In my teaching career, I used a lot of technology in my class---I was one of the first adopters of Turnitin.com in 1998, for example.  I've read where ChatGPT is supposed to herald The End of the College Essay or whatever, and I don't really see how.  This 5-paragraph essay about Wuthering Heights appeared in a CNN article about NYC Schools blocking ChatGPT on network computers, and it's representative of the hundreds of ChatGPT essays I've seen. 

https://twitter.com/beijingdou/status/1599829814286094336...

To be completely honest, I've been underwhelmed by these supposedly good essays.  But, at the same time, I totally understand why some people react this way:  They're mostly competent and readable, which puts them in the top half of college essays. 

But that's not going to be good enough at good schools, and reps have already learned to spot the particular style that ChatGPT tends to produce.  And there's already high quality AI detectors being open-sourced, so we're in the Cheating Arms Race that always happens when new technology emerges. 

So, before using ChatGPT to write your college essay, ask yourself:  What is the point of my College Essay? 

It's not a writing sample that demonstrates competence, like an AP essay.  It's a story that reveals what kind of student you'll be on their campus.  You need to seem like an interesting person.  The College Essay humanizes you to the reader, mostly using rich detail and personalized insights.  It tells a story that only you know. 

ChatGPT is decent impersonator of competent writing, but it can only replicate what it's fed.  It can't generate what a great College Essay does because it doesn't know your story.

Like with the Wuthering Heights essay linked above, which is based on an AP Literature style prompt.  Perhaps that essay (barely) passes the AP Literature exam.  But that says more about the AP Literature exam than it does anything else.   

In my Honors class, this essay would be a C, and any student who had me could tell you why: 

1) Non-dynamic introduction paragraph that doesn't select storytelling details to set up the thesis

2) Thesis is far too vague as well as standard-answer

3) No impactful direct quotations to illustrate the argument

4) The supporting evidence is very SparkNotes-y

5) The underdeveloped conclusion presents no novel interpretation of the work

It does well on Organization, stepping the reader systematically through the story chronologically, with proper transitions to signpost the reader through the argument.  The Grammar and Mechanics (I call this "Craftsmanship") is good, and it is readable. 

But really, it's not an insightful essay:  It doesn't tell me anything about this hypothetical student's ability to think metaphorically to develop anything other than standard, semi-insights about the text. 

In my career as a high school teacher and a college admissions professional, I've spent hundreds of hours reading student writing.  To me, thirty years of standardized testing has completely distorted our collective ability to recognize insightful writing that demonstrates real independent critical thought--and differentiate that from writing which can pass a standardized test. 

But you know who will be able to spot an original, insightful personal narrative immediately?  Somebody reading a stack of dozens and dozens and dozens of mediocre essays back to back to back.  Like a college admissions officer. 

Ultimately, that's why ChatGPT can't write you a decent college essay.  It will sound like every other essay, because that's what ChatGPT is trained to do.  The essay needs to tell your story and sound like you.