreds of videos, thousands of scholarships and internships. Join us today, you’ll be glad you did.
If you find it on ChatGPT, everyone else can too! - Sherri Graf
AI and ChatGPT are here to stay. I’ve decided to embrace them rather than fight them. In fact, statistically speaking, they’re growing like wildfire. Being in the world of scholarships and college admissions, I’ve spent more than a few hours learning to understand AI, ChatGPT and the ethics surrounding them in the scholarship and college admissions process, including essays. Many schools have banned the use of ChatGPT, including the largest school district in the country.
In my research, I learned that most students are already using AI in some form to enhance their education. While I’m supportive of learning and using resources to help accomplish the best education possible, I must look at the ethical components of the authenticity of the work the students are producing. In my opinion, ChatGPT doesn’t provide the quality of writing and acumen that most educational institutions require. In fact, in a recent experiment at Wharton, papers written using ChatGPT received an average grade of C+ in some courses and a B+ in others. You can find this white paper detailing the performance here.
In addition to the Wharton experiment, Best Colleges did an in-depth survey of college students and found fascinating results.
Some ways you could use ChatGPT effectively and ethically:
Resume - AI can help you get past the robot police (algorithm) that companies use to select which resumes are actually viewed by hiring managers. ChatGPT can help you use appropriate keywords as well as help with format and structure and optimizing file formats.
Scholarships - Imagine Scholarships utilizes the latest technology to find the best scholarships for the individual student. Using a platform like Imagine Scholarships simplifies the scholarship search for you and helps keep scholarships organized.
Research schools and job openings - A wealth of information is available through ChatGPT and looking for opportunities is a key benefit of AI. Researching schools and colleges can be done quickly in this way.
Help organize your goals in an effective way.
Help you find opportunities to build your resume.
Why not to use ChatGPT:
No original thoughts or ideas - ChatGPT uses information formulated by others, therefore it’s public for everyone, making your information old and outdated. Why not come up with an original idea?
Repetitive - ChatGPT says the same thing over and over, sounding robotic or staged. ChatGPT has no personal experiences to share.
Plagiarism - Again, if you find it here, it isn’t original to you and can be traced back to its original source. Professors and educators are trained to look for this.
Ethics - While everyone has a different moral compass, everyone knows when they are giving their best. Essays for scholarships and applications are unique, and this is your chance to promote yourself. Why would you allow someone or something to speak for you when you’re the only one who knows your story?
Bet on yourself - You’re smarter than ChatGPT and your potential far exceeds what you can find there. Place the bet on yourself rather than regurgitated information.
An Original Idea Wins Everytime! - Sherri Graf
I recognize that the college admissions process can be complicated on many levels. At Imagine Scholarships, we have thousands of quality scholarships, hundreds of internships and an entire curriculum of videos to encourage you through the process.
What is Imagine Scholarships?
Built by a first generation college graduate and parent of four, Imagine Scholarships provides students access to quality scholarships, internships and hundreds of video resources. Founder Sherri Graf has worked with thousands of students and understands from a personal perspective the importance of finding scholarships for all students. Imagine Scholarships offers a blog covering creative topics to support parents in the process and encourage students to be successful in high school and college.
Imagine Scholarships offers a subscription for just $16.99 per month. Imagine where you can go with a scholarship and a dream!
For more current information on the college admissions process, sign up for our blog here.