More and more colleges allow students to submit YouTube videos as a part of the admissions process. While some are pretty creative, is this move to video a positive trend? Have a look at the videos themselves here, and weigh in with your opinion.
Continue readingTufts University is making a buzz from its new admissions option. Instead of writing yet another essay (Tufts requires quite a few), applicants were given the option of sending a 1 minute YouTube video.
More than 1,000 applicants took the challenge. This practice may revolutionize admissions. I wonder how many other colleges will offer this option next year?
Take a look at this article from the The Boston Globe. You can also see this article from the New York Times. And if you want to see some of the videos, just hit YouTube an go for Tufts Admissions. You’ll find bazillions. See which ones impress you!
Mark Montgomery
Educational Planner
An article in the Tufts Daily indicates that the university has accepted quite a few more students from its Early Decision pool than last year: 12% more.
It could be, as the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions says in the article, that the pool of ED applicants at Tufts was just outstanding this year. Or it could be that Tufts is hedging its bets in a tough economy and taking more from this pool of students guaranteed to matriculate.
While most admissions officers have a tough time admitting it, their desks are heaving with applications from qualified students. At the margins, the qualitative difference between the student who is denied and the student who is admitted is negligible. (See my article here about the randomness of college admission–as documented by admissions officers themselves).
I will be interested to see if Early Decision acceptances are up at other selective colleges. I will not be surprised if they are. Nor will I be surprised if deans of admissions swear on stacks of Bibles that the reason for this trend is the increased quality in their applicant pools. (Was the Tufts ED pool really 12% better–qualitatively?)
Colleges are businesses. They have budgets. And admissions offices are the sales and marketing arms of these big businesses.
So we’ll see how things continue to shake out in this admissions cycle.
Mark Montgomery
College Advisor
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The Times Higher Education in the UK recently released its rankings of the top 200 universities in the world. Seven out of the top 10 are American universities. Can you guess which ones are near the top of the list?
I did my undergraduate work at number 54, earned my doctorate at number 157, was a graduate teaching fellow at number 1, and was a professor for four years at number 39.
Not too shabby.
Mark Montgomery
College Consultant
