The application process
Plagiarism UCAS says its Verification Team is tasked with the prevention and detection of fraud in applications, and similarity in personal statements. All applications are screened and any suspicious ones are investigated. So think very carefully about telling even the littlest of white lies – it’s not worth the risk. Regardless of how tempting an AI-generated description of you might be, bear in mind that UCAS has confirmed that it will flag up the use of such aids and states: “If UCAS software detects elements of a personal statement that are similar to others, the universities or colleges it is intended for may be notified.” Furthermore, in order to you complete and submit
your application, you’ll now have to declare that your personal statement hasn’t been copied or provided from another source, including artificial intelligence software. The use of this technology,
however, is undeniably on the increase in almost all parts of life. The UCAS website does – while reinforcing the fact that it’s a personal statement – carry a section under ‘Applying to university’ outlining in what ways AI tools can help proofread, rephrase or re-order your own composition in order to enhance ‘readability’. It’s worth bearing in mind this excerpt on how AI (currently) works: “The more people use tools
like ChatGPT to write personal statements, rather than as a
research, structuring, and ideas tool, the more the model will use these examples for future personal statements. These will then be more detectable through similarity software. It’s not worth the risk.
”
Open days The uni(s) in question will have open days and it’s a good idea to go along to see what the campus, the course environment and tutors are like. There will be sessions where you can ask lecturers or current attendees at the university about the course, and make wider enquiries about what the university and the town have to offer. It’s a much more ‘real’ experience than anything that can be found in a prospectus, and it’s certainly worth doing. l
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