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Applying to College at Tufts? Don't Forget Your YouTube Video

by Brett Singer (Subscribe to Brett Singer's posts)
Feb 24th 2010 9:00AM

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Filed under: In The News


Looks like reading, writing and video recording could be the high school curriculum of the future: Applicants to the prestigious Tufts University have the option of including a YouTube video along with their essays and transcripts.

The New York Times reports that Tufts' dean of undergraduate admissions, Lee Coffin, came up with the idea after watching a YouTube video.

"I thought, 'If this kid applied to Tufts, I'd admit him in a minute, without anything else,'" Coffin tells the Times. In response, a commenter at NYTimes.com says by making that statement, "Lee Coffin just made a mockery of the whole higher education process."

Coffin tells the Times students that should not feel compelled to make a video when they apply to Tufts, and that only a clip featuring "something really disgusting" would count against them in the process, not poor editing skills. Coffin says the essay is still a very important piece of the application process, and that the school will "never abandon writing" when considering potential students.

The Times reports that out of 15,000 applicants to Tufts this year, "about 1,000" included a video. A quick search of YouTube for the term "tufts supplement" brings up 287 matches; "tufts optional essay" has 138 and "tufts video supplement" adds another 106. Students were not required to use YouTube, but that was the most popular choice, according to the Times.

The videos feature "card tricks, horsemanship, jump rope and stencils -- and lots of rap songs," the Times reports.

This video, mentioned in the Times story, is from Rhaina Cohen. Titled "In My Shoes," it uses a song called "New Shoes" by Paolo Nutini along with pictures of the applicant and her shoes.



This one, from Christian Holmes, is a mock "Inside the Actors Studio" interview.



NYTimes.com readers are split on the idea of Tufts' video essays, although many are clicking the virtual "don't like" button on the idea. One reader finds the notion of including video in the college application process to be "pretty ingenious." Another writes, "Dumb and dumberer. Shame on Tuft's for playing to fads." And one reader wonders "what will happen to students who can not afford a videocam and editing software when applying to college?"

Maria Laskaris, dean of admissions at Dartmouth, tells the Times students started including videos with their applications last year, and that she has noticed an increase in clips this year. So it is possible that this is becoming a trend.

What do you think? Is this a good thing that shows an applicants' creativity? Or just a distraction from what should be an academic pursuit?

Related: College Financial Aid Form Is a Pain in the FAFSA

Tags: college, college application, tufts, tufts supplement video, tufts university, tufts video

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