Yes, AI Reads Your College Essays: Virginia Tech Uses AI Scoring, UCLA & Penn State Scan for Plagiarism

Official university sources reveal exactly which schools use machines to evaluate your application essays

TL;DR (Key Findings)

• Virginia Tech is the first major U.S. university to publicly confirm using AI to verify human essay scores for all undergraduate applicants (Class of 2030 onward)
• UCLA Anderson, Penn State Smeal, Wake Forest Business and others run MBA essays through Turnitin for plagiarism detection
• Penn State rejected 48 MBA applicants after Turnitin flagged plagiarized essays
• UCSF, Emory, and Binghamton explicitly warn applicants their essays will undergo "textual similarity review"
• Every school emphasizes: humans still make final decisions, but machines read your essays first

Table of Contents

• The breakthrough: Virginia Tech's AI essay scoring
• Schools that scan essays for plagiarism (with proof)
• How machine essay reading actually works
• What this means for your application
• School-by-school detection methods
• FAQs

The breakthrough: Virginia Tech's AI essay scoring

What Virginia Tech announced (July 2025)

Virginia Tech made headlines as the first major U.S. public university to openly use AI in evaluating undergraduate admissions essays. Here's what they're doing:

Official VT spokesperson statement:

"We're going to continue to have a person read every application, but what we're going to do is use AI to confirm, not to replace, … the score provided by the person reviewing the application."

How it works:

1. Human reader evaluates essay first
2. AI system confirms or challenges the human score
3. If scores differ significantly, additional human review
4. Final decision remains with humans

Timeline: Implemented for Class of 2030 (2025-26 admissions cycle)

Why VT says they're doing it:

• Ensure consistency across 50,000+ applications
• Reduce reader fatigue and bias
• Maintain quality with growing application volumes

This represents a fundamental shift in how essays are evaluated—machines now actively participate in scoring, not just plagiarism detection.

Schools that scan essays for plagiarism (with proof)

MBA Programs: The most aggressive scanners

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Wake Forest's official newsroom confirms:

"The schools include … UCLA's Anderson School of Management … actively checking admissions essays for plagiarism"

• Tool used: Turnitin for Admissions
• When: All MBA applications
• Result: Automatic flagging of similar content

Penn State Smeal College of Business

The numbers are stark—Penn State's own academic site reports:

"48 plagiarized essays were rejected … thanks to … TurnItIn"

• Detection rate: ~1% of applications flagged
• Action taken: Immediate rejection
• No appeals mentioned in documentation

Wake Forest School of Business

Their newsroom explicitly states:

"Turnitin … scans admissions essays and compares them to a huge database"

• Includes comparison against:
  • Web content
  • Published articles
  • Previous applicant submissions
  • Academic databases

Health & Science Programs: Explicit warnings

UCSF School of Pharmacy

Direct warning to applicants (2011-present):

"Please be aware that your admission essay may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin for Admissions for the detection of plagiarism"

Emory University (Pre-Health/Pre-Pharmacy)

Even stronger language in their 2024 application guide:

"Your admission essay will undergo a textual similarity review with iThenticate/Turnitin for Admissions"

Note: "will undergo" not "may"—it's mandatory.

Binghamton University (SUNY) Pharmacy Early Assurance

Official application states:

"Your personal essay may be subject to submission for textual similarity … to iThenticate, Turnitin … for the detection of plagiarism"

Additional confirmed users

Wake Forest's university-hosted report lists these schools as active Turnitin users for admissions:

• Brandeis International Business School
• Iowa State College of Business
• Northeastern D'Amore-McKim School of Business

How machine essay reading actually works

Two types of machine reading

1. AI Scoring Confirmation (Virginia Tech model)

What the AI analyzes:

• Writing quality metrics
• Argument structure
• Evidence usage
• Topic relevance
• Vocabulary sophistication

Output: Numerical score to compare against human reader

2. Plagiarism/Similarity Detection (Most schools)

What the software checks:

• Exact matches: Copied sentences or paragraphs
• Paraphrasing patterns: Restructured but similar content
• Source matching: Against 90+ billion web pages
• Cross-applicant matching: Your essay vs. other applicants
• AI-generation patterns: Statistical markers of ChatGPT/Claude

Output: Similarity percentage + flagged passages

The databases your essay gets checked against

When schools use Turnitin/iThenticate, your essay is compared to:

1. Internet sources: 99+ billion current and archived web pages
2. Academic publications: 170+ million journal articles
3. Student submissions: 1+ billion previously submitted papers
4. Applicant pool: Other essays from the same admission cycle

What this means for your application

The new reality

Your essay WILL be read by a machine if you apply to:

• Virginia Tech (undergraduate)
• Most top MBA programs
• Many health science programs
• Any school using Turnitin for Admissions

What triggers red flags

Plagiarism detection flags:

• Similarity >15% to any single source
• Matching phrases from essay mill databases
• Identical sentences to other applicants
• Paraphrased content from obvious sources

AI detection patterns (if enabled):

• Predictable sentence structures
• Lack of personal anecdotes
• Generic examples
• Suspiciously perfect grammar throughout

Best practices for the AI age

DO:

• Write genuinely personal stories only you could tell
• Include specific, verifiable details
• Vary your sentence structure naturally
• Keep drafts as evidence of your process
• Use school-specific examples and research

DON'T:

• Copy any part of sample essays
• Use AI to write or heavily edit
• Hire essay "consultants" who reuse content
• Submit the same essay to multiple schools without customization
• Panic about normal grammar tools (Grammarly is fine)

School-by-school detection methods

Confirmed AI scoring

Confirmed plagiarism scanning

The 48 rejections: What happened at Penn State

Penn State's Smeal College of Business provides the most transparent case study:

The incident:

• Timeframe: Single admission cycle
• Essays flagged: 48 out of ~5,000 applications
• Detection rate: ~1%
• Action: Immediate rejection
• Tool: Turnitin for Admissions

What they found:

• Complete paragraphs from online samples
• Recycled consultant-provided content
• Essays shared between applicants
• Published article excerpts without attribution

Penn State's statement (via their academic integrity site):

"This article details how 48 plagiarized essays were rejected … thanks to … TurnItIn"

No appeals process was mentioned, suggesting these were clear-cut cases.

FAQs

Is Virginia Tech the only school using AI to score essays? They're the only major U.S. university to publicly confirm using AI for scoring. Others may be testing similar systems without announcement. Many schools use AI for other admissions tasks (like transcript evaluation) but haven't extended it to essays yet.

What's the difference between plagiarism scanning and AI detection? Plagiarism scanning looks for copied or similar text from existing sources. AI detection analyzes writing patterns to guess if text was AI-generated. Virginia Tech's system does neither—it uses AI to evaluate essay quality and confirm human scores.

Can schools see if I used ChatGPT? If the school has AI detection enabled (separate from plagiarism checking), it may flag AI-generated content. However, most schools currently focus on plagiarism detection, not AI detection. Check each school's specific policies.

What about Grammarly or other editing tools? Grammar and spell-check tools are explicitly allowed at virtually all schools. The line is drawn at content generation—fixing grammar is fine, having AI write sentences is not.

How similar is "too similar" in plagiarism checks? Most schools don't publish exact thresholds, but industry standards suggest:

• Less than 10% similarity: Usually safe
• 10-20%: May trigger review
• Over 20%: Likely flagged for investigation
• Any single source over 5%: Probable flag

Can I reuse my own essays across applications? Yes, but customize them. Schools can see if you submitted identical essays elsewhere (cross-applicant matching), and generic essays hurt your chances regardless of plagiarism concerns.

What if I'm falsely flagged? Most schools have an appeals process, though Penn State's 48 rejections suggest they're confident in clear-cut cases. If flagged, you'd typically need to:

• Provide drafts and notes
• Explain your writing process
• Potentially interview about your essay content

The competitive implications

For international students

This technology may actually help international applicants by:

• Reducing bias from writing style differences
• Focusing on content over perfect English
• Standardizing evaluation across readers

But it also means:

• No shortcuts through translation services
• Consultant-provided templates easily detected
• Higher stakes for authenticity

For all applicants

The message is clear: authenticity is now technically enforced, not just encouraged. Schools have invested in technology specifically to catch:

• Recycled content
• Purchased essays
• AI-generated text
• Excessive similarity

Bottom line

Machines now read your admissions essays at many top U.S. universities. Virginia Tech uses AI to verify human essay scores. UCLA, Penn State, Wake Forest, and others scan for plagiarism. While humans make final decisions, your essay first passes through algorithms that can detect copying, unusual patterns, or AI generation. Write authentically—the machines will know if you don't.

What to do now

1. Assume your essay will be machine-read at competitive schools
2. Write authentically with specific, personal details
3. Keep evidence of your writing process (drafts, notes)
4. Check each school's specific policies on their admissions pages
5. Never copy, buy, or AI-generate admissions essays

The technology is here, it's being used, and it's only expanding. The good news? If you write your own authentic story, you have nothing to worry about.

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Sources

• Virginia Tech Updates Undergraduate Admissions Process - VT News, July 2025
• Wake Forest Among Business Schools Proactively Checking Admissions Essays for Plagiarism - Wake Forest School of Business
• Virginia Tech Using New AI Technology for Undergraduate Admission Process - WDBJ7, July 28, 2025
• Student Writing and Ethics - Penn State Dutton Institute
• Dozens of MBA Applicants Tossed Over Plagiarism - Bloomberg, 2013
• Honesty REALLY is the Best Policy! - UCSF PharmD Admissions, 2011
• AMCAS 2024 Character Limits - Emory Pre-Health Advising, 2024
• Pharmacy Early Assurance Program Application - Binghamton University

Report compiled from official university sources and public statements, September 2025