Specificity and integrity are vital elements of competitive applications. Part of the process of writing applications includes knowing and closely following the rules and meeting the expectations of scholarship/fellowship organizations and foundations. Some organizations will forbid use of AI; others will allow it but ask you to account for all resources you used for writing assistance. In every case, we expect students to be honest and to adhere to the university’s standards for academic integrity. Additionally, we want to ensure WashU students are competitive for these opportunities. 

Be aware that if you use a generative AI tool to assist you in preparing your application material, you risk losing the rights, exclusivity, and confidentiality of the information and language that you input. It could become the property of the AI provider, depending on its terms and conditions. You should read those carefully to understand the implications of putting your original writing or personal information into a generative AI program. 

Because work produced by GenAI reuses information and language from external sources without citation, the output can be problematic—it may infringe third party Intellectual Property, which could violate WashU’s academic integrity policy, or it may be factually inaccurate. This can put applicants at an explicit disadvantage or even disqualify an application if the reviewing committee (on campus or at the national level) suspects or believes that the material is not the applicant’s own original work.

Throughout the application process, you are solely responsible for your written materials and are expected to indicate or cite upon request any resources you used in your writing process. To ensure the integrity of your application, we recommend that you avoid the use of GenAI when preparing your written materials.