School AI policies · Caltech

Does Caltech allow AI help with college essays?

Permits grammar and spelling review and brainstorming prompts; substantive AI feedback is not addressed

What Caltech publishes

“[Ethical examples:] 'Using AI tools, like Grammarly or Microsoft Editor, to review grammar and spelling of your completed essays' … 'Generating questions or exercises to help kick start the brainstorming process.' [Unethical examples:] 'Copying and pasting directly from an AI generator' … 'Relying on AI generated content to outline or draft an essay' … 'Replacing your unique voice and tone with AI generated content' … 'Translating an essay written in another language.'”

Caltech presents its guidance as Q&A headings with example bullets; the bracketed labels above are ours, the bulleted phrases verbatim. The ethical examples cover grammar and spelling review of completed essays, brainstorming kick-starts, and process research. Substantive critique of a completed draft is not addressed either way, so this reads narrower than a general feedback permission.

Verified August 4, 2026 · published policy

Do your own fact-checking. This page is a starting point, not the authority. The school's own admissions pages are. Policies can change after our check date (August 4, 2026), and you are responsible for verifying Caltech's current policy yourself before you rely on it, here or anywhere else.

What this means on CollegeEssayPanel

Reviews naming Caltech proceed. Seven AI reviewers score your essay, debate it, and return revision directions, never written or rewritten essay text. You stay the author, and your report carries a reminder to verify the school's current policy yourself.

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