<p>One strange effect of Tufts University's recent policy to encourage applicants to submit videos about themselves is that many of the 1000 or so submitted for fall admission are available on You Tube, where the Tufts community is weighing in on their favorites. </p>
<p>Weird!!!!</p>
<p>A</a> fresh pitch on U tube - The Boston Globe</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>I applied to Tufts and opted to make the one-minute video. Its innovative, and a LOT OF FUN!</p>
<p>Isn’t anyone disturbed that this taint admissions towards those who are better looking or to those with more outgoing personalities?</p>
<p>^ haha that’s life
those biases will always be there (when you apply for a job, when you interview etc.)</p>
<p>and even if the student is not outgoing, he or she is not forced to select this option.</p>
<p>I love the videos that show an aspect of the maker’s creativitiy. However, some of the videos are plain dumb, and I am very embarrassed for the applicants who submitted them. Ex: dancing with “math,” and the “shut up and derive” video—these were sophomoric, showed great immaturity on the part of the applicant, and would make me wonder if he/she can ever take anything seriously. The “shut up and derive,” whatever it was intended to show, definately did not show any type of passion for calculus. I was offended. People who truly appreciate calculus, and love playing with its equations and functions, would not degrade it into a puerile song with bad lyrics. There are times when it is acceptable to goof off and make silly music videos with your friends, but not when you’re applying for college. I would be surprised if the people who chose to make a fool of themselves are admitted. If I was the admissions officer, I would think that they do not take the school seriously, and would be extremely hesitant to admit them.</p>
<p>Yes, I realize that perhaps I shouldn’t judge someone based on a personal video, but it was the sole decision of the applicant to submit a video for me to view. Bad judgment. Also, they should’ve kept their audience in mind. Adults could be easily put off by the content of some of these videos.</p>
<p>I saw the dancing with math and thought it was brilliant. The point is that Tufts wants to see the real you, and if you’re silly, it’s not a bad idea to let it show through the application.</p>
<p>I’ve already heard from some of my hs kids friends’ parents whose kids applied to Tufts and submitted the video. They instructed their kids to not allow comments on youtube but also did not register as part of tufts common app. They wanted to submit but didn’t want comments. and wanted privacy.
They think all this voting and commenting will unconsciously sway adcom</p>
<p>It’s a nice supplement to a pen & paper application, and it can showcase the applicants’ creativity and willingness to go public with their application for Tufts. It might turn ugly though when the videos who seem to be viewed the most and rated the highest get accepted and the less viewed people get rejected. Not that Tufts would consider this as a major part of the application, but some people may feel that way when they get accepted/rejected.
I may do this when I apply in the future, if the option’s available.
Oh, and I thought “shut up and derive” was cute! Do you really have to be all professional and boring on a YouTube video? I’m sure the admissions officers won’t view people with videos like that as immature, or people with boring videos as stellar applicants. It’s YouTube! It’s meant for silliness!</p>
<p>I’ve only ever seen positive comments on these videos, so I’d imagine that if the comments swayed adcoms, it would be in a positive way.</p>
<p>I was not impressed with the paper one.</p>
<p>You cannot be your “true” self in every single situation. You cannot get accepted into college with a “if they don’t like me, it’s their loss” mentality. The fact is that you should try to present yourself in a way to make admissions officers give serious consideration to your application. You don’t see people interning in an investment bank and wearing their pajamas just because the pajamas reflect their “true” silly self.</p>
<p>the #1 rule is that a successful video/essay will not offend or annoy the audience. With some of these videos, I couldn’t get through the first minute without my ears bleeding.</p>
<p>These are AWESOME</p>
<p>I loved the simple one with the stick figure. I’m sure what appeals to adults and kids can be very different.</p>
<p>
True, although now that this has taken on such a life of its own, I’d be a little concerned about whether the decision not to submit a video will work against an applicant. My son did not choose this option, and after reading the Globe story this morning, I must admit I felt a little like we might have missed the bus–especially since he’s a borderline applicant stats-wise.</p>
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<p>Speak for yourself, Calculus. That dancing the various graphs was sheerly brilliant and simple (not to be confused with simple-minded) and original. </p>
<p>I showed that video to multiple other friends, two of whom are math professors at UC Berkeley and my daughter’s Calc BC teacher, and they all thought the video inspired and ingenuous. A dear friend (physics major) trying desperately to escape from MIT and transfer commented, upon seeing the video, “would that the mono-focused, humorless MIT-ers had such a sense of humor, I wouldn’t be transferring.”</p>
<p>Much kinder would be if people, at least, on this website/blog, posted about what videos they liked, not tear down the risk-taking and bravery of the Tufts’ applicants’s videos, no matter how “dumb” you think the video(s) is.</p>
<p>Really, reference your copy of Emily Post.</p>
<p>P.S. I also liked the “In My Shoes” video–very sweet and yet profound at the same time.</p>
<p>Nightchef,</p>
<p>My daughter was admitted ED 1 and chose to submit a watercolor for her optional essay. And she was accepted. As well, I know people accepted to Tufts who opted out of the “essay” altogether and were accepted.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>SWHarborfan, why are you defending that calculus video so diligently? Are you affiliated with the girl who made that video? I simply do not believe that you have that many calculus-associated friends, and had time to look up the video and show it to all of them from the time that the article was published. You sound like you’re full of hot air. I would never waste a colleague’s time by showing him/her a video like that, especially if they taught mathematics at MIT. You know what? I showed this video to my little brother, who remarked “what are those dumb (bad word) doing?” The singing was terrible, and it looks as if they quickly put it together and didn’t bother to rehearse or edit. It appears as if the intent behind that video was to remake the lyrics to a popular song.</p>
<p>And please, if these people are willing to show Tufts admissions their whole youtube site, they pretty much welcomed all public criticism. They have given up their privacy.</p>
<p>I am being honest. I did truly like some of those videos because they really said something about the applicant. But, the calculus video is an example of wasted time and effort.</p>
<p>The lyrics make no sense. If someone can explain, I’d appreciate it. At first she is a “fine tuned mathematician A+ geek” and then her “head is ready to explode explode explode.” When she is in the car on her cellphone, she looks drunk. What were they trying to put across?</p>
<p>Good to know that Tufts applicants generally do not take themselves too* seriously.</p>
<p>iCalculus, if you have a hard time believing that anyone could enjoy the math dances video, just read some of the comments. Apparently, Larry Bacow, the president of Tufts, watched it and loved it.</p>
<p>My favorite was the last one, with the walking stick figure animation. I can see why that video worked, and the applicant got in. It was nicely put together, and it showed the journey that the applicant went through to get to the gates of college. Although it was a simple animation, it was aesthetically pleasing, and appealed to the emotions. Everyone, even the admissions officer, can relate to it. It is symbolic of life and growing up, and it is evident that the applicant must now put himself together on a piece of a paper to reach for the college gates. That video basically says, “my academic and personal growth from birth through 12th grade was fulfilling and exciting. If you read my application, you will see what I mean.” And that is what a successful application supplement is supposed to do.</p>