As more and more students are applying to multiple colleges and universities (our record is 23), colleges are looking for additional ways to separate the serious applicants from the not-so serious ones, and they're looking for ways to distinguish one student from another. Enter the video essay.
I'm sure there were others before, but Tufts University is one of the first schools I know of that started offering students the opportunity to submit a video as part of their application. Perhaps it is the natural extension of the "blank box" topic - that is when colleges give you a blank square box and tell you to do with it what you will. Sigh...as if there isn't enough pressure on a high school senior.
Face it, how can students really convey who they are and what makes them tick on a paper application? Girls can briefly describe their extracurricular life, and the essay might offer a brief glimpse into their dreams, values, and abilities, but is it possible for a college admissions rep to really know an applicant this way? Recommendations will help, but I've often wondered how they do it? How do they tell one aspiring college student from another?
I'm not convinced a video essay is the answer. Yes, these days just about everyone can make a video, but the wealthier among us can hire an entire production team if they want - complete with special effects, etc. You might argue that almost everyone these days has access to all those effects, and even a less wealthy student can produce a pretty cool video. And for some admissions people, perhaps simplicity will be more appealing. But that's the point. What will appeal to one person reading you're application is no different than one essay being more interesting than another. At some point, it's always subjective.
The video might have the "cool" factor for today's high school students, but is it any fair? The cynic in me thinks it just makes it more interesting for the person reading hundreds of applications, and if that's all it takes to stand out, than that's not fair. But then the playing field has never been level, has it?
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