The Campus Bound team recently had the pleasure of speaking with two Stonehill College administrators: John W. Pepin, Dean of Undergraduate Admission, and Sarah Thomashower, Associate Dean of Admission. Our engaging conversation covered the use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in higher education.
How is A.I. affecting applications?
Right now, the artificial intelligence landscape is a bit like the Wild West: expansive and experimental. Across higher education, schools are exploring how A.I. can support their communities. Stonehill doesn’t utilize A.I. in any official admissions capacity, but Sarah has personally found it beneficial when writing emails, as it has helped her efficiently craft polished, nuanced messages. Campus Bound counselors shared a similar point of view, noting that A.I. can be a useful tool for high school students who are still developing their writing skills.
John said that even as A.I. evolves, Stonehill continues to prioritize personal essays that reflect students’ unique points of view. “That’s how we get to know students. Sometimes it can be hard to tell what’s been generated by A.I., but your intuition often helps you realize that what you’re reading doesn’t sound like it was written by a 17-year-old. Instead, it might sound like an aggregation of 100 people who are giving advice about how to write an essay—which is exactly how A.I. works.”
What are the do’s and don’t’s of A.I. use? What should high school seniors know?
Sarah believes that students must learn to balance their use of technology with original thinking. John expanded upon this point, remarking that consistently using technology to tackle complex intellectual tasks can cause creativity and writing skills to fall by the wayside. This puts students in a difficult position, especially considering the academic challenges they face in college. Therefore, John recommended that students use A.I. to help them reflect on topics rather than write about the topic itself.
“For example, students could benefit from using A.I. to focus on identity development,” he said. “They might prompt an A.I. platform to ask them strategic questions to explore their values and their goals, with the aim of helping the student reflect on why they believe what they believe. This type of reflection will lead to stronger, more focused essay topics.”
Sarah added that while A.I. is fun to play with and useful in helping people enhance their email-writing skills, she hopes high schoolers and their families understand that using A.I. to produce a full essay goes against the purpose of requiring students to submit their own writing.
“We’re asking you to think creatively and reflect thoughtfully,” she said. “Outsourcing that to a computer is unethical. Students should know that the admissions process is built the way it is for a reason, and taking a shortcut isn’t going to get them where they want to go.”
