College Admission Videos: Hot New Practice

When Brittany complained about what a huge amount of work she faced customizing college admission applications to a dozen schools, her friend Kathy just laughed. It didn't need to be such a big job, Kathy explained. Just make one video to submit to all the schools in order to showcase her proficiency on the harp and stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Hot Topic

It appears that the trend of submitting a video to accompany standard college admission forms, essays and letters of a recommendation is snowballing. It started as a way for innovative secondary-school applicants to show why they would be a good fit with a particular college.

According to the Washington Post, some kids are carrying around a video camera for days as they film typical goings-on their lives. Videos for students applying to arts programs have been common for years. However, videos have played a less-significant role in the general admissions process.

For two years, George Mason University, a public school in Fairfax, Virginia, has allowed students the option of submitting a personal video prior to the January 15 application deadline.

Some of the videos students have submitted to colleges were quite creative. The New York Times cites applicants showing their equestrian skills as well as their ability to jump rope, perform card tricks and make stencils. One applicant submitted a video of herself singing a rap song while her mouth was still forced shut with rubber bands two weeks after oral surgery.

Tufts University is one of the schools that accepts videos. Of its 15,000 applicants last year, around 1,000 submitted them. About 60 percent came from females.

How They Submit Videos

One of the most popular techniques prospective college students use is sending admission offices links to videos on YouTube. Some schools actually encourage this, and some even supply canned topics for applicants to use as subjects of their projects.

Kids who are 17 or 18 are usually quite familiar with the technology required to submit a creative and even elaborate video showing what's outstanding or even quirky about them. Those who are more technically challenged use their cell phones, webcams and even point-and-shoots to plead their cases.

The quality of the submission varies from grainy shots to professional quality.

The Role Videos Play

For most students, videos don't change an admission decision. The admissions staff at George Mason University reported that of the 100 videos the school received the preceding year, in only a handful of cases was the production factored into the decision to admit or reject.

Some large schools have struggled for years to schedule thousands of one-on-one applicant interviews. To cope, many have made these interviews optional. The George Mason staff looks at applicant videos as one helpful way to associate names with faces as they wade through around 20,000 applications for a freshman class limited to 2,600 students.

One of the biggest concerns college officials have regarding the use of videos in the admission process is the fact that applications are considered confidential material. When videos appear on sites such as YouTube, the entire world can have a peek at the applicant.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/03/AR2011010302546.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/education/23tufts.html?_r=2