The prior supplement was a Why Major, Why Us.
Does this suggest that they are satisifed with their ability to predict yield from other data? Does this hurt applicants for whom it is a top choice, or no effect? GT does not consider demonstrated interest, but that doesn’t mean they don’t use mathematical modeling in predicting yield, as basically all colleges do.
Many years ago they did an internal “study” where reviewer teams looked at applicants, half looking at their standardized test scores and half who didn’t look at the scores. They found that they essentially came up with the same selection results. While it is tangential to your question, it does suggest that the readers consider many variables.
If you use an LLM poorly, it can be very obvious. Many GA Tech applicants are very savvy and likely can use them well enough to “cheat” – on some level, maybe proving their worth to GA Tech? 
Also to add: UGA dropped their supplemental essay. These 2 schools while different in campus culture and academic strengths do recruit the state’s top students . UGA is working hard to improve its fairly new engineering school and I can see Tech following their lead on dropping the essay to remain competitive for the top in state students.
As the parent of a child who just wrote endless “why us” and “why major” essays I can imagine they are not necessarily reflective of the applicant especially at a school like GA Tech where you can swap majors the day you are admitted.
GA Tech actually seemed more accepting of AI being used in the process of essay writing than other schools, this past application year. They had published guidance suggesting how to use AI to help with your essay.
don’t a bunch say it is ok to use to brainstorm and copy-edit? Is that actually unusual? or maybe they were early? And really, “predictive text” and grammar check is a form of AI …
I think they were early. It seemed like they were one of the first to say it was okay in any way. But maybe that is just my impression.
Here’s Rick Clark back in, I guess, 2024 (given the URL on this): AI is Coming for the College Essay - Georgia Tech Alumni Association
Q: What is Georgia Tech’s guidance on using AI in the college admissions process?
The way we look at this is it’s not cheating, and we don’t think it’s unethical to use ChatGPT or other generative AI. But there’s a proper way to use it. We recommend students approach it like they would a conversation with a friend or a classmate to help brainstorm and get their ideas on paper. You benefit from discussing ideas and what you want to communicate before writing. We don’t think students should have ChatGPT open, however, while they’re writing an essay, or copy and paste from it. It shouldn’t be used as a panacea for their essay.Q: Are you training staff to look for essays that might have been written with generative AI?
In talking with colleagues at other schools, our common wisdom is, don’t worry about what’s happening on the other side. We need to determine our rubrics for evaluating essays and look at what we’re asking for. We tell students, we’re looking for specificity, unique details, and a personalized voice. And that’s not what ChatGPT does well. So, if a kid were to do what we tell them not to do, they’re going to have a subpar essay because it’s not detailed or specific enough.Q: What effect could AI have on the college essay?
I actually think this might break the college admission essay going forward. I believe this may be what ultimately forces schools to allow students, instead of writing an essay, to submit video or audio recordings in response to an essay question. We were never reading essays for grammar in the first place, so why are we asking for written essays? In the next two years, there’s going to be a significant proliferation of schools that move toward accepting a recently submitted essay from a high school assignment and a minute-or-so-long video or recording of a response to a particular question.
And I tried to find last year’s GA Tech guidance online, but I couldn’t find the page right away (probably because they just changed things), but I did find it quoted in this substack How AI Is Quietly Transforming College Admissions and it seems about the same as what I remember. My D26 and I both thought it was interesting how they called out “particularly when you do not have access to other assistance.”
“If you choose to utilize AI-based assistance while working on your writing submissions for Georgia Tech, we encourage you to take the same approach you would when collaborating with people. Use it to brainstorm, edit, and refine your ideas. AI can also be a useful tool as you consider how to construct your resume in the Activities portion of the Common Application. We think AI could be a helpful collaborator, particularly when you do not have access to other assistance to help you complete your application .”