Anonymous wrote:Several folks (here and on Reddit) have mentioned the giant NACAC college counseling conference that took place earlier this month. Then I heard Lee Coffin (Dartmouth AO's podcast) yesterday refer to the meeting as well.

Found the agenda. Look at the role AI
https://nacacconference.org/education/preconference-seminars/

They had sessions with the founders and CEOs of 2 college AI tools that I learned about on this site:
Athena AI and Kollegio

This conference is the talk of the town right now in the college counseling world. I haven't seen any writeups about it yet, other than this one on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1nmsuxz/i_went_to_nacac_2025_the_largest_national/

Several folks (here and on Reddit) have mentioned the giant NACAC college counseling conference that took place earlier this month. Then I heard Lee Coffin (Dartmouth AO's podcast) yesterday refer to the meeting as well.

Found the agenda. Look at the role AI
https://nacacconference.org/education/preconference-seminars/

They had sessions with the founders and CEOs of 2 college AI tools that I learned about on this site:
Athena AI and Kollegio

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t understand why any kid needs to use AI at all to write this essay. Not Grammarly, not Claude, not anything. Just write the essay and ask another human to proofread or give feedback.

Because kids are applying to 15 schools, which means they have 30+ essays to write. This is on top of doing day to day school work for 6 APs (need to get an A — no A-), leadership in a club, volunteer work outside of school, varsity sport, etc. These kids are overwhelmed.

Or, you could just let them be the kid they’re physically and logistically able to be without relying on AI to do their thinking for them. If they’re cutting corners on writing essays, I can only assume they’re cutting corners on some of the other stuff, too. Not so much overwhelmed, as “overwhelmed.”

The problem I have with it is that schools create a system that begs to be gamed. Example:

The Why Us essay- kids in “the know” are told to dig into the school’s website/online info to post things very specific about the school. Such a farce bc that is NOT why the kid wants the school. That is simply giving the school what they want in the answer but it is absolutely not genuine.

Well of course the schools want to admit people who genuinely want to come there. If your kid’s genuine answer doesn’t convey that then maybe they shouldn’t apply there. Cut one off your list and now there are fewer essays to write!

You misunderstand. A kid who wants to go to NYU because it is a prestigious school located in Manhattan is a kid who genuinely wants to go to NYU. But kids are trained not to say that in their “why NYU” essay. They are supposed to say they want to study some random esoteric subject with some professor they’ve never met, who may transfer to a different college before they get there.

DP. You should listen to the Yale podcast on essays. When they ask “Why Yale” or “Why NYU” they don’t mean tell us about how prestigious we are.everyone knows that and everyone who applies genuinely wants to attend. They are asking why the student and the college are a fit for each other. Do not just look up their website and say something about the classes you would take. Dig deeper into your reasons why they should choose you as well!

It's like a game because people do it backwards.

They pick the school because it's prestigious. But that's not okay to say, so instead they research and dig deep to come up with acceptable reasons (both for why they chose the school and why the school should choose them). And yet, none of those reasons would matter one iota if the school weren't prestigious. It's just bs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learned something from an IEC.

If you use any Grammarly text or any AI text (even a phrase), the apostrophes are different from a regular keyboard. Even when you paste it into the Common App. You have to retype it all. If you see some slanted quotations/straight ones or slanted apostrophes and straight ones, it's the sign.....It's a tell-tale way an AO knows.

You are welcome.

GPT5 fixed that. The straight quotations were super annoying. I don’t see that anymore with gpt5.

Its still in Claude. and a bunch of the AI college essay tools.

Anonymous wrote:Learned something from an IEC.

If you use any Grammarly text or any AI text (even a phrase), the apostrophes are different from a regular keyboard. Even when you paste it into the Common App. You have to retype it all. If you see some slanted quotations/straight ones or slanted apostrophes and straight ones, it's the sign.....It's a tell-tale way an AO knows.

You are welcome.

GPT5 fixed that. The straight quotations were super annoying. I don’t see that anymore with gpt5.

Learned something from an IEC.

If you use any Grammarly text or any AI text (even a phrase), the apostrophes are different from a regular keyboard. Even when you paste it into the Common App. You have to retype it all. If you see some slanted quotations/straight ones or slanted apostrophes and straight ones, it's the sign.....It's a tell-tale way an AO knows.

You are welcome.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every single person we know from our private has an "essay coach". Not a private counselor - just someone who edits 20-50 essays....

Generally, pay $2-3k for the main essay and then $500-1000 for each school's set of essays. If the individual school supplement exceeds 1000 words, the price increases.

You don't need a counselor, but you do need essay help if aiming for T20 schools. Remember, your work will be looked at in context to your "school group".

Ha. Not. My kid is at an Ivy. He got into two Ivy RD, several T20s and a few T10s RD.unhooked

I helped him- suggestions, editing but no paid help

Same. My DS is at Brown and I did the editing myself and we did some family brainstorming on the subject area, but really it was pretty straight forward. I think it would be odd to use an "essay editor" who doesn't know your kid. They'd probably erase their voice and turn it into a generically strong essay.

Anonymous wrote:Every single person we know from our private has an "essay coach". Not a private counselor - just someone who edits 20-50 essays....

Generally, pay $2-3k for the main essay and then $500-1000 for each school's set of essays. If the individual school supplement exceeds 1000 words, the price increases.

You don't need a counselor, but you do need essay help if aiming for T20 schools. Remember, your work will be looked at in context to your "school group".

Ha. Not. My kid is at an Ivy. He got into two Ivy RD, several T20s and a few T10s RD.unhooked

I helped him- suggestions, editing but no paid help

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our advisor said some universities are moving to blue books for essays in the next 1-3 years. Applicants will have to show all essay work from start to finish in a blue book and submit it upon request along with signed honor code at the end of the final draft essay saying the work is 100% their own. Advisor said chances are it won’t be requested but my kid is still freaking out over it.

Are you referring to essay exams written while in college? Or admissions essays? I have already gone back to in person paper and pencil tests for my students for the most part. I'm fine if they use AI to study, but at some point you've got to demonstrate mastery yourself.

DP, but my kid is a freshman in college and just had most of his professors describe how they would/could use AI in the class (and how they couldn’t). My kid really appreciated both the clarity and the recognition that AI is now a tool in almost all workplaces, and they need to know how to best use it, and when not to.

One professor, though, said nothing about AI but said every single assignment must be handwritten. All homework, exams, essays. My kid is dyslexic and had planned not to ask for accommodations as they generally aren’t needed any more…but handwritten essays are going to be messy. It seems a shame to be starting from the premise that kids will use AI to get out of learning. I totally support whatever professors need to do to ensure that students can’t use AI for exams, but if a student uses AI for homework they simply aren’t going to learn and then they’ll fail the test, and isn’t that the consequence?

When I said that my tests were in person and with paper and pencil, I would never deny a kid with an accommodation the ability to bring their laptop to class instead. In that case I would request that they use a lockdown browser. Perhaps your kid can speak the professor and explain his or her challenges.

For the homework, I agree with you that if they use AI without thinking at all, they will fail the test and that is a natural consequence, but some professors still want to assure fairness as much as possible. It is really unjust if student A works their butt off to come up with their own answers but those answers are not perfect, so they get a B, while their peer uses AI and gets an A on the homework with no effort. That is probably why your kid's professor wants all homework handwritten. Personally, I think this approach is a bit misguided because unless it is an in person homework or, a handwritten essay outside of class can also be generated by AI and then copied by hand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t understand why any kid needs to use AI at all to write this essay. Not Grammarly, not Claude, not anything. Just write the essay and ask another human to proofread or give feedback.

Because kids are applying to 15 schools, which means they have 30+ essays to write. This is on top of doing day to day school work for 6 APs (need to get an A — no A-), leadership in a club, volunteer work outside of school, varsity sport, etc. These kids are overwhelmed.

Or, you could just let them be the kid they’re physically and logistically able to be without relying on AI to do their thinking for them. If they’re cutting corners on writing essays, I can only assume they’re cutting corners on some of the other stuff, too. Not so much overwhelmed, as “overwhelmed.”

The problem I have with it is that schools create a system that begs to be gamed. Example:

The Why Us essay- kids in “the know” are told to dig into the school’s website/online info to post things very specific about the school. Such a farce bc that is NOT why the kid wants the school. That is simply giving the school what they want in the answer but it is absolutely not genuine.

Well of course the schools want to admit people who genuinely want to come there. If your kid’s genuine answer doesn’t convey that then maybe they shouldn’t apply there. Cut one off your list and now there are fewer essays to write!

You misunderstand. A kid who wants to go to NYU because it is a prestigious school located in Manhattan is a kid who genuinely wants to go to NYU. But kids are trained not to say that in their “why NYU” essay. They are supposed to say they want to study some random esoteric subject with some professor they’ve never met, who may transfer to a different college before they get there.

But why would that kid choose NYU over Columbia?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t understand why any kid needs to use AI at all to write this essay. Not Grammarly, not Claude, not anything. Just write the essay and ask another human to proofread or give feedback.

Because kids are applying to 15 schools, which means they have 30+ essays to write. This is on top of doing day to day school work for 6 APs (need to get an A — no A-), leadership in a club, volunteer work outside of school, varsity sport, etc. These kids are overwhelmed.

Or, you could just let them be the kid they’re physically and logistically able to be without relying on AI to do their thinking for them. If they’re cutting corners on writing essays, I can only assume they’re cutting corners on some of the other stuff, too. Not so much overwhelmed, as “overwhelmed.”

The problem I have with it is that schools create a system that begs to be gamed. Example:

The Why Us essay- kids in “the know” are told to dig into the school’s website/online info to post things very specific about the school. Such a farce bc that is NOT why the kid wants the school. That is simply giving the school what they want in the answer but it is absolutely not genuine.

Well of course the schools want to admit people who genuinely want to come there. If your kid’s genuine answer doesn’t convey that then maybe they shouldn’t apply there. Cut one off your list and now there are fewer essays to write!

You misunderstand. A kid who wants to go to NYU because it is a prestigious school located in Manhattan is a kid who genuinely wants to go to NYU. But kids are trained not to say that in their “why NYU” essay. They are supposed to say they want to study some random esoteric subject with some professor they’ve never met, who may transfer to a different college before they get there.

DP. You should listen to the Yale podcast on essays. When they ask “Why Yale” or “Why NYU” they don’t mean tell us about how prestigious we are.everyone knows that and everyone who applies genuinely wants to attend. They are asking why the student and the college are a fit for each other. Do not just look up their website and say something about the classes you would take. Dig deeper into your reasons why they should choose you as well!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t understand why any kid needs to use AI at all to write this essay. Not Grammarly, not Claude, not anything. Just write the essay and ask another human to proofread or give feedback.

Because kids are applying to 15 schools, which means they have 30+ essays to write. This is on top of doing day to day school work for 6 APs (need to get an A — no A-), leadership in a club, volunteer work outside of school, varsity sport, etc. These kids are overwhelmed.

Or, you could just let them be the kid they’re physically and logistically able to be without relying on AI to do their thinking for them. If they’re cutting corners on writing essays, I can only assume they’re cutting corners on some of the other stuff, too. Not so much overwhelmed, as “overwhelmed.”

The problem I have with it is that schools create a system that begs to be gamed. Example:

The Why Us essay- kids in “the know” are told to dig into the school’s website/online info to post things very specific about the school. Such a farce bc that is NOT why the kid wants the school. That is simply giving the school what they want in the answer but it is absolutely not genuine.

Well of course the schools want to admit people who genuinely want to come there. If your kid’s genuine answer doesn’t convey that then maybe they shouldn’t apply there. Cut one off your list and now there are fewer essays to write!

You misunderstand. A kid who wants to go to NYU because it is a prestigious school located in Manhattan is a kid who genuinely wants to go to NYU. But kids are trained not to say that in their “why NYU” essay. They are supposed to say they want to study some random esoteric subject with some professor they’ve never met, who may transfer to a different college before they get there.

Every straight dude wants to have sex with Sidney Sweeney.

She needs a better reason than “you are super hot and I want to sleep with you”.

“But I REALLY WANT TO” also not a great answer.

You’re trying to romance the school, get some game.

Thankfully, NYU no longer has the “Why NYU”, it has been replaced by one about your DC builds bridges with others.

Anonymous wrote:Every single person we know from our private has an "essay coach". Not a private counselor - just someone who edits 20-50 essays....

Generally, pay $2-3k for the main essay and then $500-1000 for each school's set of essays. If the individual school supplement exceeds 1000 words, the price increases.

You don't need a counselor, but you do need essay help if aiming for T20 schools. Remember, your work will be looked at in context to your "school group".

This doesn’t speak well to the quality of the teaching at your school. It’s really quite hilarious that people feel pressured to pay that much for a writing coach after already paying so much tuition for the supposedly superior writing instruction. Suckers born every minute.

Every single person we know from our private has an "essay coach". Not a private counselor - just someone who edits 20-50 essays....

Generally, pay $2-3k for the main essay and then $500-1000 for each school's set of essays. If the individual school supplement exceeds 1000 words, the price increases.

You don't need a counselor, but you do need essay help if aiming for T20 schools. Remember, your work will be looked at in context to your "school group".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t understand why any kid needs to use AI at all to write this essay. Not Grammarly, not Claude, not anything. Just write the essay and ask another human to proofread or give feedback.

By this level, the student should know where commas are placed and how to edit their writing. Perhaps a remedial writing class could help.

Sure, but even professional writers rely on editors to make the finished product really good. Nothing wrong with needing a pair of human eyes to catch an error or offer a suggestion here or there.