Claremont McKenna College (CMC), one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States, has long been recognized for its rigorous academic standards and its emphasis on analytical thinking, leadership, and real-world application. With artificial intelligence (AI) transforming various aspects of education, from admissions to grading, a common question arises: Does Claremont McKenna use AI to evaluate or generate essays? This growing curiosity touches on important themes related to academic integrity, innovation, and the future of education.
TLDR: Does Claremont McKenna Use AI for Essays?
No, Claremont McKenna College does not currently use AI to write or grade student essays. While it may explore AI tools for administrative or support functions, CMC maintains a strong focus on human-guided evaluation, particularly when it comes to assessing original student work. Any use of AI would be carefully regulated within academic integrity guidelines. Still, discussions about AI in education are expanding at CMC and other top institutions.
The Rise of AI in Higher Education
Before examining CMC’s stance, it’s important to understand how AI is making waves in higher education across the board. Colleges and universities globally are adopting AI in several ways, including:
- Automated essay grading: Some institutions use machine learning algorithms to provide preliminary scores or feedback on writing assignments.
- Plagiarism detection: AI tools such as Turnitin use natural language processing (NLP) to detect content similarities and potential plagiarism.
- Learning management tools: AI enhances platforms like Canvas or Blackboard by analyzing student performance patterns and offering personalized feedback.
- Admissions data analysis: Predictive algorithms help colleges analyze trends in applicants’ data to improve admissions decisions or outreach.
Despite these capabilities, using AI, particularly for essay generation or evaluation, remains a hot-button issue at many elite institutions — and Claremont McKenna is no exception.
What Is Claremont McKenna’s Approach to Student Essays?
Claremont McKenna places strong value on the principles of original thought, personal expression, and critical analysis—traits that are foundational to liberal arts education. Essays are seen not just as assignments but as key reflections of an individual student’s identity, intellect, and communication skills.
Essays at CMC are required in a variety of contexts, including:
- College admissions: Personal statements and supplemental essays remain vital parts of assessing candidates.
- Coursework: Humanities and social sciences classes use essays to evaluate understanding, critique, and argumentation.
- Senior theses: Required for many majors, these extensive research projects are individually written and faculty-guided.
In all these examples, there is a high emphasis on authentic authorship. The college expects students to produce work that reflects their own voice and perspective, a standard difficult to enforce or evaluate using AI alone.
Does Claremont McKenna Use AI to Write or Grade Essays?
As of now, there is no publicly available information or policy suggesting that Claremont McKenna College uses AI to either generate essays or fully automate their grading. Faculty members at CMC typically read and grade each essay, providing personalized feedback that AI still cannot replicate effectively.
That said, professors may use AI-powered support tools in limited ways. These might include:
- Grammar and spell-check platforms enhanced by AI, such as Grammarly
- Turnitin or similar tools to detect AI-generated or plagiarized content
- Analytics to monitor general student progress over time
It is important to note that these tools help maintain academic standards rather than automate the creative or critical evaluation process itself.
Admissions and AI: A Gray Area?
Claremont McKenna, like many other selective institutions, is constantly refining its admissions process. While there is no indication that the school uses AI to read or evaluate admissions essays, it’s possible that AI plays some role behind the scenes—for instance, in managing applicant data or sorting application materials for administrative purposes.
However, human reviewers, often admissions officers or trained readers, continue to evaluate the bulk of personal statements and supplemental essays. These documents are simply too nuanced for full automation, especially when judging factors such as:
- Authenticity of voice
- Narrative structure
- Emotional resonance
- Cultural or social context
As AI tools become more sophisticated, future consideration may be given to supplementing essay review with algorithmic support—but this would almost certainly function as a secondary measure.
The Honor Code and Academic Integrity
Claremont McKenna College enforces a strict honor code, which highlights the importance of honesty in all student work. Using AI to write part or all of an essay without explicit permission would be treated similarly to plagiarism or cheating. The current student code of conduct includes guidelines that explicitly prohibit:
- Submitting work not authored by the student
- Using unauthorized help in completing assignments
- Misrepresenting sources or facts
With the rise of AI-based writing tools like ChatGPT or Google Bard, institutions like CMC are revising and updating their policies to pinpoint what constitutes acceptable use. Some professors may allow controlled use of AI for brainstorming or grammar checks, but beyond that, it is considered a breach of academic honesty.
Image not found in postmetaAre CMC Professors Discussing AI?
Absolutely. Faculty across Claremont McKenna and even the broader Claremont Consortium (including Pomona, HMC, Scripps, and Pitzer) are engaged in active discussion about the role of AI in the classroom. Some professors are even weaving discussions of AI into their curricula—especially in fields like philosophy, computer science, and ethics.
CMC runs various speaker series, panels, and student discussions around emerging technologies, and AI has quickly become a recurring theme. This dialog helps prepare students not only to understand the technology but to develop their own ethical approaches to using it.
What Does the Future Hold?
While Claremont McKenna currently relies on human-led essay writing and evaluation, it’s safe to assume that the college will adapt incrementally as AI capabilities evolve and academic norms continue to shift. Rather than fully adopting AI, CMC may:
- Develop hybrid models that combine AI-powered assessments with human evaluation
- Create AI literacy programs to help students responsibly engage with this technology
- Establish clearer guidelines for AI usage in academic and professional writing
These forward-thinking strategies may be part of the broader evolution toward more tech-enhanced, yet still principled, education models.
Final Thoughts
In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, it’s natural for students and educators alike to wonder how these tools intersect with academic traditions. At Claremont McKenna College, student essays—whether part of admissions, coursework, or senior theses—are treated with a reverence that prioritizes critical thinking and originality. While AI may serve as an auxiliary tool in certain areas, it has not replaced the human element essential to writing and evaluation at CMC.
For students and applicants, this means that authentic work still matters—and always will. And for those keeping an eye on the future, CMC offers a fascinating case study in how top liberal arts institutions may walk the fine line between innovation and tradition.
