Most essays will have a prompt word cap given. If not, then two pages, single-spaced, 12pt Times font is a good rule of thumb as a hard max.

Yes, and to that point I'll have a video out soon where I show you how to do that. I view ChatGPT as akin to Wikipedia. A lot of teachers / professors will throw tantrums over Wikipedia, and they are correct that you should never *CITE* Wikipedia, but it is a fantastic initial step to getting the 30,000-foot view of a topic. From there, you do the real work of reading more sources, primary materials, etc. Similarly, use ChatGPT to provide you with ideas, suggest themes, etc., and from there you do the real work of brainstorming, outlining, and writing your ideas.

@@gurufi yeah, I’m not a teacher but both of my parents are and because I am the programmer in the family I have been talking to them about how to try to have students experiment with it while encouraging them to use it as a tool or a platform to expand their writing.

A plain / direct writing style won't trigger an AI detector. There's a bit more to it than that. Also, writing in a lean and direct way isn't a bad approach. In fact, when working with clients, I urge them to strip out extraneous adverbs, keep the story clear and central, and focus on telling an authentic story.

@@gurufi I see, that makes sense. I’m not familiar with how the AI detector works, but it helps to know that I can still write as I like. Thank you again.

Great question. So, here's where I would always begin when talking to an academic: read their stuff. Know what they've done and have 1-2 questions to ask them about their work. Academia is lonely country, and someone wanting to talk to them about what they do can be really exciting and fun. Second, you should also come prepared to say a few things about what you hope to study. The follow-up questions would be whether you think that the program / university would be a g good fit, could support your research, and position you to do whatever you want to do post-graduation. If you have a copy of something you've done, offer to email it to them after you've spoken. Then, of course, follow up with either an email or (even better) a brief hand-written note thanking them for their time.