What the Common App fraud policy says
The Common App fraud policy, last updated in August 2023, lists AI output next to plagiarism. Fraud includes intentionally misrepresenting as your own original work "the substantive content or output of an artificial intelligence platform, technology, or algorithm".
If the Common App finds fraud, it can suspend or close your account and tell the colleges on your My Colleges list. The process has fixed steps:
- You get written notice that someone reported possible fraud.
- The Common App looks into it and tells you what it decided.
- If it decides fraud occurred, you have 10 business days to appeal with a written statement.
- It reviews your appeal within 14 business days and sends its final decision in writing.
Each college still decides what to do with your application. The policy applies to everything you send through the Common App: the personal essay, supplements and short answers.
What colleges allow
Colleges agree that the words you submit must be yours, but they draw the line in different places. Brown allows AI only for spelling and grammar. Cornell also allows brainstorming topics. Georgia Tech encourages using AI to generate ideas, as long as you do not copy from it.
| College | Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Brown | Spelling and grammar review, like any proofreading tool | Any other use of AI in application content: every essay and short answer must be your own work |
| Cornell | Researching colleges, brainstorming essay topics, checking the grammar and spelling of a finished essay | Using AI to outline, draft or write your essays |
| Georgia Tech | Generating ideas, alternative phrasings and organizing your thoughts | Copying and pasting from any AI platform, or submitting work you did not create |
These are three examples, not the rule for every college. Before you write each supplement, search the college's admission site for its AI or application integrity policy.
If English is your second language
Write your essay in English yourself, even if your first draft feels plain. Cornell lists translating an essay written in another language as an unethical use of AI, so drafting in your own language and asking a tool to translate it is the one shortcut that clearly crosses the line.
- Draft in English from the start. Short, clear sentences in your own voice work better than polished sentences that do not sound like you.
- Use grammar checks at the end. Brown and Cornell both allow AI to review spelling and grammar in a finished essay.
- Get feedback from people. A teacher or counselor can tell you what is unclear without writing it for you. The same is true for your recommendation letters: the writing belongs to whoever signs it.
- Check your English test. If a college wants proof of English, that comes from an English test, not from the essay.
Can colleges tell an essay was written by AI?
Often, yes. In a September 2025 study, Cornell researchers compared 30,000 essays written by applicants with essays from eight AI models and found the AI text "highly uniform" and "easy to distinguish from actual human writing", even when the models were told the writer's background.
The bigger risk is the essay itself. An essay that could belong to anyone does not do its job, which is to show who you are beyond your grades and activities.
A safe way to use AI on your essay
Use AI before and after the writing, never for the writing itself. This order fits the three policies above:
- Brainstorm. Ask questions that help you find a story, such as which moments changed how you think. The story has to be yours.
- Write the draft yourself, in English, in a document that keeps its version history.
- Get feedback on what works and what is unclear, from a person or a tool that comments without rewriting.
- Revise in your own words. Take the comments, not replacement sentences.
- Check spelling and grammar at the end, where your colleges allow it.