The college admissions process can be just as daunting for parents as it is for students. After all, it’s only natural that you’re invested in your child’s success and want to be as supportive as possible, making it even more difficult when your child faces the difficulty of a college rejection. 

So how can parents support their child through a college rejection?

Accept the pain

The first thing is to accept the emotional weight of a college rejection, both for a student and as a parent. Avoid trying to encourage your child to move past this moment right off the bat. As they think about the effort they put into their application, allow them to grieve the loss of their particular dream before encouraging them to move on to other options or trying to dissect where things went wrong. Similarly, allow yourself to be disappointed as well. It’s natural for parents to be invested in their child’s dream, and it’s OK to feel sad, both for them and for yourself. 

Put things in perspective

Remind your child not to take their rejection personally. The reality is that colleges will always have fewer seats available for admission than the number of applications they receive. For example, following the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities saw a decrease in admitted students, with many top schools falling below a 5% acceptance rate.

With this in mind, remind your child that they’re not alone. Plenty of successful people were rejected by their dream schools but still went on to accomplish great things.

Just to name a few: 

  1. Tina Fey was rejected by Princeton but went on to study drama at the University of Virginia. Katie Couric also attended UVA after she was rejected by Smith College.
  2. Similarly, former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was also rejected by Princeton and ended up attending his second pick, Georgetown University, on a full scholarship, where he graduated as class valedictorian.
  3. Former President Barack Obama was rejected by Swarthmore but ended up attending Occidental College before transferring to Columbia University.

The takeaway is that one school is not the end-all-be-all of your child’s success. It’s important to remember and remind your child that the goal of this process isn’t to get into the best school but to find the school that is the best fit for them.

Let us help you find your best fit

Explore other options

With time, your child will begin to understand that one college rejection does not have to impact their future. Help them get excited about the schools where they have been accepted. You can plan a visit to the campus and see what the surrounding city/town has to offer. Remember to check out our College Campus Tour Checklist before you go. Reach out to the admissions office, as they can likely connect you with current students who can talk about their own experiences. 

Remind your child to stay open to new possibilities. Nearly half of all undergrad students will change their major. Millions of students transfer colleges each year. Encourage them to make the best decision for them, but remind them that ultimately, you’ll support them if they decide to try something else. This will make the burden of making their final college decision feel a lot less harrowing. 

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence language software launched in November 2022 by OpenAI. Trained on a large database of text, this chatbot is capable of generating conversational responses to various prompts. The implications of this software are huge, and the whole world is abuzz with what this technology could mean for various industries moving forward. 

Like with all new inventions, people’s emotions range from awe and excitement to skepticism and dread. One of the questions on many people’s minds is, how will ChatGPT affect college admissions and the college application essay? Although it’s a bit too early to tell, college admissions counselors and officers have several theories of how ChatGPT could affect college admissions.

What is ChatGPT?

According to its website, OpenAI strives “to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.” The company’s latest product is ChatGPT, a chatbot capable of writing essays and other short responses after being given a prompt. According to a New York Times article, ChatGPT is “the best artificial intelligence chatbot ever released to the general public.” It is also worth noting that more than one million signed up for a test trial within the first five days of its release. 

ChatGPT can be used in a myriad of ways. Many people have plans to use the platform to write business proposals, cover letters, professional bios, website content, and more. In other words, ChatGPT could eventually replace the need for copywriters and other writing professionals. But what about college essays?

Although ChatGPT is capable of creating logical, grammatically correct sentences and incorporating certain data when prompted, is it capable of creativity? After all, great writing isn’t just about communicating key facts; great writing requires creativity, sensitivity, and a unique perspective. 

Is ChatGPT capable of writing a college essay?

So, is ChatGPT capable of writing a college essay? Well, as it happens, Forbes already prompted ChatGPT to write two college essays, both of which you can view here. The remarkable thing about these essays is that Forbes was able to request revisions and specify a total word count. 

Let’s take a look at some of the actual prompts Forbes used:

After reviewing the first draft, which took ChatGPT less than 10 minutes to write, Forbes made another request: 

“Thanks, GPT, this is a great start. Please keep what you have but add more information about our student’s background and work in the restaurant.”

Pleased with the results, Forbes made their final request, asking ChatGPT to combine these two sections into a single essay. Although these two essays aren’t entirely expressive or unique, they are both coherent and professional. 

Jim Jump, a college admissions counselor and academic dean, responded to these two essays by saying, “I found both essays to resemble cliché essays, with neither answering the prompt in a convincing way. They also didn’t sound like an essay a teenager would write, but rather an essay a teenager might write with major assistance and editing by an adult.” You can read Jim Jump’s full opinions here.

So, what does all of this mean for college admissions?

Is ChatGPT capable of writing a college essay?

A great college essay requires authenticity, creativity, and critical thought. College admissions officers want to learn more about who you are as a person and what your values are. It’s important that they feel inspired by your essay somehow. This might mean making them laugh. Or considering an entirely new perspective. In other words, there are lots of components of a strong personal statement that simply cannot be captured through using ChatGPT. 

How could ChatGPT affect higher education and college admissions?

College essays are key admissions factors, especially at highly-selective institutions. College essays help personalize the admissions process and advocate for more holistic college admissions standards. But what if a student submits an essay written by ChatGPT? 

While it’s debatable whether or not a college admissions officer will be able to tell whether or not the student actually wrote the essay, it’s important to highlight the fact that AI-written documents cannot capture a student’s unique values, ideas, and perspectives. So while a ChatGPT college essay may be adequate, it probably won’t be exceptional — which is what Ivy League institutions are looking for.

ChatGPT and plagiarism

Most institutions of higher education require students to sign an academic integrity contract upon attending. It’s possible that as the popularity of ChatGPT rises, colleges may ask students to verify that they wrote the essay themselves upon submitting their college applications. Sort of like the “I am not a robot” prompt you to get on your computer, where you have to select all the pictures of stop signs or cars. Although ChatGPT is a new technology, it’s likely that colleges will view ChatGPT college essays as a form of plagiarism.

AI detecting softwares

There is already AI-detecting software that can determine whether a robot or a human wrote a text. This app is called GPTZero. It’s likely that more platforms such as this will be developed in the near future and that college professors and college admissions officers will use these platforms to screen essays for AI-generated content. 

Key takeaways and moving forward

It’s important to note that ChatGPT is not necessarily programmed to be culturally aware or appropriate. Furthermore, students’ unique perspectives and creativity simply cannot be captured through this program. So, while ChatGPT is an extraordinary technological advancement, many ethical considerations are at stake.