For instance, you shouldn’t use AI to write your essays, such as your personal statement. However, you can use AI tools to help edit and analyze elements of your application, increasing your chances of acceptance.
How can students use AI ethically to boost their chances of success? How do admissions committees use AI to analyze your application, and how can you use that knowledge to improve your competitiveness? Let’s answer these questions below.
We offer personal statement coaching and editing from actual humans (not AI) to improve your chances of medical school acceptance.
In the roundtable discussion webinar below, medical school admissions deans Dr. Leila Amiri (University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine) and Dr. Ian Hagemann (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis) discuss the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT on the medical school admissions process with interventional radiologist and founder of MedSchoolCoach, Dr. Sahil Mehta.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic in the field of medical school admissions as institutions continue to look for ways to streamline and enhance the admissions process. It hasn’t replaced the entire human review process, but here are ways that AI is influencing admissions.
Most AdComs are already using AI to filter through applications based on scores and grades, key themes in essays, and to identify a candidate’s fit with a school’s mission. AI tools can quickly screen out students who don’t fit certain criteria, and AI can emphasize stronger candidates faster than a human might single them out.
Since many students are using AI to write their essays for them, AdComs can use artificial intelligence to detect AI writing. Ironic, yes, but perfectly normal and helpful, if inconsistent.
In 2023, NYU came out with a study evaluating whether a machine-learning algorithm (i.e., AI) “could accurately perform the initial screening of medical school applications.” The paper concluded:
The virtual faculty screener algorithm successfully replicated faculty screening of medical school applications and may aid in the consistent and reliable review of medical school applicants.
AI will not replace holistic review. At least one human admissions officer is still evaluating each applicant’s personal essay, letters of recommendation, mission fit, and authenticity.
Plus, AI can’t really help AdComs or students with interviews, whether they be in-person or virtual. Interviews are still a huge final piece of the admissions puzzle, and the human element has not yet been removed from med school interviews.
Here’s a great list for med school applicants on how you should and shouldn’t use AI to enhance your application and increase your odds of acceptance while not compromising ethics.
You can use AI responsibly in the following ways:
Look up the school’s mission to see if they have restrictions or encouragements for the use of AI in the application process.
You should avoid doing the following for ethical and legal reasons:
Read Next: Med School Interview Questions & Answers
Applicants and admissions committees face advantages and disadvantages when using AI in the medical school application and admissions process.
The potential benefits of using AI for medical school admissions include:
Reduced bias and increased equity, due to AI’s wide accessibility, which levels the playing field among applicants of different ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds.
“One reviewer might give more weight to an applicant whose courses and career ambitions lie in research, while another favors someone who is dedicated to community service… Imagine, then, a reviewer who reads every application, each within seconds rather than half an hour, around the clock, and applies the exact same standards to each one. That could be AI.”
— Association of American Medical Colleges, January 2025
Some possible drawbacks when using AI tools in med school admissions include:
“If an AI system is built on past human results, it will reflect human biases that produced those results.”
— Association of American Medical Colleges, January 2025
If you’re looking for a surefire way to boost your odds of getting an interview invite, consider our in-depth opportunities for application help.
First of all, check each medical school’s policies on AI use. Most always, you can and should use AI as a brainstormer or editor (don’t just do everything it says), but you should not use AI technology as a ghostwriter.
Balance technology with human advising, such as mentors and admissions coaches. The impact of AI is not yet fully understood, but AI systems are here to stay in med school admissions on both the applicant and AdCom side.
Smart, ethical use of AI can help applicants polish their applications, but authenticity, school fit, and human qualities will always be the deciding factors in acceptance.
Ultimately, admissions boards will always let the human element be the final deciding factor. Though AI tools may improve AdCom efficiency, AI is making recommendations. Decision-making power remains with the human on the admissions committee.
If you’re applying to medical school, consider using AI models to suggest edits to your essays, but only if you responsibly ensure authenticity. Whether or not you’re using AI, it’s always a good idea to get outside, human help.
We have Physician Advisors at the ready to help you boost your chances of acceptance. MedSchoolCoach helps students like you achieve their med school dreams.