Introduction
Since OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public last November, curious technologists, journalists, and members of the public alike have tested the tool’s ability to write recipes, pass the bar exam, and even create (bad) ASCII art. With the first complete university application cycle since ChatGPT’s release fast approaching, can it be used effectively to apply to the Sciences Po dual degree programs? The short answer: it can be done in moderation and with careful attention to its flaws.
Module 1: Frequently Asked Questions
Does using ChatGPT for college applications violate Sciences Po’s academic integrity policies?
No. Sciences Po’s policies only apply to student evaluations, not prospective student applications.
Is it ethical to use ChatGPT for college application essays?
Moral decisions are highly individual, so there is no one answer to this question. ChatGPT has caused harm to humans and the environment in different ways, and many uses lack integrity. However, there are ways to apply ChatGPT in moderation that many people find morally acceptable.
What should I consider when deciding whether an application of ChatGPT is appropriate?
In the desired application, text produced by ChatGPT must be vetted for inaccuracies or problematic biases, ChatGPT must not be used to impersonate a human, and humans must provide original ideas.
How can I protect my privacy when using ChatGPT?
OpenAI offers a way to turn off data collection. This means that prior conversations will only be available if data collection was on when you had them. Go to Settings → Data Controls → Chat History & Training to toggle it on/off.
What are the main challenges of ChatGPT?
Because ChatGPT is only built to produce statistically probable text patterns, it does not understand facts or truth and struggles to deliver accurate information. Since it is trained on the language of others, it cannot truly generate original or unique insights, even if it gives the appearance of doing so.
What parts of my application can ChatGPT help with?
ChatGPT can assist with anything that involves writing or conversation. This includes constructing application essays, writing resumes, and practicing for interviews.
What do I do if ChatGPT doesn’t give me the answer I am looking for?
Since ChatGPT gives a different answer for the same input each time, sometimes this will involve asking ChatGPT the same question several times and using different wording.
Module 2: What is ChatGPT?
We all have heard of this new tool, but how exactly does it work? ChatGPT is an interface to a large language model (LLM) called GPT-3.5, developed by OpenAI with investment from Microsoft. Since its release, other corporations have unveiled similar tools, including Google’s Bard, Anthropic’s Claude, and Meta’s Llama 2.
LLMs are a form of generative artificial intelligence, a type of machine learning that creates synthetic media such as text, image, audio, and video. LLMs, in particular, work by outputting text that has a high probability of being a response to the input. Because these tools rely on statistics, scholars have referred to them as “stochastic parrots”: software that repeats human language encountered during training based on the probability of its relevance.
While ChatGPT is very good at picking the right words, this can have unintended consequences. Due to the confident tone of its output, it’s easy to assume that it is providing facts. However, this is a misconception. ChatGPT does not understand what is true and what is not, and it often makes lucky guesses based on probability. This means it is susceptible to hallucination, which occurs when it responds incorrectly. Thus, it is ideally suited to cases where truth is not essential.
Module 3: Application to University Admissions
In light of ChatGPT’s impressive capabilities, journalists and college admissions experts have extensively tested it in writing admissions essays. Their findings? It can do the job, but not very well, and certainly not well enough to get into prestigious programs like Sciences Po dual degree programs. Their experiments highlighted several key pitfalls, but at the same time, there were certain things that ChatGPT did well:
Strengths | Weaknesses |
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Clearly, there is some potential for using ChatGPT for university applications, in admissions essays and other tasks. With human assistance, it can certainly be a powerful tool. However, is it appropriate to apply it in this context?
Module 4: Appropriate Use
Concerns about using ChatGPT are two-fold: First, is it allowed to use the tool in a particular setting? Second, is it ethical to do so?
We can answer the first question easily enough. Sciences Po’s AI policy bans the use of tools like ChatGPT in evaluation settings, where students are assessed for their understanding of academic material through exams. Tools like GPTZero have been developed to prevent this, but they have many false positives. That is not relevant to applying to the dual degree program, and there are no stated restrictions on tool usage in applications to the university.
Because of this, we move to the second question of whether it is ethical to use ChatGPT for degree applications. Several ethical issues with the development and deployment of ChatGPT, including data privacy, exploitative labor practices, and its environmental cost, cause some people to avoid it on principle. Aside from these, Professor Emily Bender, a linguist at the University of Washington, has laid out key considerations when deciding whether to use ChatGPT in a particular context:
- The substantive content of the final output must be vetted for accuracy.
- Problematic biases must be identified and removed from the output.
Both of these issues can be addressed by carefully reviewing the final output of ChatGPT and removing any problems in it.
- ChatGPT should not impersonate a human being.
- The originality of ideas should not be expected in the context of use.
If you use ChatGPT primarily for brainstorming, structure formation, or language refinement, the final essay will represent your capabilities and perspectives and avoid impersonation. Regarding originality, while ChatGPT can generate ideas or suggestions, the strongest essays incorporate personal experiences or views unique to you. While you can ask ChatGPT to help you articulate these, you must ultimately use ChatGPT to reflect your own ideas to avoid ethical breaches.
The following sections go through how to do that for different components of the application process. You can turn data collection off when you try these out to protect your personal information.
Module 5: Writing
ChatGPT can be used in various ways to responsibly assist in writing application essays. We take the following essay prompt as an example:
“Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.”
Brainstorming
Since you know yourself best, you should rely on instinct when selecting an idea for your essay. That said, ChatGPT can serve as a sounding board to think through ideas about a topic. The following are steps you can take to achieve that:
Prompt Interpretation
If you’re not sure where to start, ask ChatGPT how to think about what the prompt is asking. This can help you see different angles to the question and identify threads that speak to you.
Example Input:
- I am writing a college admissions essay with the following prompt. What kinds of things should I think about when brainstorming ideas? “Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.”
Brain Dumping
ChatGPT’s response to your query may suggest thinking about favorite subjects, teachers, or learning experiences. In response to this, list all relevant items that resonate with you. This does not need to be organized or refined and don’t constrain yourself to describing a few things in detail. Write out as many ideas as you can. Then, provide these to ChatGPT and ask it to identify threads worth writing about.
Example Input:
- Help me extract threads for potential essay topics from the following information: <insert information on your favorite subjects, personal experiences, memorable courses, teachers, class discussions, or assignments, extracurricular activities, mentors, etc.>.
List Iteration
Once you have a list of potential topics, read through them and select one that is most appealing to you, or come up with your own idea inspired by ChatGPT’s output. This will be the academic subject you describe in your essay. Then, ask ChatGPT about ways of writing about the topic that cover different aspects of the information you provided in your brain dump.
Example Input:
- I want to write my essay about <insert general topic>. What are some potential angles to this question that I could take? Draw on the following information for your suggestions: <insert relevant information from brain dumping>.
Strengths and Weaknesses
ChatGPT will list themes relevant to the overall topic based on your supporting details. If you like one of these the best, that’s great! You’ve just decided on your essay topic.
If you are still trying to decide what approach to take for the question, ask ChatGPT to help you think through the pros and cons of each of the ideas it provided. You can then use this information to make your final decision.
Example Input:
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of each idea? Provide a detailed consideration of each in the context of college admissions essays.
Outlining
Once you have selected a topic, ensuring that you have a structure to your essay before you start writing is critical. This is essential to ensuring that admissions officers can follow your writing and understand the message you are trying to convey. You can do this by creating a solid outline, which ChatGPT can help with.
Brain Dumping
First, you must collect all the information relevant to your essay and supply it to ChatGPT. Consider the key points or overall message you want to convey to the admissions committee, as well as all the supporting details that may be relevant.
At this point, it is worth reflecting on the dual purposes of your essay — in addition to your passion for an academic subject, what would you like admissions officers to know about you? List all that information for ChatGPT and ask it to identify core themes and messages for your essay.
Example Input:
- This is my topic for the prompt above: <insert topic>. Here are all the supporting details I would like to cover in my essay: <insert details>. What potential themes and messages can I convey to provide insight into my experiences and character?
Storytelling
In response to the previous prompt, ChatGPT will list several thematic directions your essay can take. Some of these may be trite or cliché, so you should eliminate them. Of the others, select the approach that resonates most with you. Don’t worry — you will also have the opportunity to incorporate parts of the others into your essay!
Once you have this focus, identify a critical experience that captures the essence of your idea. Since storytelling is integral to writing a strong college application essay, provide the details of this anecdote to ChatGPT and ask it to help organize your story.
Example Input:
- I am interested in writing about <insert topic> with the following theme: <insert theme>. To convey this theme, I want to structure my essay around the following experience: <insert as many details as possible about the story>. Help me to construct an outline of the story that implicitly highlights my theme but leaves out any details that aren’t relevant.
Adding Details
Once this basic structure for your essay has been created, fill in the details you want to include in the appropriate sections. These details should drive your theme more deeply or highlight complementary aspects of your experiences and character (potentially from the previously discarded ideas). If there are details you want to include but don’t know how, ask ChatGPT to help you.
Example Input:
- The following is my outline for the essay so far:
<insert outline>
Here are some more details that I want to add to my essay: <insert details>. Help me incorporate the ones that are most relevant into the outline.
Word Choice
Now that you have your outline, it’s time to begin writing! Do not use ChatGPT for this part because it tends to produce very generic and fluffy language. You want to showcase your individual voice, so write the essay yourself and use ChatGPT to assist in finding the words you’re looking for:
Staying in a Flow
Sometimes, I lose my train of thought in the middle of a sentence. If that happens to you, you can paste the text you have written so far into ChatGPT and ask it to help you continue the writing.
ChatGPT might select words entirely irrelevant to what you are trying to say. That’s okay! Use your understanding of why it’s wrong to identify words that feel right to you.
Example Input:
- So far, I have the following in response to the prompt “Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.”
<insert writing>
What could be the next few words in the essay?
Fill-in-the-Blank
Sometimes, it’s hard to precisely identify the word you want to put in a particular sentence. If that’s the case, skip the word and leave a blank space where it should be. Once you have finished writing, return to that sentence and ask ChatGPT for suggestions on what to put in the blank.
Example Input:
- List several potential words that make sense for the blank in the following sentence: “Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of listening with ____ attention as my uncle launched into extensive analyses of the humanities and social sciences with my relatives.” <insert your own example>
Alternative Words
If the output words differ slightly from what you are looking for, or if you have a word that doesn’t feel right, you can ask ChatGPT for alternatives. These can vary in different ways, including precision, formality, connotation, and temporal context.
Example Input:
- List words like “cynical” <insert your own example> but which have a positive connotation.
Style and Tone
One of the primary flaws of ChatGPT is the blandness of voice when producing text. As you are writing a draft of your essay, your natural style and tone come through. However, sometimes you need a little help! With a base to work with and detailed instructions, ChatGPT can help you improve your own voice. This involves everything from sentence structure and pacing to imagery and word choice.
Emotion
A key component to telling a good story is striking the right emotional environment with your audience. Doing so effectively requires being intentional about what emotions are appropriate and how you are conveying them. ChatGPT can assist with adding emotive elements to your writing.
Example Input:
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
Give me suggestions to make the part that describes <insert a descriptor for the part> feel more tense <insert emotion of choice>?
Imitation
Several speakers and writers are known for their rich voices that they craft through a combination of word choice, style, tone, and structure. If you feel that your own voice is a bit lacking, you can attempt to emulate them to create a similarly powerful effect.
Example Input:
- Describe how Katherine Mansfield <insert author of choice> uses literary devices, style, and tone to create her voice and explain how someone else might do something similar.
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
Give me suggestions to write this in a voice similar to Katherine Mansfield <insert author of choice>?
Formality
Given the context of a college admissions essay, you want to write more formally than communications with friends but less formally than your academic assignments. ChatGPT can help you achieve this middle ground.
Example Input:
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
Give me suggestions to sound more casual <insert desired change> but still appropriate for a professional audience.
Feedback
Once you have completed a draft of your essay, it’s important to review it to ensure that it conveys the ideas that you want it to. ChatGPT can provide feedback on your essay to help it become more effective.
Because ChatGPT repeats probabilistic patterns and can sometimes make things up, you should review any feedback carefully and decide whether it makes sense before incorporating it into your writing.
Structure
Often, the way information flows in your writing will affect how well your writing is received by readers. Asking ChatGPT about your essay’s structure can assist with this.
Example Input:
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
How well does the structure of my essay convey my main message that <insert message>? Give me suggestions to improve the structure.
Clarity
Writing that makes sense to you may not make sense to other people, and it’s often difficult to tell. However, ChatGPT is useful in multiple ways to understand this. First, you can ask it to interpret a sentence that you think might be confusing. If ChatGPT is wrong, you know that you need to improve. Second, you can directly ask for feedback on the clarity of your writing.
Example Input:
- What do you think the following sentence is trying to say? <insert sentence>
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
How clear is my writing? Give me suggestions to improve the clarity.
Show, Don’t Tell
American students are often taught to “show” rather than to “tell.” This means that instead of stating a qualitative assessment of a situation (e.g. “The mood was tense”), one must describe it indirectly (e.g. “The staccato tapping of her pen punctuated the silence.”).
This technique can help to create a vivid image in the mind of the reader, leading them to remember it later and promote it when admissions decisions are made. ChatGPT can provide feedback on how to enhance that in your essay.
Example Input:
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
Give me suggestions to do more “show, don’t tell” in my writing.
Spelling and Grammar
Finally, ChatGPT can assist with checking the grammar of your essay. While it is not necessarily the best way to do so (Grammarly is a bit better), it is free and does a good job with improving errors.
Example Input:
- I have the following essay:
<insert your essay>
Help me fix any spelling and grammar errors.
Module 6: Other Application Components
ChatGPT is useful beyond essays, both as a writing assistant and as a conversation partner. We will now go through how it can help with two other key components of applying for dual degree programs: resume and CV development and interview preparation.
Resume/CV
Resumes and curriculum vitae are documents that describe your skills, qualifications, and academic and professional credentials. They differ from essay writing because originality of ideas is immaterial — they simply serve to list facts about yourself. This makes them an ideal document to liberally use ChatGPT.
Because ChatGPT is prone to hallucination, it is crucial that you provide it with detailed information about your experiences and background so that it does not make anything up.
Selecting Experiences
Because applications are evaluated holistically, with all the different parts complementing each other, you should ensure that the experiences listed on your resume/CV support the claims you make in your essay.
Often, you may have far more experience to write about than what would fit on a 1-page document. ChatGPT can help you rank these so that you only include what’s most relevant to your application.
Example Input:
- I am applying to study <insert field of study> through the Sciences Po-<insert campus> dual degree program. My personal essay describes <insert 1-sentence essay summary>. The following are past experiences that I might include on my resume. Help me rank them based on relevance and explain why:
<insert experiences>
Appropriate Emphasis
Based on the output ChatGPT gives you, you should select the experiences that you want to include on this version of your resume. For each experience, you want to identify which parts of a particular past experience are relevant to your application.
Example Input:
- What parts of this experience should I emphasize for my application?
<insert experience description>
Rewriting Descriptions
Once ChatGPT has determined what is most relevant, you should rewrite your description to emphasize those points. Many people also recommend using some kind of framework to ensure that you are phrasing your experience in the most impactful way. ChatGPT can help you do both of these if you give it the aspects to emphasize from the previous step, enough detail about the experience, and a formula to follow.
Example Input:
- Rewrite my description of this experience to highlight these components in 2-3 bullet points that start with action words.
<insert experience description>
Use the XYZ formula: what I did + the qualitative results + the skills or experience I used to achieve the outcome.
Interviews
One of the most interesting uses of ChatGPT in college applications has nothing to do with writing — interview preparation. Because it is a chatbot, you can use ChatGPT to think through conversations in addition to producing written materials. The following steps walk through how to do that:
Question Brainstorming
In order to prepare for the interview, it is useful to know the kinds of things that the interviewer may ask. There are plenty of other resources that provide this information already, but ChatGPT can help provide more questions on demand, making it a renewable preparation resource.
Example Input:
- I am applying to study <insert field of study> through the Sciences Po-<insert university> dual degree program. My personal essay describes <insert 1-sentence essay summary>. The interview for the program requires an introduction, image analysis, and a discussion of motivations with the interviewer. Help me come up with questions that the interviewer could ask related to the last part.
Mock Interviewing
One of the hardest parts of preparing for interviews is the fact that they require lots of effort and specialized knowledge for someone else to help you prepare. However, those barriers are eliminated with ChatGPT, which can adapt instantaneously if you provide it with the relevant information. To make this experience most useful, you need to type up whatever you would actually say in the moment. I recommend recording yourself speaking and transcribing your words into ChatGPT.
This function is a bit finicky because ChatGPT does not always behave in ways that are conducive to a back-and-forth conversation. The following prompt generally works, but because ChatGPT never produces exactly the same behavior, you may have to tweak the wording a bit to make it work. As another caveat, this mock interview should not be expected to simulate the real one but instead serve as a reference that can help you practice talking about your ideas.
Example Input:
- I am applying to study <insert field of study> through the Sciences Po-<insert university> dual degree program. My personal essay describes <insert 1-sentence essay summary>. The interview for the program requires an introduction, image analysis, and a discussion of motivations with the interviewer. Help me do a mock interview that goes through the introduction and discussion of motivations. We’ll role-play with you as the interviewer and me as the interviewee.
Interview Feedback
Improving in interviews is often challenging because of the lack of feedback during practice. While ChatGPT may not know what exactly the interviewers are looking for, it can provide feedback on specificity, clarity, and things you could have potentially said. You should make this request right after completing a mock interview with ChatGPT so that it has access to what you said before.
Example Input:
- Give me some feedback on this mock interview. How did I do? How can I improve my answers?
Answer Development
Sometimes, there are experiences you really want to highlight in interviews but that are tricky to frame correctly. ChatGPT can help you fit your experience into a particular interview framework, such as the STAR method.
Example Input:
- How can I talk about the following experience using the STAR method for interviews?
<insert experience description>
Tips and Tricks
Sometimes, ChatGPT won’t give you exactly what you want. In those situations, spend some time changing the wording of the input or regenerating responses, and it might give you better results.
If there’s something very clear that it’s doing wrong, tell it that! “No, don’t ___. Try again.” ChatGPT is very good at responding to this type of feedback.
Always listen to your intuition about whether outputs are good or bad. ChatGPT doesn’t “know” anything in the traditional sense, so it’s not always right.
ChatGPT has a limited memory. If something you said much earlier in the conversation is relevant, remind it of that information. Otherwise, it will start to make things up.
ChatGPT is not good at estimating word length because it doesn’t have a substantial idea of what “500 words” means. If you need it to assist in reaching a particular word limit, give it instructions like “Make this sentence more concise” and others like “That’s too concise” to correct.
When typing a response with multiple lines, use Shift+Enter to go to the next line.
While ChatGPT can be applied in many ways to aid in various elements of college applications, its use should be balanced and ethically responsible to preserve the integrity and uniqueness of each applicant.
Vyoma Raman