Generative AI has made personal statements easier to produce, raising questions about their value in admissions. This market asks whether at least one Ivy-Plus college will remove the required personal statement for the 2026–2027 undergraduate application cycle.
“Ivy-Plus” here means: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stanford, MIT, University of Chicago, Caltech, and Duke.
This applies only to the main personal statement, not supplemental essays.
Rules
YES if at least one Ivy-Plus college announces that the personal statement is no longer required for all applicants in the 2026–2027 cycle. It may or may not be replaced by a non-essay alternative.
NO if no such change is announced.
Resolution date
September 1, 2026.
1,000I think they’re already feeling the impact of AI on essays this reading season and quietly talking through alternatives. One school will probably be brave enough to say the personal essay just isn’t giving them what it used to and try something else instead, like leaning more on recommendations from people who actually know the student, putting more weight on sustained activities, or using a short structured assessment instead of a polished essay.