If you’re thinking about letting ChatGPT write your application essay—or if you’re worried about being upstaged by applicants who use AI to write their essays—this post is for you.

It’s not enough to describe your academic and research interests with intelligence and precision. You must also demonstrate how those interests match those of the faculty and the program as a whole.

It’s important to show readers that you’re the kind of student that they’d like to have in their classes, the kind of advisee they’d like to mentor, or the kind of intern or assistant they’d like to supervise. This means that you not only need to come across as capable but also as someone they’ll appreciate having around.