Listen "482. COLLEGE ESSAYS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE"
Episode Synopsis
One of the major selling points of the current wave of natural language processing tools driven by AI technology is assistance in composing essays. What, then, are the implications for any admissions process that depends heavily on authentic writing samples? Amy and Mike invited educator Barak Rosenbloom to consider the state of college essays in the age of artificial intelligence. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Can current AI really write as well as humans? What makes the act of writing an application essay intrinsically valuable? Are there ways to differentiate AI essays? How can AI help writers in a way that has integrity? What might the near future hold for college essay requirements? MEET OUR GUEST Barak Rosenbloom is the founder, owner, and Chief Essay Mentor of Essay Mentors, a Seattle-area company that specializes in college admissions essays. He's mentored over 500 students in a comprehensive 1-to-1 program and has delivered training and workshops to thousands of students, parents, counselors, teachers, and admissions officers. Barak is the lead designer of EssayQuest, an all-in-one system that helps schools, teachers, and counselors help their students write better college essays. Barak and his team developed EssayQuest over eight years, incorporating principles of neuroscience, linguistics, learning theory, and instructional design. Barak started life-after-college as an English teacher; spent five years at the US Department of Labor; and for fifteen years was a leadership, organization development and communication consultant. Barak can be reached at essaymentors.com or essayquest.com. LINKS The College Essay Is Dead 6 college admissions experts share their biggest predictions for 2023 Influential Counselor: AI Essays RELATED EPISODES TABOO ESSAY TOPICS WRITING RHETORICALLY IN ADMISSIONS ESSAYS UTILIZING A REFLECTION JOURNAL TO PREPARE FOR A COLLEGE ESSAY ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.
More episodes of the podcast Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
697. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: December 2025
19/12/2025
696. NEW WAYS TO USE YOUR 529 PLAN
16/12/2025
694. TEST PREP PROFILE: Lucy Zhang
11/12/2025
693. TEST PREP PROFILE: Roman Marchenko
10/12/2025
692. TEST PREP PROFILE: Angie Kelley
09/12/2025
691. TEST PREP PROFILE: Jonah Fishel
08/12/2025
690. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: MentoMind
05/12/2025
689. LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES 101
02/12/2025
688. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: November 2025
28/11/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.