You already know that teachers frown on using AI to complete class assignments. It’s also not wise to have ChatGPT write your college admissions essays. But what about preparing for the SAT® and ACT® tests?
At KD College Prep, we know that artificial intelligence can be a useful tool—but it’s exactly that, a tool, and more specifically, just one tool among many that should be in your toolbox. Although AI can be useful for certain aspects of preparing for college admissions exams, it cannot serve as your primary approach if you hope to achieve high scores.
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Is AI enough for preparing for the PSAT, SAT, or ACT tests?
In a word, no. AI alone is insufficient for helping you prepare for the PSAT, SAT, or ACT tests. However, that is not to say that AI cannot have a role in test prep, but it shouldn’t serve as your only or even your primary avenue for achieving your score goals.
Take a closer look at how some students are using AI to prepare for college admissions tests, and learn how AI can be helpful and where it falls short.
What AI SAT/ACT Test Prep Looks Like Today
Currently, there are several ways in which students use AI tools for test prep. Students can use AI chatbots as if they were tutors. Students can ask chatbots for help, and the chatbots can provide detailed explanations. For example, a chatbot could explain why a certain answer is correct and the rest are incorrect.
Students may also take AI-generated practice tests to assess their test readiness and become familiar with the test format.
AI tools, such as Google’s Gemini, can also analyze a student’s practice test to determine which concepts require work. Similarly, AI tools can analyze students’ practice essays and provide feedback on grammar and structure.
Where AI Genuinely Helps
AI tools can be a way to democratize the test prep process. According to David Dernier, Vice President of Verbal Curriculum Development at KD College Prep, AI is useful for “affording students from low-income families a slightly more level playing field.”
Not every family can afford a comprehensive test prep program, and some students do the bulk of the work on their own and then schedule one-on-one sessions as needed with a live tutor.
Dernier also notes that AI can help provide differentiated instruction for students with learning differences. For example, adaptive algorithms can provide scaffolded workflows to support students with executive function challenges.
Where AI Falls Short
Although AI can sometimes be helpful, it should remain only one of your prep resources because there are many areas where it falls short.
It Doesn’t Know the Student
AI doesn’t know who you are, and it doesn’t care. AI is not invested in your goals or achievements, and certainly not in your test score. It’s not human, and it can never replicate (or replace) humanity.
Why does this matter for test prep purposes? It matters because only a human instructor or advisor can develop an understanding of who you are as a person and what you need to succeed. And because of that, only a human can effectively adapt their instruction or recommendations to suit your needs. Experienced instructors can identify not only when you’re struggling with something, but why and what you need to overcome it.
Never underestimate the power of the student-teacher bond. Students gain more than test-taking strategies when working with a human instructor; they benefit from knowing that their teacher is championing their efforts and is genuinely invested in their success.
It Can Be Confidently Wrong
One significant problem with all AI tools is their tendency to hallucinate. They present misinformation confidently as facts because AI tools aren’t human and cannot differentiate between fact and falsehood. As an example, Google’s AI Overview once infamously told a user to add non-toxic glue to their pizza sauce.
Students know not to top their pizza with glue, but it’s harder to know if AI is hallucinating explanations of academic concepts. Kimberly Gibson, Advisor, Verbal Instructor and Senior College Essay Specialist at KD College Prep, points out that students have trouble determining when to trust AI-generated information. “If the AI is good and gives you good advice—how do you know? If somebody is not an expert, I think they may have a hard time really telling the difference between good advice and bad advice.”
No Accountability or Strategy Coaching
Another problem with using AI tools for test prep is the lack of accountability and strategy coaching. When students work with human instructors, there are expectations they must meet. Students are motivated to do their work so they can arrive at the workshop, practice test, or tutoring session prepared. Additionally, the human team at KD invests significant effort into coaching students on smart test-taking strategies that get results.
The Overreliance Risk
There is a risk of becoming overly reliant on digital tools. When students are struggling, they can type a question into an AI chatbot and receive a near-instant answer. In other words, there is no cognitive effort exerted to arrive at that answer, assuming it’s even correct.
Succeeding on the admissions tests, and throughout the college experience, requires exerting cognitive effort. It takes hard work to get high scores, but there’s a reason for it; that effort helps create learning retention.
Why Practice Testing Alone Isn’t a Strategy
Whether you use AI for test prep or not, remember that taking practice tests should not constitute the entirety of your preparation. At KD College Prep, we use a wide range of instructional techniques to help students grasp academic concepts and strategies. Practice tests can support those efforts, but they aren’t interactive. They cannot offer the benefit that live classes, workshops, tutoring sessions, and conversations between students and teachers or advisors can.
What the Research Says About Human Instruction
The human brain is plastic, subject to physical changes molded by learning. As students learn, they are literally building their brains. In order for learning to take place, formative feedback is essential. A research paper from Southern Oregon University describes formative feedback as “an iterative cycle of practice and high-quality feedback.”
Although AI can provide feedback to students, that advice isn’t necessarily trustworthy, and so the learning process with AI will always be subject to suspicion. The result is that human instruction remains integral to learning.
The World Economic Forum further notes that “relationships are among the strongest predictors of learning, resilience, well-being, and lifelong flourishing. Learning has always been profoundly social.”
How to Know Which Approach Your Student Needs
All students benefit from human instruction. If you’re a parent wondering whether you should forbid your student from using AI tools or encourage them to do so, but with guardrails, you should know that students are likely to use these tools regardless. Student users of AI may hesitate to discuss their usage, although some high-performing students have done so because they like to leave no stone unturned.
An approach you might consider is to hold an open, transparent discussion about AI with your student. Talk about its shortfalls and possible benefits, and find out how they feel about AI. Even if your student is eager to use AI, suggest that they try a few sessions with a human instructor.
The Case for an Expert-Driven Approach
At the end of the day, AI chatbots have never physically sat down to take a college admissions test with the hope of being admitted to their dream school. They lack life experience, and as a result, lack a grasp of nuance and complexity.
Parents may ask why they should pay for a class when AI tools may be free. How important is it that your child be admitted to their ideal college? If a goal is important, then it’s worth an investment of time and resources in proven tools and methods.
Can AI replace teachers?
If AI can develop to the point where it no longer hallucinates misinformation, it may be more useful for the instructional process. However, AI cannot replace humans entirely.
At KD, Gibson recalls working with a student on a command of evidence question that was particularly convoluted. She recalls walking the student through the process of figuring out exactly why the question was misleading and how to use that to the student’s advantage. That strategy and individualized feedback is something that AI cannot replicate.
Can AI-generated practice tests accurately predict my SAT/ACT test score?
Although taking practice tests can be helpful to an extent, it falls short both in terms of effectiveness for test preparation and in terms of predicting your SAT or ACT test score.
For test preparation, AI-generated practice tests cannot replicate human nuance. On a typical admissions test, you’ll come across numerous questions that are tricky in some way, such as with a subtle use of language that offers a hidden meaning.
AI is not capable of replicating human-created nuance, which means that these practice test questions aren’t doing a good enough job of preparing you for the real thing. This also means that even if you score well on AI-generated practice tests, that achievement may not necessarily translate to the actual exams.
On a related note, we don’t recommend using practice test questions as your only method of preparation. At KD College Prep, our students do take practice tests, but only as a piece of the overall test prep program. That’s because true learning and learning retention take place best with interactive lessons and workshops, during which you can ask for clarification and receive personalized guidance from a live instructor.
Is it a good idea for my teen to rely on ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools for test prep?
Solely relying on AI tools for anything is not recommended. Not only can AI hallucinate wrong answers (and seem confident enough while doing it that students have trouble determining they’re wrong), but AI tools also fail to help students master the test itself, not just the content.
Dernier notes that KD’s instructors often work with students who have used AI for self-study and then enrolled with KD after plateauing in their progress. These students typically show significant improvement after just a few live classes or one-on-one tutoring sessions. “That’s probably the biggest difference,” he says. “AI can be very helpful for learning content, but it doesn’t necessarily prep students to exploit the test’s format.”
Another issue to keep in mind is that student info is confidential at KD, but not with an AI chatbot. All the queries and other personal information that your student types into a chatbot are subject to being saved, analyzed, and used in some way by the company that created the tool. For many parents, human instructors can provide peace of mind.
My child has good grades. Why is their SAT/ACT test score lower than expected?
It’s entirely possible for a straight-A student to receive test scores that are lower than expected. In fact, this is not uncommon, as high school GPA is dependent on numerous factors, such as homework completion, participation in class, effort, and tests that assess recently taught concepts.
In contrast, the SAT and ACT tests assess cumulative knowledge across broader areas and require the application of critical thinking under tight time constraints. Standardized tests also use question formats that may be unfamiliar, as well as trick questions. This is why it’s essential to work on test prep that covers test-taking strategies as well as the academic material.
Will using AI-generated practice questions help raise my score?
AI-generated practice questions offer limited benefit. Gibson points out that drilling with questions can be helpful if students approach it with an intentional methodology. “Just doing practice problems over and over again doesn’t mean you’re going to get better at them,” she notes. Working with a human instructor, on the other hand, enables students to learn the effective methods for answering questions.
How do I know if my student would benefit from live instruction with a real teacher instead of just relying on an app?
Although digital tools can be helpful for test prep, they cannot replace the human element. Digital tools do not hold students accountable to progressing toward their goals, nor do they provide the nuanced instruction that is necessary for success on admissions exams.
KD College Prep’s CEO, David Dillard, believes that although AI is here to stay, it should only be used as a tool, “not a replacement for human thought, reasoning, and decision making. We have yet to see the nuanced interaction, perception, empathy, and accountability between a quality instructor and student be surpassed by AI tools.”
Dillard notes that although apps and AI tools may enhance education, they can only do so if used to challenge the student, rather than be used as an academic crutch. “I don’t think using AI tools exclusively for any meaningful academic test is the best approach for any student no matter their current capability or goal. The personal connection, insight, and inspiration of a qualified, engaged, human instructor can be the difference maker.”
Another point to consider is what your student gains from working closely with an instructor beyond test prep. Each class, workshop, or tutoring session presents opportunities for students to develop communication, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills, all of which are prized by employers across industries.
Students cannot develop those skills from working with AI chatbots. As Dillard points out, “For the instruction of humans, human instructors need to be involved.”
Need help preparing for college?
At KD College Prep, you can work with a human test prep expert in one-on-one tutoring sessions online or in person in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Gain smart test-taking strategies and personalized guidance as you prepare for college admissions. We also offer complete college prep packages and a variety of test prep programs to support your college goals.
Get in touch today for a free consultation.
