AI is scoring college essays and conducting interviews, a new layer in admissions stress

"When prospective Caltech students applied in the fall for early admission, some faced a new, technologically advanced step in the selection process at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. High schoolers who submitted research projects appeared on video and were interviewed by an artificial intelligence-powered voice that peppered them with questions about their papers and experiments, akin to a dissertation defense. The video-recorded exchanges were then reviewed by humans - faculty and admissions officers - who also evaluated test scores, transcripts, personal statements."

"Students applying to college know they can't - or at least shouldn't - use AI to write their college admission essays. So it might come as a surprise that some schools are using artificial intelligence to read them and are incorporating AI into their own admissions process to conduct interviews and detect fake applications attempting to steal financial aid money."

""We wanted to bring the student voice back into applications," said Ashley M. Pallie, the dean of undergraduate admissions at Caltech, where VIVA, an AI-assisted technology developed by a company called InitialView, helped screen roughly 10% of recent early applicants. "It might seem strange to use AI to get more of a human voice, but I think of it as a way to bring more authenticity into the fold," said Pallie,"

Colleges are deploying AI tools across admissions workflows to interview applicants, analyze submitted materials and flag fraudulent or synthetic applications. Caltech piloted an AI-driven interview system that questioned research-submitting applicants on video and passed recordings to faculty and admissions officers for review alongside test scores and transcripts. Some institutions use AI to read essays, automate data entry and speed application processing while emphasizing that humans make final admissions decisions. Colleges cite potential gains in efficiency and authenticity of student voice, and some plan to expand AI use despite concerns about fairness and transparency.

Read at Los Angeles Times