“Competitive Presentation and GAI: Inequality in Outcomes and College Admissions,” Austin van Loon, MIT

COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCES WORKSHOP

Abstract: College admissions play a central role in structuring inequality, and the admissions essay is a key site where applicants strategically signal merit and fit. Prior work shows that essays encode sociodemographic characteristics and that their evaluation reproduces racial and class-based inequalities. This talk examines how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is reshaping the admissions essay—and with what consequences for evaluation and access. I present results from a preregistered, incentive-compatible experiment in which college students wrote admissions essays with or without GAI assistance. Professional admissions officers evaluated these essays in a competitive setting, and a separate group of admissions-relevant evaluators provided detailed assessments. I analyze how GAI affects essay quality, linguistic and evaluative features of writing, and the demographic composition of simulated admitted classes under different levels of selectivity.

Austin van Loon is the Class of 1956 Career Development Assistant Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a standing faculty member of the Organization Studies program, a core faculty member of the Economic Sociology program, and a faculty member of the Managerial Communications group.

This workshop is open to the Yale community.  Lunch will be served.
Link to the full workshop series.