It’s okay to bounce essay ideas off an AI tool or ask something like “Is writing about my dog too cliché?” What’s not okay is asking it to give you the exact idea for your essay or build you an outline or structure for your application responses. [...] Your original ideas and how you organize your thoughts and make your argument need to come from you. [...] AI must not write, rewrite, or translate your application responses. Don’t use AI to draft, generate, or rewrite any part of your application responses. That means no feeding AI an outline and asking AI to create a draft, no pasting AI-generated text into your application, and no asking AI to rework your writing into a more polished or different style. If it isn’t something you actually wrote, don’t submit it. The same goes for translation. Write in English yourself, and do not use AI, another tool, or another person to translate your application responses from another language. [...] It is okay to ask for a second opinion. Having a teacher, parent, or friend read or offer feedback on your application responses, including your essay, is completely normal and appropriate. Using AI or software to spell-check and identify typos in a finished draft is acceptable. What’s not okay is having another person or AI generate your ideas or write your response for you. [...] When you submit your application, you’re telling Bates Admission that the content of your application is genuinely your work: your facts, your ideas, your voice. That’s the standard we hold everyone to, and it’s what lets us actually get to know you. We’re looking forward to reading your application.

the school’s published policyChecked Sep 8, 2026