I’m planing on sending an email. I got a full ride elsewhere, so I’m a little apathetic about this. But I think I’ll send an email and see what they say.
And to all that were checking email all day until late evening, I’d like to find out what that was all about!
I’d suggest wring to AU President Cornelius Kerwin (and on-line postings like we are doing now) to relay our dissatisfaction on how this FDDS process went down. I’m likely going to end up accepting other offers I have to other, higher regarded schools than AU, but hard to let go of all the effort that went into the entire FDDS application with such a lame brush-off at the end. May just be sour-grapes, but I put together a damn good video and spent a lot of time on it and can’t believe they may not have even looked at it! The long after-hours notification wait was 100% unacceptable. Take screen shots of the views for documentation.
@WilliamTell that is clearly my point…a lot of time and effort went into the video. It’s totally wrong. It is the principle of it all.
hi everyone, i also applied to fdds and was denied. after seeing that other videos had not been viewed, i went to check my own. my video was not viewed by fdds either. i will definitely be taking this up with the university. here is how to check if your video was viewed by fdds:
log into your youtube
click your video
click video analytics
click playback locations
click the united states
see what states your video was viewed in and how many times
Thank you for the You Tube information. I know everyone is going to be surprised - but my video was never viewed by anyone in DC area. How completely disappointing. What a waste of time and energy and what an embarrassment to American. My parents are sending an email to Larry Thomas and the President of American. I don’t expect anything to change for us but maybe we can prevent this from happening to anyone else next year.
Hey guys, I emailed Larry Thomas about how my video was not viewed. I will let you all know when/if he replies. I also plan on calling tomorrow.
Yea I confirmed that mine wasn’t viewed either. @mvebx73 what email address did you use? FDDS@american.edu?
We used the fdds@american.edu and also used president@american.edu so it goes to the President as well.
Heres my email:
Hello,
My name is ----- and I am an applicant to American University’s class of 2019.
I was hoping to address the application process for the Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars Program. As part of the round two requirements, I submitted my video through YouTube. While I was very disappointed that I had not made the cut for round three, I took solace in knowing that my application was, at the very least, considered. However, upon examination of my video’s statistics it became apparent that my video had not been viewed. After consulting several online forums, I found that I was far from an anomaly.
I trust you can imagine my frustration regarding this situation. Between the essay required for round one and the video required for round two, a significant amount of time was invested into this particular application. While I understand that not everyone can be awarded this scholarship, it seems both inconsiderate and asinine to ask students to film a video that you have no intention of watching.
Best,
Breezy9 - That is perfection!
Haha thank you. Sending spiteful emails is somewhat of a hobby for me.
I sent mine to fdds@american.edu.
Thanks to mvebx73 for the instructions on how to see the video analytics, but I am having trouble seeing them on the video. Where exactly do you click “video analytics”? I don’t see that option… only “video statistics” which do not include playback locations. Any help would be much appreciated as I would also like to address this with the university president (and perhaps even the media if the university’s response is lacking) but would like to have that information first. Thanks to anyone who can help!
Open YouTube
Sign in
Click blue man at top right corner of YT home screen
Click creator studio
Click analytics, second from bottom on the left side
Got it. Thanks. Will try again now.
Very interesting observations. My daughter and I just checked her video and although there are some views the state they are viewed in is our home state. Also, on or around Feb 23rd is the day with the most views but the math does not work out. If her video is 4 minutes the average viewing time does not equal the number of views times 4.
Very disappointed with the process.
@c151515 Sorry that it didn’t work! Did you figure it out? There is another way to do it that I can explain if you still need. Everyone remember to be very nice in their emails because we want them to reconsider or at least view our videos and give us a fair chance rather than for them to get defensive about it! 
@mvebx73 I highly doubt they’d reconsider.
Yes, got it, thank you. No views by AU. I guess the big question, in light of so many unviewed videos and also the surprisingly large number of participants in this past round, is whether they sent out the letter to many applicants erroneously? And then simply decided just let all of those applicants continue the process rather than publicly acknowledging their error? If so, that is a level of unprofessionalism I am shocked to see at the university level. (And is there a chance they did the same with some of their other honors programs as well?)