University of PennsylvaniaAI Policy for Admissions
- PermissionCan you use AI?No explicit policy
- DisclosureMust you disclose AI use?No disclosure required
- ComplianceHow is it verified?No compliance stated
Generally safe
- Proofread and refine your drafts manually; light grammar checking with standard tools is generally considered acceptable practice.
- Write all application essays yourself from start to finish — Penn's authenticity attestation expects your voice, your ideas, and your own editing process.
Things to Avoid
- Do not submit any essay where AI drafted, structured, or substantially shaped the content — Penn's general integrity standards make this risky even without a named AI policy.
- Avoid using generative AI to rewrite or paraphrase your responses, since this can strip out your authentic voice in ways reviewers may notice.
- Verified Feb 2026
“No AI-specific admissions essay policy found on Penn undergraduate admissions website.”
Application Requirements | Penn Admissions - Verified Feb 2026
“The work you have written and presented as your own reflects your ideas, your writing, and your own editing.”
Application Requirements | Penn Admissions - Verified Feb 2026
“If someone who knows you came across your writing without your name on it, would they know you wrote it?”
Writing | Penn Admissions
Wharton Global Youth Program
P3 • Brainstorming onlyD2 • Must disclose AI useC2 • Uses screening tools“You may use generative AI tools to brainstorm and explore ideas.”
View SourceApplies to: application essays
Penn Carey Law (Graduate Admissions)
P0 • No explicit policyD0 • No disclosure requiredC0 • No compliance stated“We expect you to submit a professional and easy-to-read personal statement authored exclusively by you.”
View SourceApplies to: personal statement
- https://admissions.upenn.edu/how-to-apply
- https://admissions.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/first-year-applicants/application-requirements
- https://admissions.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/preparing-your-application/writing
- https://admissions.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/transfer-applicants/requirements-deadlines
- https://isc.upenn.edu/security/AI-guidance
- https://cetli.upenn.edu/resources/syllabus/generative-ai-policies/
- https://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/application-guide/
- https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/jd/faqs.php
- https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/grad/admissions.php
- https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/
- https://www.med.upenn.edu/admissions/
- https://globalyouth.wharton.upenn.edu/ai-policy/
Medical applicants applying through AMCAS are covered by that platform's stance permitting AI for brainstorming and proofreading, but the final submission must be the applicant's own work under a signed certification.
Penn's undergraduate admissions site has no AI-specific policy — only a general authenticity attestation stating that submitted work must reflect the applicant's own ideas, writing, and editing, with no mention of generative AI tools.
Penn Carey Law Graduate Admissions requires personal statements to be exclusively authored by the applicant, which effectively restricts AI drafting even though AI is never named explicitly.
Law applicants applying through LSAC CAS are subject to that platform's baseline AI guidance, with the possibility that Penn Carey Law layers additional restrictions on top.
Penn's undergraduate admissions website does not contain any AI-specific policy for application essays. The application requirements page includes a general authenticity attestation requiring that work reflects the applicant's own ideas, writing, and editing, but does not mention AI or generative tools by name. Penn's university-wide ISC AI guidance (isc.upenn.edu) addresses AI generally and states that AI should not substantially complete tasks like essay writing, but this is institutional IT guidance not authored by admissions. The Wharton Global Youth Program has an explicit AI policy for its pre-baccalaureate applications (brainstorming OK, AI detection used). Penn Carey Law Graduate Admissions requires personal statements be 'authored exclusively by you' but does not specifically name AI. Wharton MBA and Penn Engineering graduate admissions pages have no AI-specific policy. Downgraded from (P1) to (P0) because no admissions-authored AI-specific policy exists; general integrity attestations without AI mention do not qualify per rubric.
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