How to Use AI as Bullshit Detector in MBA and Graduate School Applications

How to Use AI as Bullshit Detector in MBA and Graduate School Applications

Aug, 11, 2026

While many focus on the negative impact of AI on MBA and other graduate school applications, it can be used for a very positive purpose: Bullshit detection.   Let’s assume you have inflated your resume bullet points, some of what you indicate in your essays, or elsewhere in your application. I’ve been a graduate admissions consultant since 2001 and I can say one of my jobs is being a bullshit detector. That is, I look for overstatement and inflation that could not possibly be plausible. For example, imagine a junior level consultant who claims they were the ones who developed a major client’s overall management strategy or an investment banking analyst claiming that they led a major transaction. These claims are not credible, but shorthand language on a resume or in an essay can result in such statements. My job is to correct such statements so they become believable and are no longer potential red flags. And while I can do that quite well, I don’t always possess the background in an industry and occupation to be perfect at it.

AI is not perfect either, but if you prompt it correctly, it can assess plausibility in a systematic way that no human could do in a reasonable amount of time. AI is good for analyzing complex content and comparing it against a huge amount of data. It is not perfect, but it is comprehensive.

Great applications will have the following three impacts on the reader:

1. They will understand what the writer has communicated.  Lack of understanding means the writer did a poor job of communicating to the audience. Understanding is insufficient, but it is a critical requirement.
2. They will believe you. Here is where AI Bullshit Detection comes into play. If a reader does not believe in your resume bullets or your essays or other application form content, you are dead. No one wants to admit a liar. One of the jobs of an admissions reader is eliminate dishonest applicants.  They are imperfect and it is certainly the case that admissions committees frequently admit applicants who fooled them but why risk it?
3. They will be excited by you. This will lead to an interview for schools with invitation interviews and hopefully admission.

To get to the third impact, you need to have the first two. Here we are concerned with the second.

 

This  kind of prompt I would put into an AI:

Please see attached essays, application form content and resume for my application to PROGRAM NAME. Assess whether what I have written will be perceived as realistic and identify any red flags with respect to overstated claims. Realism of professional claims should be assessed by comparison to others in similar roles. Assume you are a member of the PROGRAM NAME admissions committee with the responsibility to assess whether applicants are being truthful. Provide suggestions for how I can systematically eliminate any red flags you identify.

 

Try it out. You have nothing to lose but only an opportunity to put a better final application together.