2023 may be remembered as the year artificial intelligence hit the world of college admissions head on. While AI has long been an integral part of the selection process for many colleges, the ability to use AI in application essays is leading to significant discussions of its impact on student essays in the application process.
Lost in this AI discussion is the question of whether AI has a proper place in the writing of counselor or teacher letters of recommendation. At first blush, the use of AI seems like a pretty bad idea. If the goal of recommendations is to get to know the student better as a person, the two-dimensional, factual, flat writing style associated with AI wouldn’t seem to advance that goal.
College admissions officers who have reviewed AI-generated student essays have said as much in several articles. Yes, the computer answers the question, but it gives little, if any, sense of the life of the student, and of what it means to see the world through their eyes. If that’s the case, wouldn’t AI-generated letters by teachers and counselors suffer from the same problem?
The answer here is complicated. Counselors with large caseloads often lament they can’t really give their best to letters of recommendation, simply because they are serving too many students to get to know them well. When speaking confidentially, some college admissions officers agree, saying that too many counselor—and teacher—letters of recommendation are so vague, they give little additional insight into the nature of the applicant. Letters that include a rehashing of the student’s GPA, extracurricular activities, and test scores simply repeat information found in other parts of the application, doing nothing to advance the student’s chances of admission.
This is where AI could move counselor letters forward. Counselors can have the computer create a rough draft of the letter. The counselor can then edit the text to include stories and examples of the student’s qualities that add essential personal touches, separating the student from other applicants, and raising the overall quality of counselor letters as a result.
This change means counselors need to plan ahead. Counselor meetings that are largely logistical—meetings to discuss student schedules, junior interviews, and the ever-present senior graduation audit—need to be restructured, where the nuts and bolts of what classes to take are largely taken care of ahead of time, with the student bringing a list of classes to the meeting with them.
School websites can be used to support this effort, with sections outlining what students need to consider in building a grade-appropriate schedule for their year. This won’t eliminate the need for scheduling discussions entirely, but it will minimize them, allowing the counselor a chance to get beyond the procedural issues, and spending more time getting to know the student, creating a stronger base for meaningful letter writing.
Counselors with smaller caseloads would do well to approach AI with caution. Schools with low student-counselor ratios are dedicating institutional resources to make sure counselors develop deep, meaningful relationships with students, something a higher caseload can limit. The introduction of AI into the letter-writing process could give students, parents, and administrators the impression that counselors aren’t devoting enough attention to building these relationships, an impression that can affect many facets of the counseling program.
Using AI as a first draft tool in this case may be tempting, but counselors with small caseloads would do well to explain in advance why they’re using such a tool, in the interest of avoiding misunderstanding in the community.
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