REALLY. IT'S NOT STRESSFUL ENOUGH AS-IS? Thank goodness I went through the college admissions process before
students were encouraged to prepare video pieces about themselves. (And what do you do if you can't get
Michael Bloomberg to deliver an on-camera endorsement?)
Nah, I think you would have aced the video. And I would have liked to have seen it.
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
ReplyDeleteWell, kids these days grew up on video, so I guess it's not a shocking thing.
I feel like college admissions may have just jumped the shark.
ReplyDeleteSoon, it will be "No need for an essay, a video, or even a transcript -- we'll just check your Facebook page and get back to you."
ReplyDeleteWhen I was applying to colleges (16 years ago), one school had (and still has) a question of "fill the box to the right with something that appeals to you" with a 3" x 2.5" box. Notably, they have now added "You response must be a two-dimensional scannable image" to the requirements. I was not admitted to this school.
ReplyDeleteThis would have stressed me out SO much.
ReplyDeleteWas this Vassar? That just pissed me off when I was applying. It's like, "hey, future lawyers, people who don't draw or make up math equations- don't apply here!"
ReplyDeleteThis was not Vassar.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was applying (12 years ago), one school had a (choose one of the following) question that was basically: "Do something with an 8.5x11 piece of paper." I did not apply to that school, but the question almost made me consider it (despite the fact that I had no idea what I would do and probably would have chosen a different question). It appears that the question is no more, though now there is an option to create a website.
ReplyDeletespeaking as an artsy brain type-I just note that it says fill the box to the right with something that 'appeals to you' not necessarily something that you created.
ReplyDeletegrape jelly it is!
ReplyDeleteI'm so conflicted about this. Do I make an MTV Real World casting video joke or reference Elle Woods' video essay for her Harvard Law application? Decisions, decisions...
ReplyDeleteI remember that question! It was around when I applied to college - 23 YEARS AGO. Yeesh.
ReplyDeleteI also remember the "Your autobiography is 300 pages long. Send us page 214." and "Describe your relation to the world of ideas." Applying to law school was a relief.
One of this year's essay prompts. for the University of Chicago app was "Find x." Love it.
That autobiography question was certainly on Penn's application.
ReplyDeleteI remember "write a letter to future roommate" and "If you could change one thing in history, what would it be and what would the consequences of that change be?"
ReplyDeleteI would have hated the video thing, as I am very uncomfortable being taped. I also have to think that it could end up making things pretty hard on people who don't have the money to have access to a video camera.
In 1988, one college asked applicants to write a fable. My fable stunk, but I think the college was impressed by the way that my printer ran out of ribbon (1988, people) so I cut apart my draft, edited it by moving words and phrases around, and reglued it on the application page.
ReplyDeleteI assume the appropriate response to "Find X" would be that if the market really wanted X to be found, X would be readily available. As X is not readily available, there is clearly not sufficient demand for X, or the market for X has been disrupted in some way in which it is not functioning correctly (potentially through improper governmental intervention). Further investigation is required to determine which is the case.
ReplyDeleteWhen I applied to colleges (seven years ago), all the applications where pretty much identical, except the one I went to (which is the only prompt I remember), which was "You have $15 to do something. Let us know what you do, using any length and medium you find appropriate."
ReplyDeleteI work with high school students from low income families who will be the first generation in their families to attend college (our organization works with those same students through college graduation). Some of my kids don't have a working phone at home, let alone the ability to make a video of themselves. They live in a lousy school district, are already underprepared to do college level work, and now this? The Penn application requires more writing than most of my students would have done in all of high school if not for our enrichment program (which is why we currently have four students attending Ivy League schools out of nearly 200 currently enrolled). I was delighted to see the autobiography question missing from this year's Penn app.
ReplyDeleteI could rant all day about the haves and have nots. Instead, I will say that my sister is a senior at Drexel and is taking an online class this semester that requires a video intro of yourself to the class. Which totally stressed her out. So, once you get into college with your application video, you'll need to skype into your class. Good grief!
I recall nothing specific about college applications, except that Haverford makes you write an essay about the Honor Code (tm). Students doing music programs have had to do videos for a while, though.
ReplyDeleteI do recall that once admitted, we got a booklet about computers, and it said that the campus only did tech support for Macs (lazy bastards) and expressed the opinion -- which my whole family found ridiculous at the time, being 1997 -- that Apple was a viable company. The imac came out a few years later, and the rest is history.
The Honor Code is definitely still a central part of the Haverford application. Whenever I visit Haverford, I chuckle at all of the laptop bags in the lobby of the dining hall. I also find self-scheduled exams comical.
ReplyDeleteMy alma mater has a similar Honor Code (don't lie, cheat, or steal) and Standards of Community Life (treat all people on campus with "respect, honor, kindness, and evenhandness," and "respect their property"), both with student bodies that administer them. Laptops weren't all that common in my college days, but bags were regularly left in the dining hall lobby, and unproctored or take-home exams with a time limit (pick up whenever you want, return X hours later) were exceedingly common. It actually can and does work. (I ran for Honor Council unsuccesfully several times, and appeared before Social Regulations Council as a witness/complainant at one point.)
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the Common Application is pretty much universally accepted now, though most schools have some supplement, and man, are those some boring essay prompts. How many essays about "my parents are great" can admissions officers read in response to #3? And #5 reminds me of reading endless "I'm a white person, but I'm diverse!" statements when grading writing competition for law journals. I did give a few particularly inventive people points for diversity on that basis, including the couple of folks who talked about how as a conservative they were in the minority at NYU.
ReplyDeleteWow, I normally have a pretty good memory, but I can't tell you a single essay question I had on my college applications, although it was 11 years ago. Some of the ones you guys are talking about sound pretty great though, I feel like I would've had fun with them.
ReplyDeleteIt's much more likely to be accepted by private institutions than by state system colleges.
ReplyDeleteWe do a three day writing workshop with our students at the end of their junior year. It's intensive and, frankly, torturous. The payoff is great but it's painful to get 50 kids to settle on a topic-- especially one that tells something about the kid more than about his/her wonderful mom, grandmom, older brother, friend who died too young, coach, insert random person here. Apparently there was a song a few years ago called Tomorrow is Never Promised. I see many a first draft with that title. Lets me know every time that we need to do, what we politely refer to as "course correction" and what we later refer to as the "who has the saddest life" contest. Whatever you call it, admissions counselors are tired of reading it.
I was actually a little bit disappointed last year when none of the school to which I applied had particularly interesting essay questions. I realize this sounds ridiculous, but applying to college wasn't actually that stressful for me (and by that I mean, there was no crying or hyperventilating-- quite the accomplishment, believe it or not). I wouldn't have minded making a video, but I'm outgoing and have access to equipment. Why can't they just admit smart people and trust that most of them will have good personalities?
ReplyDeleteBecause lots of smart people don't have good personalities. Some of them are downright insufferable.
ReplyDeleteMy essay was, by design, a 1-page personal statement about anything. I was accepted to my college of choice before Thanksgiving, took one look at the essays for the other places I was thinking of applying, crumpled them up, put my feet up, and took care of business till graduation. Didn't take care of it well, mind you, but took care of it.
But can't people edit out their insufferability if they're making a video? Obviously, not all who are obnoxious are aware of their obnoxiousness, but I feel like it's a lot easier to hide in a video than in an interview. I know the article said that these video are often used because an admissions office can't interview everybody, but I think not holding interviews is better than replacing them with video submissions.
ReplyDeleteAs for taking care of business, I know people who calculated the least number of days they could attend class without losing credit. Senioritis: it's a serious condition.
My college had the dreaded "do something with this box" for part of the application. When I was a student at said college, a professor I babysat for showed me the best response ever: high school senior cuts out the box, origamis it into a cube, and then sends a picture of the cube with a letter threatening to kill the cube. Student then cuts off little pieces of the cube and sends them in every week with more threatening letters. Can you believe he did not get the Dean's Honor Scholarship??
ReplyDeleteThere is no way I could have done a video application when I was 17 years old. I still remember running out of my AP French class rather than listen to my own voice on tape.
ReplyDeleteI think this might end up limiting your applicant pool - I'm not sure I'd want a freshman class composed mainly of extroverted debate and theatre kids. (OK, maybe that's an exaggeration).
My one overriding thought as my daughter applied for college a couple of years ago was, 'thank goodness it's not me!' I applied for college (gulp) 25 years ago and I have no recollection of it being so difficult. I just answered some questions, waited to see who would take me and picked a school. We started tracking her resume of classes, honors, volunteer work, etc. in eighth grade. It's insane.
ReplyDeleteOn the video note, at my daughter's school you can actually take your baisc studies Comm class online. Yes, Public Speaking! You have to tape yourself speaking in front of at least two people (friends, family, roommates) and send it to your professor. That's just wrong.
At Texas A&M, every classroom has a sign with the Honor Code - 'An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.' The students also have to sign it as a cover sheet each time they take a test. They take their code very seriously in College Station.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Some of the most obnoxious people have video-editing skillz.
ReplyDeleteI was going to comment that since my alma mater is one of the schools that started the video application trend, I probably wouldn't get in now. But then I also remembered that one of the things I've been meaning to do is go out to my parents' house to dig up the tapes of the video projects I did in high school (when editing involved dubbing from the camcorder to the VCR) and realize that I would probably have spent a lot of time crafting a video application.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember any of my college application essays, but being that I never get rid of any digital files, I probably still have the original documents in a computer somewhere.
I had it relatively easy - I applied to four state schools with one application form, and only had to do one essay. As I remember it, it was something like, "If you could take a year off between high school and college, what would you do with it?" Which I found funny at the time, because who said I *couldn't* take a year off? And it's funnier now, since the idea of a gap year has become way more popular than it was in 1991/1992 when I was applying.
ReplyDeleteI remember trying to avoid the cliche answer (i.e. "travel") so I wrote something about how I'd do an internship in publishing in New York so I could start figuring out my career before I chose my major. Or something. Wasn't brilliant, but I got into my first choice early, so I was happy.