<p>Currently, I'm shooting for the top schools, and have the basics: high GPA, 2250+, straight 800's on subject tests, leadership and commitment in teams/clubs, etc. </p>
<p>Now all this stuff is pretty generic and nice, but to get into the likes of MIT and Ivies, one needs an "X" factor, something really interesting. </p>
<p>I think for me, that just may be that I do Stand-up Comedy as a hobby. I've performed many times, and have been offered money at venues</p>
<p>I recently performed at my High Schools Talent show, in front of 1700 people. Fortunately, it was a hit (if I bombed, heh, I would have to deal with that all of Senior year).</p>
<p>Anyhoo, the gist is that the audio/visual production class of my school recorded the Talent Show into a nice quality DVD. What I am currently debating is whether or not to send a 5-7 minute clip of my performance attached to my app.</p>
<p>The reason why I question doing this is:</p>
<p>1) Admission officers might not want to go through all the trouble in putting a dvd into a player, etc. They have hundreds of Apps to read. would they even watch it?
2) In my act, there is one part that makes a lighthearted joke/observation about jewish people (I make it clear that I am jewish myself). Could this be too offensive?</p>
<p>I have heard college reps say that they will take a look at everything you submit (and if you send 10 recs they will read them all). They would most likely watch that video too if just out of curiosity or for a change.</p>
<p>An important thing to consider:
Assume that the person who will watch your video is 40+. Is that the age group your comedy is targeted at? My parents and I laugh about completely different things and if your peers think you are funny chances are that someone who is 30 years older than you will not like it (or worse, think you are offensive, preposterous or premature). College reps on this board have expressed that many kids apparently try to write humorous essays but few succeed (in the adcom's eyes). Would the same thing happen to your tape?</p>
<p>Finally, ask yourself how you want to be perceived. If you really have that kind of humor that older people laugh about, why not write a humorous yet insightful essay? Would you rather stick in an adcom's memory as a mature and humorous applicant or as a comedian? Who do you think elite universities would accept?</p>
<p>I should then probably test the tape for adults and such. Although, every teacher in the school has come to me and told me how much they loved it, so maybe not (then again, high school teachers are probably more atuned to teenager type humor than most adults). But I see what you mean, testing for adults is probably smart</p>